I'm always on the lookout for pay-once non-infinite-play games like BOSSGAME or Monument Valley or even stuff like SPACEPLAN, if you've got recommendations I would LOVE to hear them
Honestly, I have played so very few mobile games that feel like they were designed to actually end? Even the ones with pretty clear endings are usually arcade games designed around replayability... hopefully these are up your alley, anyway! All of these are pay-once and at least have an "ending" of some kind.
Gun Rounds is a short-session action roguelike about shooting and being shot. It's technically infinite as a roguelike, but it's really more "can you beat the final boss" and after that the game is pretty much said and done. I had a real blast with it though, it controls well & definitely influenced Bossgame!
Florence is soft and sweet and pretty. It's a nice little slice-of-life story made of small mini-games you can play through in an hour or so, and certainly worth a few bucks! I wouldn't say it changed my life, but it might have gotten me to tear up a bit...
Dicey Dungeons is a turn-based RPG roguelike, with a touch of deckbuilding. It's got fun, mathy combat about building synergies and risky choices, and it has a cute style alongside the most catchy tunes. It's one of those games with a relatively straightforward core system that sprawls out and evolves in dozens of different directions. The game plays out as a series of 30 unique missions that build up to a final super-mission, and it all pays off really well in the end!
Reigns is a quick & silly mock-Tinder game where you play as royalty and swipe left or right to make kingdom-wide decrees. You can execute people you don't like, fall in love, betray the Church, accidentally poison your subjects, learn magic... as long as you maintain the right balance. If you're loved or hated too much, you'll end up dead. I've only played Reigns: Her Majesty, and in that one there is an overarching end goal that you discover slowly during many, many generations of queens getting burned at stake by the pope or whatever.
So here's a few..! Sorry, I really wish I knew more one-and-done mobile games. If anyone else has recommendations, please leave a comment! I want to play some too ✨
Oh, dang! I'd forgotten about Florence, it's really good (and no longer available for my phone? Terrible!), and I had no idea Dicey Dungeons was on mobile! I've ended up playing a lot of puzzle-ish games in my pursuit of one-and-done mobile games - "The Room" series is really good, and I really like Gorogoa, but non-puzzle games are really hard to find (it's one of the many reasons I loved BOSSGAME). The only non-puzzle-ish game I've found and really enjoyed in this category is Superbrothers Sword and Sworcery, and if you haven't played it I highly recommend it. It's an... action RPG? Of sorts? It's very unique in some wild ways, and I love it.
