With the increasing reliance on digital platforms, mobile game-based phone applications provide avenues to enhance learning of complex chemical concepts. This research developed a mobile game-based phone application designed to simulate the qualitative inorganic analysis of cations, determine its effects on learning, and examine students' insights on using the mobile application. The developed app showed a Content Validity Index of 1, suggesting acceptable validity and relevance. Data analysis revealed an increase in the pre-test to post-test scores in terms of students' metacognitive self-regulation skills, self-efficacy, and conceptual understanding after the intervention. This study offers essential implications for the potential of mobile game-based applications as valuable educational resources in chemistry.