10 Fun Android Games To Play Over Thanksgiving Break

Whether you're recovering from a post-turkey gorging or waiting in line on Black Friday, here are 10 fun Android games to keep you entertained.

I've been doing Android game round-ups for quite a while now, and I'm always impressed by the continually increasing quality of games. Sure, there are a lot of clones and free-to-play garbage to wade through, but that's what I'm here for! This latest collection contains a host of strategy, puzzle, and actions games, plus a few word games – I am an editor, after all.

Reigns
One of the more high-profile games that came out this year, Reigns puts you in the hot seat for some Game of Thrones scheming – if Game of Thrones starred a bunch of colorful characters with silly problems. Your goal is to stay alive and in charge as long as possible by balancing the powers of your kingdom through deft decision-making. As your lineage progresses through the ages, new cards and challenges unlock, encouraging you to play "just one more game."

Highrise Word Heroes
I've all but given up on PopCap releasing a Bookworm title for Android (seriously, PopCap, what the hell?), but Highrise Heroes is as good a substitute as any. The game tasks you with spelling your way out of a burning skyscraper – I'm not sure how that's supposed to work, but each "floor" serves up a new challenge and new mechanics. The game also has a weird obsession with monkeys, which are way cooler than worms anyway.

Letter Quest: Grimm's Journey
Another Bookworm-esque word game, Letter Quest offers some RPG sensibilities to the spelling action. You guide your character through a series of encounters with enemies, who you defeat by (you guessed it) spelling the biggest words possible out of a handful of letters. You can also upgrade your character's equipment in-between missions if your wordsmithing abilities aren't up to snuff.  

Alien Star Menace
If you're in the mood for an oddball space romp, you'll definitely want to check out Alien Star Menace (pictured at the top of this article). The game offers light turn-based tactics gameplay and action as well as a huge roster of unique units. You'll have to sit through the occasional ad, but the goofy tone and XCOM-lite action are worth checking out.

Deep Dungeons Of Doom
Enough with the spelling! Deep Dungeons of Doom trades letter tiles for cold, hard steel; you hack and slash your way through a series of dungeons by timing your blocks and attacks to your opponent's. The game features a number of unlockable characters and upgrade options, not to mention topnotch art and animation. Also worth noting: The developer recently stripped the game of all its microtransactions, so you don't have to worry about any free-to-play shenanigans.

Evolution Planet
This puzzle game takes the strategic gameplay of Threes! and evolves it (pun MOST DEFINITELY INTENDED) by adding a combat component into the mix. Players must build up their primordial creatures to clear enemies of equal or lesser strength off the board. The game features a nearly endless string of challenges, and if you get it from Amazon Underground, you can skip all the free-to-play nonsense.

Super Stickman Golf 3
No mobile game can suck hours from your life quite like the Super Stickman Golf series. So what does the third installment bring? Hats, of course! Aside from the power-imbuing outfits, SSG 3 provides more new levels, abilities, and a new ball spin mechanic, making it well worth a return to the greens for another round (or 50).

To Arms!!
A quirky deck-building game, To Arms!! tasks players with overcoming monster hordes by amassing a crew of warriors, archers, and farmers to take them on. It plays more like a card game than a turn-based RPG, and requires you to find the right balance between two resources: blood (to kill monsters) and coin (to buy more units). To Arms!! is completely free, without any ads or microtransactions.

Bowmasters
A new take on Artillery, Bowmasters pits two eagle-eyed foes against each other in a turn-based shootout to the death. Players have to guesstimate the correct angle and force for their shots, and direct hits result in over-the-top gore that would be right at home in an Itchy & Scratchy episode. There are dozens of characters to unlock, each with their own unique (and often outlandish) weapon, from the fisherman's swordfish to the hipster's exploding cellphone. However, this recommendation comes with one big caveat: You'll have to put up with some pretty aggressive ads. You can still unlock plenty of characters just by earning in-game currency though, so if you can overlook the glaring downside, it's worth a try.

Shikaku
If you enjoy numbers games like Sudoku and Kakuro but are looking for a quicker experience, Shikaku has your...number? Bwahahaha! Like those other games, Shikaku drops you into a grid with a bunch of numbers on it. Instead of filling in the other boxes with even more numbers, however, you instead block out a certain number of squares that pertain to that number. Look, I realize that doesn't make much sense – just try it out and I promise you'll get it, okay?

I'm always looking for more Android games, so share your favorites in the comments below!