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Ten Great Android Games To Play On Holiday Break
The holidays are filled with family gatherings, gift exchanging, mistletoe smooching, and – most importantly – brief respites from the festivities that are perfect for a little mobile gaming. Daniel Tack already has our iOS fans covered, but if you're looking for a good Android game, look no further.
Looking for even more awesome Android games? I've done so many of these round-ups that this sentence has to be absurdly long just to fit all the links to previous entries and I'm still not done! How's that for creative hyperlinking? Now onto the games:
Alter
Ego
Normally, the thought of playing a platformer with touch-screen
controls is enough to make me throw my smartphone into a wood chipper (I've
lost so many phones – and really dulled the blades on my wood chipper).
However, I'm willing to make an exception for Alter Ego. First of all, it's not
really a platformer; you don't actually jump, but use ladders
to navigate the stages. Second, the transfer mechanic – which swaps your
position with your glowing outline that you also control – is really clever.
Codeword
Unlimited
And now for the obligatory word game, since I am an editor
and words are my business. Codeword Unlimited is kind of like a crossword puzzle without clues
– you fill in all the entries for a given letter at the same time, and deduce
which letters go where based on the process of elimination. It's not the
flashiest game on the list (actually, its interface is downright ugly), but if
you like word games you can't go wrong checking out the free version (linked
above).
Help
Me Fly
This unique puzzle game from Funtomic is a perfect example of
why you shouldn't judge a game by its stupid title. The goal is to charge up a
toy plane by connecting it to a battery with differently shaped pieces. In true
mobile game fashion, you can improve your score by also connecting up to three
stars. Unlike most mobile games, however, the extra ratings actually enhance
the puzzles. I've been left scratching my head on more than a few levels, which is
enough to make me recommend Help Me Fly even if I can't stand the title.
Just
Three Words
This entry comes with a sizable caveat: Just Three Words
commits the unpardonable
sin of charging players for hints, selling them coins via in-app
purchases. You get a cache of free daily coins and earn more by solving
puzzles, but the game is still geared towards getting you to shell out real money
for help. If you resist, however, you get a fun, free word game that tasks you
with guessing the common word that links the three seemingly disparate clues.
Coming Up Next: Ice slicing, galaxy hopping, and monsters made out of pudding...
Icebreaker:
A Viking Voyage
I'm a fan of physics-based puzzle games, and Icebreaker provides
a novel new twist to slicing through objects via your touchscreen. You help a Viking
fill up his boat with ice by shearing through bergs (and other objects in the
environment) and watching the pieces (hopefully) slide into place. Icebreaker
features a fun, cartoony art style and a good sense of humor as well.
Pudding
Monsters
Like Help Me Fly, Pudding Monsters has a crisp, cartoony art
style that far exceeds the visuals of most mobile games on the market. Puzzles
require you to push various blobs around the screen, each of which behaves in
its own quirky way. You improve your bonus rating by covering up special star
squares, which – also like Help Me Fly – makes the puzzles even trickier and more entertaining.
Out
There
There's not a lot of actual gameplay in Out There, but the
sci-fi themed strategy game does a good job of selling your trek through an
unknown, hostile galaxy. Players hop between solar systems while contending
with ever-dwindling fuel, oxygen, and hull levels, and must make the best of
their limited inventory space. Along the way flavor text fleshes out the
journey, and tasks you with making some life-threatening decisions.
Rune
Raiders
While technically classified as a puzzle game, Rune Raiders
also incorporates strategy and role-playing elements as well. Players recruit various
party members who employ their own unique abilities during battle. You
take your party through massive dungeons by positioning their tiles on a
vertically scrolling grid, taking on various enemies in turn-based battles as
you approach them. Between raids you can upgrade your characters and equip
new loot.
Braveland
Similar to Rune Raiders, Braveland sends you on an epic
adventure that involves recruiting and leveling up an entire party of travelers.
The turn-based combat plays out on a hex grid, and each character features a
unique ability, providing a bit of depth to the admittedly RPG-lite affair.
Trionix
This strategy game isn't the most visually impressive title
on the list (actually it's one of the worst-looking games), but that doesn't
make it any less interesting. Trionix is kind of like Reversi, but the rules
for taking control of the board are completely different. Players take turns
placing triangles down next to their adjacent pieces, while trying to flip
their opponent's triangles to their color. For solo play, Trionix features a
variety of different board layouts and variable A.I. to test your skill on.
Got any favorite Android games we haven't covered yet? Share them in the comments below! Seriously, I want more games to play...
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