Topic: Android gaming thread

[scottws]

OK, I'm tired of iOS getting all the love.

• Temple Run: Finally came out!  It's fun and free.  The 1.0 release crashed constantly, but they fixed it for 1.0.1.
• Tank Hero: Laser Wars is pretty good.  It's a successor of, wait for it... Tank Hero.  Not free.  I like the original better but it is a nice polished game.  Think Combat for Atari, except thoroughly modern. It reminds me quite a bit of that tank game that's on Wii Play.
• Air Attack HD:  I don't remember if I got this free or during the $0.10 deals.  It's a WWII-themed top-down shooter like 1942 or Sky Shark.
• Canabalt HD: A slight update to the graphics of the original Canabalt Flash, single-button platformer game.  You are always running to the right on the rooftops of large buildings during an alien invasion.  It's really well done and has a kick-ass soundtrack.  Not free.  A little overpriced even.
• Doodle Jump: I'm sure it's out on iOS too because it apparently has meme status as I saw it along with a bunch of other Internet memes in one of those turn off your phone things they show before movies at Regal Cinemas.  A vertical platformer.  Simple concept but surprisingly fun.
• Homerun Battle 3D: An oldie but a goodie.  I love this game.  The name says it all.  I will say that the game is far more fun after you pay for it because you earn gold balls much faster.
• Reckless Getaway: A top down game where you need to reach and pass a police checkpoint while police cars try to send you crashing amongst other regular traffic. Encourages some serious vehicular damage. I love this game. I got it for $0.10 when that deal was going on, but I'm not sure how much it is normally.
• Super KO Boxing: Basically a spiritual successor of Mike Tyson's Punch Out.
• Where's My Water: A really well done puzzle game by Disney Interactive. You are trying to get a source of water to an alligator taking a bath. It sounds lame, but it can be a challenging and deep puzzler.  Not free.

List other Android games that you are either eagerly anticipating or ones that you have installed that you would recommend.

[idolminds]

I can recommend Elder Sign: Omens. Played the board game, have it on iOS, and its a bunch of fun if you're into that sort of thing.

Kairosoft has released a couple games on Android and not iOS (which annoys me to no end), namely Dungeon Village, Epic Astro Story, and World Cruise Story. If you're into their management games, you know if you want these or not already.

[scottws]

I've never even heard of Kairosoft.  So when you say "management games" do you mean management like Farmville and Cafe World from Zynga?

[idolminds]

No, they are a bit more in depth than that. The game that made them big was Game Dev Story which has you running a game studio. In that one you have a budget, mash a theme and a genre together ("Cowboy Action RPG? Sounds good, run with it!") and then you team gets to work. You spend your time hiring new people or training the ones you have so they can make better games. Its not particularly in-depth but its a pretty good time sink where you stop playing because you just killed the battery on your device.

Android web site lists their Android games. Mega Mall Story is good as a sort of SimTower-ish game (not like Tiny Tower at all). Hot Springs Story I guess would translate to like a SimCity type deal but instead of buildings in a city its rooms in a Japanese hot spring spa. I mean they have demos for all their games so give some of them a whirl.

The weird part is how they decide which games end up on which platform, and none of it makes sense. Some are only on Android, some are only on iOS, and some are on both. They all seem to share similar themes and mechanics so it almost feels like they should be using one multiplatform engine at this point to run it all...but I guess not. I dunno.

[scottws]

Your first paragraph reminded me that I read about a game called Linux Tycoon today where you are in charge of a Linux distribution.  Has nothing to do with mobile gaming though.  Still, thanks!

[idolminds]

haha, I saw that Linux Tycoon as well. I kinda want to try it.

[idolminds]

Oh yeah, I wanted to mention this. So I like that Elder Sign game but you know, ipod screen may be retina but its still small and the art in the game looks really nice so I would love to play it on a larger screen. iPads are too expensive as well as springing for an Android tablet (though I did see a 7" tablet for $99 the other day, reviews seem fairly decent. Dunno how games play on it). There is a Mac version but no PC. But then I saw BlueStacks.

BlueStacks is an "Android emulator" of sorts so you can run your apps on PC. I installed it but it has like 12 default apps that it wants to download right away and it seems like not letting them install on first run sorta messes things up or something, and I dont see a way to stop them from downloading even though I dont want them. Well anyway, you might be able to use it if something like that interests you.

[idolminds]

This thread doesn't get the love it should (though I guess the same could be said for Android gaming in general). Google is going to announce something new related to Android and gaming this week...and well, you can read about a lot of it here. Google is doing their own version of Game Center on iOS. Matchmaking, in-game chat, achievements, leaderboards, invitations, cloud saves, and lobbies. All ready for devs to plug into. Pretty cool.

I still want to get my hands on an Android tablet.

[gpw11]

I for one never knew this thread existed.  Android gaming has blown up quite a bit since I first got my Motorolla Droid/Milestone. Some of my favorites from the last little bit:

-Major Mayhem.  Free point to shoot type game, but amazingly addictive.

-Hungry Shark Evolution.  Free.  It's like Ecco...but you're a motherfucking shark eating everything.

-Plants vs. Zombies.

-Rayman Jungle Run

-Stardunk.  Free (sink as many baskets in the time period as you can.  Compete globally in challenges every few minutes.  Powerups and stuff)

-Words with Friends

-Cogs - Exactly the same as the PC game.

-Jetpack Joyride.  Free. I put in way more time on this on my iPod, but the game looks a lot better on my HTC One S. It may be pentile and have a lower resolution, but with fast moving games you can't tell as much and the colour popping and contrast improvements are just appealing to the eye.

-ePSXe.  Final Fantasy ix on the go and fullspeed.   Awesome.

[Xessive]

Total War Battles is alright, not free but I got it while it was 99c.

I usually like runner games, Jet Pack Joyride is cool. I'm hooked on Vector right now, it's a parkour side-scrolling runner, has an ad-supported free version. Very artistic style.

I highly recommend keeping an eye open for the Humble Android bundles, which I'll try to keep you all posted on in our bundles thread.

[scottws]

I bought the Humble Mobile Bundle II today and Star Command is amazing.  It's a little like FTL, but I like it more and it's not quite as difficult.

[Xessive]

I bought the Humble Mobile Bundle II today and Star Command is amazing.  It's a little like FTL, but I like it more and it's not quite as difficult.

Haha my sentiments exactly

[gpw11]

Also bought the bundle and I'm actually liking Star Command less than FTL.  I may be doing something wrong, but the main turnoff seems to be the ammount of time it takes for weapons to charge - I'm sitting there staring at the screen and doing nothing at all for at least a minute.

[Xessive]

Also bought the bundle and I'm actually liking Star Command less than FTL.  I may be doing something wrong, but the main turnoff seems to be the ammount of time it takes for weapons to charge - I'm sitting there staring at the screen and doing nothing at all for at least a minute.

When it starts out weapon charging can take a while. I would recommend using either the Laser or Plasma Cannon, the Machinegun takes forever to charge up.

[gpw11]

It grew on me quickly.  The first battle was just kinda slow.


Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is currently 99 cents in the Play Store.  Trust me:  well worth it.

[Xessive]

It grew on me quickly.  The first battle was just kinda slow.


Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is currently 99 cents in the Play Store.  Trust me:  well worth it.

Haha just spotted it before I got on here too! Awesome deal!

[scottws]

I'll have to check that one out.  Is it like a Clash of Clans knock-off?  The title makes me think so.

I've also had a chance to check out Punch Quest from the Humble Mobile Bundle II and I'm loving it.  It's such mindless, simple entertainment but it is a lot of fun.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I've been having some fun with that as well.

Clash of Heroes is actually a port or remake of a DS game from a fee years ago which combines the elements of a puzzle game with that of a strategy game.  Pretty fun stuff.

[Quemaqua]

Punch Quest is great. Clash of Heroes was a DS game that got ported in HD to at least 360, maybe PS3, and to iOS. Which is cool, but I still actually prefer the pixel art of the original game. Super fun though, definitely great if you like puzzle games with extra stuff on top. I hesitate to really call them "puzzle RPGs", but you know what I mean.

[Xessive]

Clash of Heroes is kinda like a cross between RPG and a match-three puzzle game. Great story too, which I believe is canon to the Might & Magic universe (prequel to M&M Heroes V I think).

[idolminds]

OLD THREAD MEGA BUMP

Ok, not super mega, but the new Humble Mobile Bundle is up with some halloween android games. But if you don't want to buy the bundle if you scroll down a little you can get  The Spookening, Organ Trail, and Zombies, Run! 5k Training for free.

[idolminds]

Another old thread bump. I just got one of those cheap Amazon Fire tablets so now I can check out Android things.

But the reason for the bump is Amazon is giving out $5 credit when you download one of several free apps. see here. They are literally paying you to play KOTOR. Actually you don't even have to download it, I just added a game to my account and got the email about the credit. So hey, free money.

Also Amazon now has their "Amazon Underground" thing where you get normally pay games for free. I saw a full screen ad one time when I loaded one of the games but it was easy to dismiss and it doesn't do that every time you load it. Monument Valley is one of the games available and you should totally play it if you haven't. Even the DLC is free on Underground.

[scottws]

Auralux.  It's a simple, single-player abstract RTS, but it's lots of fun.

[idolminds]

So back when I got a bunch of free Amazon Coins that were expiring I went and bought a bunch of games that sounded cool. One of them was Hitman GO which I have now played a bunch of and really enjoy it. A turn based, board-gamey version of Hitman and its really quite good. A bit of replay value since there are 3 challenges to meet per level other than simply finishing. You might have to finish the level with no kills, or all kills, or grab a briefcase, or reach the end under a certain number of moves. Sometimes all 3 can be done at once, but it seems like many levels you will have to replay them to complete one or two. Usually if there is a briefcase and a turn limit they are mutually exclusive.

There was a more recent follow up with Lara Croft GO, obviously based on the Tomb Raider series. It is currently on a holiday sale for 99 cents, so grab it while you can. Same idea with a new skin and its own twists. Levels are more linear and do not seem to have side goals like Hitman, but the puzzles can be more intricate since you have levers, moving platforms, crawling on the sides of things, and collapsing elements. Really cool game that so far has managed to capture the feeling of the old original Tomb Raider better than the modern mainline games.

EDIT: Hitman GO is also on sale for 99 cents. Grab both. I love them.

[idolminds]

Lara Croft GO is 99 cents on Google Play and $1.99 on iOS. Seriously, one of my favorite mobile games.

[gpw11]

I'll check er out!