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Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today’s list is broken up into several segments, ranging from best, average, to mediocre. So whether you’re looking for the best games of quality or are simply looking for the latest free-to-play gacha titles, you’re covered. This week I have a beautiful story-based puzzler, an artsy tower-defense game, and a competitive card game from the studio behind Atom RPG. So without further ado, here are the new and notable Android games released during the last week.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Best Games
Titles that offer fair pricing, enjoyable gameplay, polished interfaces, or are intriguing
Fate of Kai
Fate of Kai was inspired by the story-based puzzler Gorogoa, and so you can expect wonderful art accompanied by a heartfelt story within Fate of Kai, and of course, you’ll solve puzzles to progress this story. What’s unique about this setup is that you won’t directly control any of the game’s characters, but instead, you’ll control their thoughts to get things done. So if you’re into story-based puzzlers, or enjoy learning character’s inner thoughts, Fate of Kai is definitely a title worth checking out this week.
Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs
$2.99
Rip Them Off
Rip Them Off was released on PC last September, and it really hasn’t gained much traction on the platform, probably because it looks like a mobile game. That’s why the current release on Android is worth looking at since this is basically a casual tower defense game that revolves around economic management that’s perfect for mobile. Really, the whole game boils down to where you place your shops, so there isn’t much strategy needed since the winning conditions are pretty linear. Still, this is an enjoyable time waster if you don’t take it too seriously, and the monetization is on point, so you won’t have to worry about ads or IAPs ruining the fun.
Monetization: $5.49 / no ads / no IAPs
$3.99
Bombagun
Bombagun comes from Atent Games, the studio behind Atom RPG. Interestingly, Bombagun takes place in the Atom RPG universe, but this is a competitive card game, not a CRPG. So far, the game contains 40 original cards, all while avoiding card collecting mechanics and loot box mechanics. Ideally, this means the game won’t be P2W despite being free and competitive. Just keep in mind that this is a beta release, so things aren’t quite finished yet, though what’s there is already pretty fun.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs ?
Free
Average Games
Titles that may not be the best-of-the-best, but still offer fun and interesting mechanics
Om Nom: Parkour
ZeptoLab is still at it with new Om Nom games, and Om Nom: Parkour is the latest to hit the Play Store. As you can see, this is an auto-runner where you’ll run and zipline across rooftops, and it’s kind of bland. Not only is this a genre that’s been done to death, but you also have to wonder why ZeptoLab keeps releasing stuff we’ve seen a hundred times before. While the art is really pleasant, it sure would be nice to see developer do something worthwhile with the property. At the very least, this release isn’t monetized yet, so if you want to take a look, the sooner, the better.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Free
Gardencraft
Gardencraft is a casual farming game, and unlike similar titles on the Play Store, this is actually a free game that does not contain any ads or in-app purchases. Despite the farming theme, this is basically an idle game where you’ll water plants that provide money that can be used to incrementally upgrade your farm, providing more money for upgrades in an endless loop. It’s an extremely simple setup that can grow stale, but since the game is totally free, there’s no harm in checking it out, especially if you enjoy casual games themed around farming.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Free
Woodle Tree Adventures Deluxe
Woodle Tree Adventures Deluxe is fun at times but is unpolished. This is a 3D platformer, and things start off a little rough, but once you make it to the first stage, everything falls into place. You’ll collect items as you make your way through each stage, and while you can’t control the camera, it changes directions on its own reasonably well (if a little slow). So if you’re hard up for a new 3D platformer to play through, you could do worse than Woodle Tree Adventures Deluxe, but you could also do better.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.99 apiece
Free+
Snake Master 3D
Snake Master 3D is a simple action game where you play the part of a snake tasked with eating or encircling its prey. This can be fun in short bursts, but the ads are frequent and annoying, but you can pay to remove them. Sure, this isn’t a complicated game, but it’s enjoyable enough, especially if you remove those ads, so it’s worth a look if you dig casual time wasters.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $3.49 – $4.99
Free+
Mediocre Games
Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization
Arc The Lad R
Arc the Lad is a tactical role-playing game that came about in the ’90s, and Arc The Lad R is a gacha game themed around the series that offers tactical gameplay. Much like Fire Emblem Heroes, this gameplay is extremely stale and unbalanced, with things either being too easy or too hard, with no in-between to be found. We also know that this game is already shutting down in Japan, so I wouldn’t hold out much hope for proper support for the English version since the game is already winding down in its launch region.
Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $19.99 apiece
Free+
Smash Kingdom : Slingshot Action Defense
Smash Kingdom takes the tried and true slingshot formula we’ve all seen before and implements this control scheme into a game that plays a lot like a pinball machine. Once you fire off your attacker, you can watch as they bounce around the stage, taking down the foes they hit. It’s a simple setup that’s fun at first, but then you’ll see you’re tasked with collecting cards and building a kingdom, which is where the grind enters the picture and is why this game is monetized to the hilt. Once you hit the grind wall, it’s fairly apparent Smash Kingdom was balanced to suck up money, not for fun.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $109.99
Free+
MODERN WARSHIPS: Sea Battle Online
Modern Warships is a strategic naval war game, and it’s the perfect representation of everything that’s wrong with mobile gaming. First, there’s the all-caps title, annoying to the point that Google recently made rules to ban this practice. Next up is the fake notification alert that’s located at the top right of the game’s icon, an incredibly smarmy move if I’ve ever seen it, something so smarmy it’s only matched by the endless list of fake five-star reviews on the Play Store. Then there is the game itself, which looks nice enough but is filled with greedy monetization, poor balancing that pushes players towards the game’s many IAPs, and of course, tons of performance issues. Modern Warships is pure garbage. Stay far away.
Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $2.49 – $99.99
Free+
WTF Game Of The Week
Titles that make you say “WTF”
Graveyard Cleaning
What’s more WTF than making a game where players clean tombstones? Clearly, Graveyard Cleaning offers exactly that, which makes for an incredibly causal game where you swipe on tombstones to scrape, scrub, and wash them off, revealing the name of the dead person’s tombstone. Here’s where things get weird. This game uses real names, and so my first stone was for Chadwick Boseman, which caught me by surprise and felt kind of distasteful to see the name of someone that recently died used as a mechanic in a lame mobile game, adding exponentially to this title’s WTF factor.
Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs
Free
Know A Worthy New App? Let Us Know!
If you have an application in mind for the next issue of the roundup, feel free to send us an email and let us know.
Important: there are 2 requirements in order for the app to be considered, listed below.
- the app’s launch date has to be no longer than 2 weeks ago
- it has to be original, ground-breaking, well-reviewed, interesting, fun, etc – the cream of the crop
Now, if and only if the above requirements have been satisfied, fire up an email to this address: [email protected].
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