I finally entered the land of Android; Candies are being crushed as we speak.

Well, both my parents have tablets and I have decided to give in and get one after getting a taste of games from the Google Play store.

So I bought an 16 Gig Insignia Flex 10.1 inch Tegra 3 powered tablet (plenty of juice without breaking the bank), and while most of the games available are no different from what you find on Kongregate, there are a few gems that are a blast to play.

The first game I downloaded was Candy Crush, I’ve only been playing for about 5 days and am already past level 45, the only thing is now I’m being slowed down artificially by waiting for mystery quests to unlock at the end of an episode. Oh well, it was free.

Then there were other gems I found (and lately, got a Google wallet to get the premium versions). They are the following…

Runbot - this is like a turbocharged 3D lane-based endless runner with skydiving, jetpacks, forks in the road, and a huge variety of design (free to boot as well), did I mention the polished graphics and professional-level animation. Get enough batteries (collected in the level) and acquire upgrades as well as powerups which can even affect what collectables are in the level. It looks to me this indeed beats the stuffing out of Subway Run, Running with Friends and maybe even Temple Run.

Smash hit - You’re going through a surreal world and you have to break the glass that’s in your way, hitting crystals to get more balls. I just bought the premium version which allows you to start at any checkpoint you cross on your way to unlocking endless mode (free players have to start at the beginning).

Blocky Roads - plop one of those side-view driving games in a 3D environment based on Minecraft and this is what you get. You only have three tracks in the free version, but the full version allows you get every piece of the farm that you’re trying to find after it’s blown away by a tornado.

Smash Cop - Basically, you’re a cop and you’re driving from a 3D-based overhead view trying to catch crooks or taking them to the police station. I’ve seen it crash once or twice but it’s fun when it works. Perform well enough and you can get car upgrades. Oh well, it was free

Beach Buggy Blitz - Kid friendly game where you drive along a semi-generated track on a remote island, collect enough coins and get the ability to pick up increasingly potent powerups while driving.

Angry Birds Rio - Might be fun for some, but might get boring due to it becoming very difficult to get a 2 and 3 star rating and the short commercials interspersed.


Another one is some GameMaker shoot-em-up taking place in World War 2, it’s quite tricky actually and mastering one set of levels only means you’ll still have trouble with the next.

Anyway, so it turns out that the screen doesn’t feel quite as awkward as one might first think (a heck of a lot nicer than the old trackpads that came with laptops), and yes, your fingers will put smudges on the screen (the tablet’s box even taking that into account by containing a wipe). I have to admit, it seems like a number of game types are entirely doable on tablets, though some like platformers have control schemes harder to get adjusted to than a controller or keyboard setup (though I just lay it down flat on a table and pick it up when I need to use the tilt controls). The nicest thing is that this is the closest you get to plug and play, the app. downloading is a one-step process and all you need to do after getting the tablet is sign in to your Google account (and after that you’re free to go). The Google wallet is also a good way to control your spending, but all of the higher-rated apps. should have a clear distinction of what is an in-app purchase and what isn’t.

So have you run into a situation where you feel you just had to have your first tablet, and how did you like it?

…lol welcome to the land!

What also makes it real easy to make purchases without risking the possibility of draining your account is that you can place a set amount in a Google Wallet and it will restrict how much you can spend.

I have a personal account which I drew 25 dollars from for the Google Wallet, that means once those 25 are gone, I cannot make any more purchases. I could easily see this being very useful for people with kids because they would not be able to drain their parent’s account. Useful for me as well since the original idea was to connect the purchases to my father’s credit card and now there’s nothing an app. can do to drain it (okay, I’m 25, but I have a safer debit card instead).

Generally, the higher rated apps. will make it very clear which is an IAP and which isn’t. Some of the paid apps. like Worm Run and Blocky Roads do not have that at all, just good-ole fashioned fun for a very low price (on average, you can buy 30 mobile games for the price of a single Xbox 360 game).

That’s really great that you can do purchases too. Me mate has a game which he plays online and can purchases on that game too.

The new “Humble Bundle 9: PC and Android” is just out: https://www.humblebundle.com/
Quite nice.

By now I hate all the IAP games, with 8 currencies, 4 wait-timers and the need to spend 50$ a week if you want to play it non-casual.
I rather buy my Android games once and am free to play whenever I want, how long I want.

Also very good (my taste) one time purchase games are:
Star Command
Plague Inc.
Myth Defemse
Game Dev Story
Beasty Bay

Good “f2p” games:
2048
A Monster ate my homeworld
Badland
Clear Vision 3
Cut the Rope Series
Dungeon Hunter
Dots
Foozle
Galactic Phantasies
Galaxy on Fire
Hill Climb Racing
Hoplite
Kami free
Pocket Mine
Radiant Defense
Spaceteam (awesome local coop game with friends as you need to communicate verbally)
Starlink
Trainyard EX
Super Monsters Ate my Condo (epilepsy warning :D)

Welcome to the 'Droid Ace.

There is one game on Android I do recommend and it is Lords Of Midnight. It was the “Skyrim” of the 8bit era and its been given a make over without ruining the game. Unlike the old Spectrum and C64 versions it now comes with a map, which is bloody handy!

Only wish Myst and Riven were available for the platform…

Are some of these games made for humor purposes, because I just saw this video about Bridge Constructor.

Really, the physics seem to defy all logic here and you have to rely on very unconventional methods to make things work with the physics engine :eek:

The 3D RPG game looks nice, but I would more likely get it by itself then rely on the hope that every game would have my interest.

I think it would be a cool idea to make changes to the physics engines - perhaps it’s still in the WIP stage. Once this is all sorted, things would get that much easier.

well, you get 9 games for 4 bucks. Do you expect a high quality physics engine in a casual indie game for 45 cents? :slight_smile: I havent had any quirks so far and if, i don’t care. I lol and retry the level.

You are right. $4 gets you nine games. Not a bad price. Imagine the effort the developers must have placed in this. And full credit to them.

You should try to go to Tegra Zone dude. There is a plenty of games that are well optimized for your Tegra tablet, which have much better detailed graphics and more sophisticated visual effects.

Sweet! Delicious! Divine!

Well, if I’m going to pay for something, I at least want to make sure that I’m not adjusting my technique to work around an array of imperfections in the physics or logic, I’m looking for games that are higher quality than your average free browser game. :slight_smile:

Anyway, I decided to make a small 99 cent purchase to remove the ads in Runbot (a lot of free games have it where an in-app purchase removes the ads). I think it’s more than good enough to warrant being in the paid app. section (but the developer made it free anyway). The ads themselves in the games these days I think could use a lot more diversity (right now it’s Clash of Clans with almost nothing else)

Really? All I get in terms of ads is “find singles near you!”

I recently bought Chaos Rings. It’s a decent RPG, but the ‘file check’ every time you open it is a pain. If I hadn’t stolen the software the first time, what are the chances of that changing the 2nd, 3rd or any time after that?!

I’m leaning more towards paid apps at the moment. I just haven’t found many free games that I feel are actually good. Free apps also tend to follow a ‘cookie cutter’ pattern. You get to a point where you think “have I played this one before?”.

Games I currently have:

Bard’s Tale (paid)
Chaos Rings (paid)
Naught (free, not bad)
EpicHearts (free, but “meh”)
Lumi (free, but “meh”)
Deep Dungeons of Doom (free, 8-bit and “meh”)

I had Ragnarok Online, but the money farmers annoyed me into leaving.

Hmmm, in an ironic way, Google ensuring a large diversity of ads. for apps. that are supported by them would make it more likely they would be clicked on and thus generate more money for the developer, which in turn some of which might go back into Google’s coffers.

I actually get one that’s not Clash of Clans in Angry Birds Rio, but it’s the only app. I have right now that has more than one.

I pretty much ignore any and all adverts that come my way. If I see something interesting, then I’ll search for it myself and not bother clicking the ad.

Well, I probably should stop buying Android games because I now almost have more than I know to do with (enough to keep me busy for a while). The good news is that I’m not spending hundreds to build a game library because the priciest app. I got was still just 3 dollars (with the rest being 2 dollars and under).

Added to my collection is three more free apps. (including the free ad-supported (but still full) version of the critically acclaimed Paper Monsters platformer). On top of that paying for Bean’s Quest, Wind Up Knight 2, and Astro Golf.

So now I have a very high quality mini-golf game ported from the Apple app. store, a high quality running port also from iOS, two high quality platformers, other good quality platformer running games, a high quality tube runner (where it actually flattens out at points), a high quality physics game, and more. I’m pretty much set for now with the exception of a good marble game and a good free-roam car game (but maybe that ‘Ballance’ app. and that 4X4 Offroad app. will really turn into something :)).

Keep some pennies set aside, because this looks quite good: http://www.monumentvalleygame.com/
If they brought out Marble Madness (old NES game) for android, I’d be really happy.

It’s good that there are plenty of games. Usually I stick to a game until I clock it, and then sometimes need another to relax from the game that I stressing on.