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I just got an Android phone - what are the good games for it?

D

divisionbyzorro

Member
I just got my first smartphone ever (yes, I'm behind the times). After much deliberation, I ended up with an Android phone. My question is simple: what are the good games? I know that the market isn't nearly as big as it is on the iPhone, but there have to be some good games out there - I just don't know where to look? Does anybody know of any good Android games firsthand, or know of a good place to find reviews of Android games?
 
Z

ZZMitch

Member
There really arn't that many

Give some of these a try though...
-Abduction! World Attack
-Bonsai Blast
-Robo Defense
-Jewellust
-Raging Thunder
-Armageddon Squadron
-Wave Blazer
 
M

mrkgoo

Member
I can't help you with the android stuff unfortunately, but your post kind of highlights an advantage of the Apple Appstore - that people know where it is and where to look for it. (Not a slight on Android, just noting).
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
http://www.androidtapp.com/ has more than a couple game reviews, and though lacking in content they're enough to tell you if you should buy a game or not.

Also don't forget you can download any app and return it within 24 hours at no cost.
 
TheMissingLink

TheMissingLink

Member
Yeaaaaah, there really isn't a really great game on Android yet.

Some of the better games include Abduction! World Attack & Robo Defense. The emulators are apparently great...
 
D

DarkPanda

Member
I'm in the same boat as you. The Android market, sadly, isn't as developed as the iPhone market yet, so a nice selection of really good games still isn't there yet. There are some nice games though.

Robo Defense is a very good tower defense game, and so far is the only one I've actually bought the full version of. Multiple maps, multiple difficulty settings, upgradeable towers, achievements...very polished.

Space War is a basic but fun shoot-em-up.

I'd also recommend poke-a-mole and Funtowers for quick casual gaming. I haven't tried the emulators yet, since most of them seem to charge for the full version, and I'm not going to pay for an emulator. I'd love to know if there are good free ones available that control well on a keyboard-less phone.
 
J

JWong

Banned
So how does development of games work for Android anyways?

Like what do they use to make them?

I really want an Android phone... I hope the next Xperia Android phone has a physical keyboard.
 
P

phil_t

Banned
Two that stand out for me..

1. Bubble Defense - A really simplified tower defense style game, and very very addictive, I keep coming back to this one, less fancy graphics, but just quick easy and challenging fun

2. Space Physics - Very good problem solving with 'real physics' (Well sort of), you have to 'draw' the solutions in real time and get things to interact, a very good show off game..
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
JWong said:
Great stuff. 8)

Yes, indeed Motorola Droid is now the Milestone. >_>;; terrible change really.
Click to expand...

Still Droid in the US. :p

Also look for my Android™ game (via GAF CREATES II®) in Q4 of this year!

Disclaimer: May or may not come out.
 
A

ambalek

Member
Be wary of 3D games, they're usually pretty awful. The emulators by yongzh are pretty good unless you're on a keyboardless phone because they don't do multitouch (patents you see). I have a Nexus One so trying to play SNES games is painful. NES might be easier.

Robo Defense and Radiant are pretty good though!
 
N

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Andrex said:
http://www.androidtapp.com/ has more than a couple game reviews, and though lacking in content they're enough to tell you if you should buy a game or not.

Also don't forget you can download any app and return it within 24 hours at no cost.
Click to expand...

Woah seriously? You can do that with any Android app at all, no exceptions? How do you go about returning it? (Is there an option within the store or do you have to negotiate with Google or the developer over email?) Also are there any limitations about how many times you can do it with different apps in a certain timeframe? (to prevent people from downloading a ton of apps and them using it as a demo to be sent back straight away)

I have an iphone and know more or less nothing about the android apps, so I honestly never knew about this. If true, that's pretty freaking sweet! :D
 
T

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
Nuclear Muffin said:
Woah seriously? You can do that with any Android app at all, no exceptions? How do you go about returning it? (Is there an option within the store or do you have to negotiate with Google or the developer over email?) Also are there any limitations about how many times you can do it with different apps in a certain timeframe? (to prevent people from downloading a ton of apps and them using it as a demo to be sent back straight away)

I have an iphone and know more or less nothing about the android apps, so I honestly never knew about this. If true, that's pretty freaking sweet! :D
Click to expand...

Ah, it's handled by the Market, and you can only do it once per app. The thinking is if you got a sample you shouldn't expect to get it free for a day anymore.
 
N

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Andrex said:
Ah, it's handled by the Market, and you can only do it once per app. The thinking is if you got a sample you shouldn't expect to get it free for a day anymore.
Click to expand...

Ahh knew it was too good to be true, obviously too easily expoitable. So it's really the same situation as with the app store (though from the sounds of it, it seems to be much easier to do)
 
K

krashe

Member
i've had my g1 since lauch, and i fail to see the point of playing games on my phone.... like ever. seriously - why?. i love my phone. and will bow at the alter of geekdom but some shit doesn't need to converge. i have a psp that collects dust, and a ds that has everything i could want or need on the go. WHY THE FUCK DO I WANT TO PLAY GAMES ON MY PHONE? /rant off.

oh but that barcode scanner app is the SHIT. to me thats a fucking game. i scan shit all the fucking time. i whip that shit out everywhere i go... i'm weirf.
 
T

The Take Out Bandit

Member
krashe said:
i've had my g1 since lauch, and i fail to see the point of playing games on my phone.... like ever. seriously - why?. i love my phone. and will bow at the alter of geekdom but some shit doesn't need to converge. i have a psp that collects dust, and a ds that has everything i could want or need on the go. WHY THE FUCK DO I WANT TO PLAY GAMES ON MY PHONE? /rant off.
Click to expand...

Because unlike a PSP / DS you generally have your phone with you at all times.

Why not play a game while waiting in a long line at the post office or some other place where your only other option is to stare at four walls, or regret getting in line behind those fatties that reek of bologna and B.O. or perhaps they just naturally secrete a bologna and onion scent at that weight?
 
K

Kishgal

Banned
I'd really love a Panel de Pon clone for Android. There's always Tetris Attack in the SNES emulator, but something with touch screen support for dragging like Panel de Pon DS would be really cool. :\
 
D

DarkJC

Member
krashe said:
i've had my g1 since lauch, and i fail to see the point of playing games on my phone.... like ever. seriously - why?. i love my phone. and will bow at the alter of geekdom but some shit doesn't need to converge. i have a psp that collects dust, and a ds that has everything i could want or need on the go. WHY THE FUCK DO I WANT TO PLAY GAMES ON MY PHONE? /rant off.

oh but that barcode scanner app is the SHIT. to me thats a fucking game. i scan shit all the fucking time. i whip that shit out everywhere i go... i'm weirf.
Click to expand...

It's simple: I have a psp and a ds but they don't fit in my pocket. My phone does, and it's there for simple gaming whenever I have spare time and I dont have anything else with me. I mean sure the PSP and DS provide experiences my iPhone doesn't come close to, but I don't see why anyone would be against having great little games on an even more portable platform.

It's sorta like the saying I've heard about cameras, "the best camera is the one you have with you". Same thing applies to gaming on phones too.
 
Haunted

Haunted

Member
I smell a new system war oncoming.

Android vs iPhone


I don't have one of those newfangled thingamajig phones yet, so I'm still neutral. I assume Apple's dominating right now?
 
K

Kishgal

Banned
Haunted said:
I smell a new system war oncoming.

Android vs iPhone


I don't have one of those newfangled thingamajig phones yet, so I'm still neutral. I assume Apple's dominating right now?
Click to expand...
When looking strictly at apps, the iPhone is ahead by both sheer number of apps, and support by big-name developers. Android seems to be catching up, but it still has a ways to go.
 
D

Double D

Member
Jtwo said:
Gameboid.
Click to expand...

This x 100. I've got a droid and it has allowed me to finally finish up Metroid Fusion. It was a 'dump at work' exclusive.

If you are using a droid, enable the option to flip the screen upside down. It lets you hold the device with the keyboard on top, allowing you to use your left thumb with the dpad.
 
J

J Tourettes

Banned
Kishgal said:
When looking strictly at apps, the iPhone is ahead by both sheer number of apps, and support by big-name developers. Android seems to be catching up, but it still has a ways to go.
Click to expand...

I think I read somewhere that Android has about 20,000 apps to the iPhones 100k or so.
 
W

Waqas

Member
You picked the wrong platform for gaming, most android phones can't do opengel es 2.0, one exception is the google nexus, but it still lacks a proper graphics chip like the iphone 3gs.
 
R

radioheadrule83

Banned
J Tourettes said:
I think I read somewhere that Android has about 20,000 apps to the iPhones 100k or so.
Click to expand...

When I read the 20k report, iPhone was at around 90k apps. For the length of time that the Android Market has existed, its pacing really really well. It needs better support from big developers though.


My recommendations:

SNESoid, Gameboid, Nesoid and Gensoid - All work really well, but would probably be best on an Android Phone with a tangible keyboard. NES games work fine on a touch screen phone with a few buttons, but it starts getting unworkable from SNES onwards... the dev who does SNESoid needs to add a multitouch virtual gamepad for those of us with capacative screens. He's already added tilt for left/right control, a virtual pad would solve a lot of problems.

Hyperspace - demo available as Hyperspace Lite. Its a tilt game like Monkey Ball, where you move a soccer ball from one end of the level to the goal. Not as good as Monkey Ball obviously, but shows that kind of game could clearly be done.

MotoXMayhem - not on the store yet afaik. But you can download and install the .APK that was entered into the Google ADC2 competition.

ScummVM - monkey island, maniac mansion / day of the tentacle, sam & max hit the road etc... all working using this emulator.

What the Doodle? - its online pictionary, quite fun!

Flood-it! - someone took the paint-bucket tool and made a game out of it. Quite challenging little thing.

Space Physics - you have to get an object into a goal by drawing objects on the screen. You can draw lines/platforms, wheels, motors etc -- fixing a line to some wheels for example causes it to move like a car in the direction you drew in. Clever little game.

I also like having Sudoku / Solitaire type games on my phone.
 
K

Kaltagesta

Banned
ambalek said:
Be wary of 3D games, they're usually pretty awful. The emulators by yongzh are pretty good unless you're on a keyboardless phone because they don't do multitouch (patents you see). I have a Nexus One so trying to play SNES games is painful. NES might be easier.

Robo Defense and Radiant are pretty good though!
Click to expand...

Actually, a bunch of them do do multi-touch, just not most of the "Google Experience" ones. The HTC Hero, does, for example. As does the Droid. In fact, in the 2.0 SDK multi-touch was implemented (and all phones so far, afaik, have the hardware capabilities to do it) - the thing is that Google haven't used it. So you can't pinch zoom in google maps or the browser, but if you're running Android 2.0 or above, you DO have multi-touch (for example, if you type quickly and press two buttons at once, it'll register them all). Some apps use it (like the Dolphin Browser, or PicSay), but again, only if you have Android 2.0+

Orrrrrrr if you get a hacked rom. It's improved my phone ten fold - pinch zoom in the default browser and gallery! Lovely!
 
R

radioheadrule83

Banned
Kaltagesta said:
Actually, a bunch of them do do multi-touch, just not most of the "Google Experience" ones. The HTC Hero, does, for example. As does the Droid. In fact, in the 2.0 SDK multi-touch was implemented (and all phones so far, afaik, have the hardware capabilities to do it) - the thing is that Google haven't used it. So you can't pinch zoom in google maps or the browser, but if you're running Android 2.0 or above, you DO have multi-touch (for example, if you type quickly and press two buttons at once, it'll register them all). Some apps use it (like the Dolphin Browser, or PicSay), but again, only if you have Android 2.0+

Orrrrrrr if you get a hacked rom. It's improved my phone ten fold - pinch zoom in the default browser and gallery! Lovely!
Click to expand...

Pinch zoom is used in the default browser in the UK version of Hero, I read that the lack of its use in America was something to do with Apple, but I don't know how true that is.

Not all the 3d games are bad. IronSight by Polarbit AB is quite decent. Its like a 3d mech version of Worms. You take turns with the computer, moving your mech, choosing a trajectory and then firing. There are cluster munitions and other kinds of rockets, and airdrops come from the skies. It ran a bit sluggish on the Hero, but was playable. It may run nicer on the Droid, and certainly a lot nicer on the newer phones...

ironsight1.png
.
ironsight2.png


ironsight3.png
.
ironsight4.png


Polarbit's other games run on the same engine - I found the waverace style one and their FPS simply horrible to control, but its nice that they're making an effort. Raging Thunder looks hideous but the steering is ok... I can't bring myself to pay for the full product though. Needs a little more polish.

ragingthunder1.png
.
ragingthunder2.png


Its worth pointing out that both of these have online multiplayer too.
 
D

divisionbyzorro

Member
Waqas said:
You picked the wrong platform for gaming, most android phones can't do opengel es 2.0, one exception is the google nexus, but it still lacks a proper graphics chip like the iphone 3gs.
Click to expand...

I didn't pick it for gaming; I picked it for all the other stuff (and I'm an unapologetic Apple hater :lol). I just figured I'd explore what gaming options were available for the system.
 
M

mosaic

go eat paint
+1 for Battle for Mars.

A really nice Advance Wars clone. Cops the look and feel for the most part. Not quite as polished in terms of interface, but he keeps updating. A multiplayer game can take days to finish, though, if your opponent is the lazy sort.

Author's blog is here:

http://larvalabs.com/blog/android/battle-for-mars/

I keep wanting to give Uniwar a try, since it reminds me of Military Madness, but I never seem to get around to it.
 
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