1. Drop
Some might call
Drop
a game, others might classify it as a tech demo that illustrates the
accuracy of the Android platform's accelerometer, thanks to how playing
it simply involves tilting your phone while making a little bouncy ball
falls between gaps in the platforms. Either way it'll amuse you for a
while and inform you of the accuracy of your accelerometer - a win-win
situation.
2. Frozen Bubble
Another key theme of the independent Android gaming scene is (ports of) clones of popular titles. Like
Frozen Bubble,
which is based around the ancient and many-times-copied concept of
firing gems up a screen to make little groups of similarly coloured
clusters. That's what you do. You've probably done it a million times
before, so if it's your thing get this downloaded.
3. Replica Island
Replica Island
is an extremely polished platform game that pulls off the shock result
of being very playable on an Android trackball. The heavy momentum of
the character means you're only switching direction with the ball or
d-pad, letting you whizz about the levels with ease. Then there's
jumping, bottom-bouncing, collecting and all the other usual platform
formalities.
4. Gem Miner
In
Gem Miner
you are a sort of mole character that likes to dig things out of the
ground. But that's not important. The game itself has you micro-managing
the raw materials you find, upgrading your digging powers and buying
bigger and better tools and maps. Looks great, plays well on Android's
limited button array. Go on, suck the very life out of the planet.
5. ConnecToo
Another coloured-square-based puzzle game, only
ConnecToo
has you joining them up. Link red to red, then blue to blue - then see
if you've left a pathway through to link yellow to yellow. You probably
haven't, so delete it all and try again.
A brilliantly simple
concept. ConnecTooused to be a paid-for game, but was recently switched
to an ad-supported model - meaning it now costs you £0.00.
6. Tetris
The most successful game to come out of Russia since, er, Russian roulette,
Tetris
has lost none of its gaming lustre in the 25 years since it was first
released. And now you can play the game on your phone, and thanks to
EA's slightly irksome free-to-play model it is free! Well, free as in
you have to dodge some awfully intrusive ads. Still, it's got the
original Tetris music so we are happy and so should you be.
7. Trap!
Not
the best-looking game you'll ever play, with its shabby brown
backgrounds and rudimentary text making it look like something you'd
find running on a PC in the year 1985. But
Trap! is good.
You
draw lines to box in moving spheres, gaining points for cordoning off
chunks of the screen. That sounds rubbish, so please invest two minutes
of your time having a go on it so you don't think we're talking
nonsense.
8. Jewels
Coloured
gems again, and this time your job is to switch pairs to make larger
groups which then disappear. That might also sound quite familiar. The
good thing about
Jewels
is its size and presentation, managing to look professional while
packing in more levels than should really be given away for free.
9. OpenSudoku
We had to put one
Sudoku game in here, so we'll go with
OpenSudoku
- which lives up to its open tag thanks to letting users install packs
of new puzzles generated by Sudoku makers. It's entirely possible you
could use this to play new Sudoku puzzles for the rest of your life, if
that's not too terrifying a thought.
10. Abduction!
Abduction! is a sweet little platform jumping game, presented in a similarly quirky and hand-drawn style as the super-fashionable
Doodle Jump.
You can't argue with cute cows and penguins with parachutes, or a game
that's easy to play with one hand thanks to its super accessible
accelerometer controls.
