Mobile gaming seems to reach new heights every year, as the hardware is improving at a significant rate than anything else. More and more high-quality mobile games are making their debut on Android, pushing the limits of the latest flagship silicons.
In fact, some of the best Android games are also free-to-play. They offer impressive and addicting gameplay on mobile devices – albeit with a plethora of microtransactions.
To be honest, in-app purchases are not much of a headache since they are mostly optional. Apart from the minor inconvenience, the Play Store currently has some fairly impressive titles to offer. If you are a regular visitor, you already know how many quality Android games we have covered in the last few months.
Although this month hasn’t seen any eye-catching game releases for Android, the following guide covers five of the best Android games we missed out on to showcase this year. You can check them out below and download them directly from the Play Store.
1. AnimA
If you are a fan of old-school action role-playing games like Baldur’s Gate and Diablo, you should definitely try out AnimA. It’s a hack ’n’ slash game with gameplay heavily inspired by older ARPG classics. AnimA features a dark fantasy world, with 40+ unique levels to go through. You can also find a dozen secret levels.
Unlike other mobile ARPGs, AnimA offers highly dynamic gameplay, giving players the option to follow the storyline, focus on loot, wipe waves of enemies, or extensively customize the in-game character that suits their playstyles. Your main objective in the campaign is to fight against evil forces, but the game’s dynamic nature brings up endless possibilities to how you complete the levels. You can choose between ten difficulty levels.
AnimA has fast-paced combat that encourages players to precisely time the hits and movements. You will encounter demons, beasts, dark knights, and other demonic creatures across the abyss, with challenging and engaging boss fights. Besides, the levels consist of rare item loots and hidden secrets for you to reveal, emphasizing exploration aspects of the game.
AnimA has a multi-class skill tree focusing on three specialization elements: Skirmish, Archery, and Sorcery. As you progress through the levels and level up your character, you can try out different combos of skills and abilities to find out what’s suitable for your playstyle.
Not only that, but you can also upgrade your equipment with the loot you get from slashing hordes of enemies. The game features over 200 items ranging between common, magic, rare, epic, and legendary rarities. It also lets you infuse two legendary items to create a powerful one with unique powers.
AnimA is still in active development, and you can play it for free. The game has recently received a multiplayer patch, and it gets frequent special event updates to keep the game fresh for existing players. Of course, microtransactions are enabled, but you can enjoy and complete the game without purchasing anything from the in-game item store.
2. Tesla vs. Lovecraft
From the Finnish creators of Neon Chrome and JYDGE, Tesla vs. Lovecraft is another twin-stick shooter with exceptional gameplay. Developed by 10tons Ltd, the game features Serbian-American electrical engineer Nikola Tesla in a fictional world. After his laboratory is burned down by nightmarish monsters unleashed by legendary horror author H.P. Lovecraft, Tesla embarks on a journey to annihilate them with his hi-tech weaponry.
Throughout the campaign, you will go through dozens of unique levels. You will also encounter extreme moments where you have clear out hundreds of enemies spawning on screen at one time. There are different perks and power-ups you can use to take unique approaches to complete the levels. Weapons also randomly spawn on the maps, encouraging you to take advantage of different firepowers.
Partially because of the developer’s past involvement with two twin-stick mobile games, Tesla vs. Lovecraft’s movement and shooting mechanics feels incredibly polished. You can play the game with a controller if you want to, but the touchscreen controls are quite comfortable.
Tesla vs. Lovecraft is a premium game, and it costs $9.99 on the Play Store. The base game already has tons of content, and you can expand it with new weapons, inventions, abilities, perks, monsters, and other stuff by paying extra for the “For Science!” expansion DLC. Other than that, it doesn’t have any microtransaction whatsoever.
3. The Room: Old Sins
The Room: Old Sins is the 4th installment in the award-winning “The Room” mobile puzzle game franchise. Developed by Fireproof Games, the game transports you to the house of an ambitious engineer and his wife, who has gone missing for a while. The mystery of their sudden disappearances leads you to the attic in their Waldegrave Manor, where you discover a peculiar dollhouse.
With an advanced eyepiece, you can explore each deviously complex room of the dollhouse, filled with intricate puzzles and bizarre contraptions. Each clue leads you to a new room every time, and one step closer to solving the unsettling mystery of the missing couple.
As weird as all of this sounds, The Room: Old Sins is by far the best game in the series. The mix of exceptional visual fidelity and dynamic soundtrack creates an unforgettable haunting environment, which is something even AAA console games don’t always manage to strike.
The Room: Old Sins is a must-play puzzle game if you have $4.99 to spare. Currently, the game stands with 4.9 ratings on the Play Store with literally zero negative reviews. You can also grab one of the previous three “The Room” games at heavily discounted prices now.
4. Dead Cells
Dead Cells, one of the best roguelike Metroidvania-style indie titles, was finally ported on Android in July this year. It combines procedurally generated rogue-lite mechanics with an exploration-heavy Castlevania platformer.
In Dead Cells, you start as a mass of cells that takes control of a prisoner’s corpse in a dungeon. As you explore the dungeon for an escape point and fight against the undead minions and brutes, you get to collect new weapons, power-ups, abilities, skills, and money. In some cases, enemies drop cells when defeated, which you can spend to acquire permanent power-ups.
However, the game uses a permadeath system, meaning that you lose all cells, items, and currencies upon every death. Since the cells can only be used at the end of a dungeon level, you need to survive through it to upgrade your character further.
Every dungeon level is procedurally generated, with random placements of items and enemy spawns. Hidden passages and secret rooms are also randomly generated. Each type of enemy has a unique combat pattern, meaning you have to adapt to the different patterns in order to survive the levels.
The Android port of Dead Cells offers almost the same visual fidelity as the game’s console counterparts. The touchscreen controls are tight, but you always have the option to use a controller. The gameplay is pretty much untouched, as you would expect from a full-fledged port.
At $8.99, Dead Cells may seem a bit pricey for a mobile game, but the incredible gameplay it offers is worth every cent. There are zero ads or in-game purchases.
5. Penguin Isle
Penguin Isle offers satisfying sim gameplay, featuring an expanding island and lots of penguins. It’s a relaxing incremental game that requires you to complete very simple tasks, keeping you engaged in building an ideal habitat for the penguins.
In the game, you can collect various penguins and other arctic animals as you continue expanding and building the perfect habitats for them. Everything else in Penguin Isle is quite relaxing, with fantastic polar scenery, adorable animal interactions, and atmospheric audio.
Penguin Isle is free to play, but it contains advertisements. You can remove them with a one-time in-app purchase.
Talha Ali is your tech generalist, covering a wide spectrum of topics within the ever-evolving world of technology. With a curiosity for the latest innovations, industry trends, and breakthroughs. Whether it’s hardware, software, emerging technologies, or the intersection of tech with daily life, Talha’s articles provide readers with a well-rounded perspective on the dynamic landscape of the tech industry.
