Top New Android Games This Month

Nubs' Adventure - Early Access Free-to-play, download a desktop version

• Developer: IMakeGames

Nubs' Adventure is my personal choice of the best indie games of the month. It is currently available on Android as a free-to-play early access game, and I encourage you give it a try. It is addicting, engrossing and wonderful in every aspect. A 2D Metroid-style platformer, it has you following and helping a little white pixel guy called Nub on his heart-breaking adventure to restore his home after two burglars broke in and threw Nub off a cliff. At first, his adventure seems like a trip through the world of the dead, but then you realize he is still alive and there is this little shining pixel helping him out occasionally. The controls are smooth and the visuals are spot on while the music is amazing and atmospheric. The moment I launched it and folks hanging around me heard the sounds, everyone wanted to take a look, and the next thing you know the were downloading the game and arguing about how to climb that rope or open that gate. Kids loved it, too. So, it is a success the way it is now, and another great news is the early access game is also available for desktop computers, so check out the link above.

SOL INVICTUS: The Gamebook $0.99

• Developer: Cubus Games

Sol Invictus is a stellar sequel to last year's Heavy Metal Thunder gamebook that goes on with the story of a Black Lance Legion soldier Cromulus on his lethal fight against the alien invaders, and human vice. The adventure is a gripping one, with fast and easy to digest narrative, bold and intense dice-skill dependent battles and personal interactions of the hero with his friends and rivals. The art work is unique and, without a doubt, talented, not some run-of-the-mill imagery found in 80% of the games. The music is grim and atmospheric while the gameplay is incredibly engrossing and offers an excellent replay value, with a superb branching. Read out full review here.

Gunbrick $2.99

• Developer: Nitrome

Gunbrick is one of the best puzzlers this month, and Nitrome is harvesting excellent reviews from gamers. Priced at $3 and featuring zero replay value, its 30-something levels are pure fun and a unique challenge. The story of gunbrick is still not quite clear to me, but I think he is some sort of spec ops inj delivery in a parallel world where they forgot to invent wheels and travel in cubes. There is this little duck-like guy who hops into a cube stuffed with tech – a shield on its upper side and a rocket on its bottom side. Swipe to move left or right, tap to shoot rockets. The latter destroy obstacles and foes that can be destroyed, but also to move around. If positioned downwards, the launched rocket will propel the gunbrick upwards so it can land on higher platforms. If shot sideways, a rocket will push you into the opposite direction – one rocket, one cell. Since you're a cube with two action sides, your positioning is crucial, and the puzzles are meticulously crafted to have you scratch your head. A great joy for puzzle fans, Gunbrick is a colorful pixel-style platformer with elements of arcade, but still a puzzler at heart. One thing I didn't like, though, is the gunbrick is bloody violent, crashing bystanders and pigeons.

Spectrum $2.99

• Developer: Bulkypix

Spectrum is a very smooth and good-looking arcade with geometry in mind. Here, you are tasked with controlling a beautiful shiny orb on its way through a maze of levels. The levels are time-based, so the challenge is quite hard; while the design is futuristic and abstract, and ultimately - beautiful. The game interestingly implements a mix of touch and tilt controls to avoid traps, collect goodies and float to safety avoiding electric barriers and wind turbines. If your orb touches a trap, it will send it dashing to a direction you did not plan, or destroy it altogether. You have to complete levels to unlock the consecutive levels and new areas, collecting black dots in time.

Crossy Road Freemium

• Developer: Yodo1 Games

Crossy Road is basically an incarnation of Flappy Bird, only with greater variety. Truth be told, I never understood the hype around Flappy Bird, which I found annoying, so the same is true about Crossy Road, but if it's your cup of tea – try it out. You control a duck (a penguin, a rabbit or another dozen or so unlockable heroes) as it hops trying to cross a very, oh but very endless highway. Tap to hop one lane forward, swipe left or right to change direction a bit, but you can't hop backwards. Your pixel pets will die occasionally, and the bypassing vehicles will carry their plastered bodies on their hulls. Overall, it is addicting, and fun, or annoying.

Sky Gamblers: Storm Raiders $0.99

• Developer: Atypical Games

Sky Gamblers is an iOS veteran, but it only recently launched, or stormed into Android, and if you are a flight sim fanatic, give this one a test drive, especially if you consider the price-value ratio. The game looks dazzling and costs $0.99, and takes you to the scenes of WWII, where you get to fight steaming dogfights, bomb enemy structures, fly through tunnels and below bridges. Fly as a Pearl Harbor combat pilot, or go to Europe to defend Coast of Dover. Storm Raider's main lure is its dazzling, complex visuals that render the tiniest of details, day and night, weather and light, interactive cockpit and 3rd person views, hi-def textures and more graphics-wise. The game also features several modes, including online multiplayer.

Gunslugs 2 $2.99

• Developer: OrangePixel

One of the craziest releases this month, Gunslugs populates your screen with sometimes hilarious, other times lethal, chaotic action. Shoot and run, run and shoot, take towers level by level, hop into a chopper and fly only to get to the next tower to keep purging it from the nasty duck invaders level by level again until you encounter a boss.

The game is abundant in the sci-fi movies characters, great pixel art, frantic brawling and tons of fun, as you figth the Black Duck Army that wants to conquer your planet. You also get to release you buddies who are locked in cages all over the towers, so don't rush by because these will be your allies and helpers. Hectic blast of your brain and eyeballs, Gunslugs 2 is a long-time fun and a worthy purchase.

WWE Immortals Free-to-play

• Developer: Warner Bros. International Enterprises

If you are a fan of the WWE Injustice, you will feel quite at home in Immortals – same everything but the outfits and a few other attire perks. It looks fabulous, plays smooth, but does require a hefty deal of hardware horse power and storage. Overall, the amount of content is excellent and you will have lots of fun with this somewhat silly muscle-show off featuring your favorite characters wearing fancy immortal outfits and hats, even Hulk Hogan.

Flockers $1.99

• Developer: Team 17 Digital Limited

It's the year of the sheep, so sheep games galore. I doubt, however, this year's patron animal would appreciate the harrowing tortures this games puts its brethren though. The sheep are fed up with being lab rats for Worms and choose to escape through a Saw-like maze full of lethal traps. They will be dying in most horrible ways, sometimes sacrificing themselves to save the flock. On the flip side, they also have a few supernatural abilities like hopping and floating, bouncing off the walls and exploding. Sheep come in a great variety (they even have zombie and skeleton sheep) and you will be unlocking them as you play. Beautiful, hilarious, but creepy, Flockers feels like a distant rendition of Badland.

ROTO: A Simple Circular Puzzle Free-to-play

• Developer: WerakuGames

ROTO has you controlling a rotating black ball as it bounces to and from other balls bigger in size. The bigger ones are different in color and character, and the game trailer suggests a parallel between balls and human interactions. Some will accept you, other will ignore you, others will reject you, while the nastiest will try to kill you. So is the case with Roto, and you will need a good deal of reflexes and fast fingers to do well in this minimalist twitch game with nice grayscale design and great music.

Besides the balls, Roto will occasionally harvest stars, so the symbolism of life's ups and downs is quite evident. The game features 120 levels in 4 levels packs, and the developers plan to release 100 more.

Space Expedition $0.99

• Developer: Mobirate Ltd

An amazing Metrodi-like sci-fi platformer, Space Expedition comes with a bit of a NES flavor spiced with awesome pixel-styled visuals, engrossing story, plenty of smart puzzles and a good deal of mix of other genres. For example, there are puzzles, races and arcade combat encounters, and all of this goodness is wrapped in an interesting story full of monsters, traps, quests, spaceships and intergalactic fun. It is worth noting the game is somewhat short, but totally worth the purchase for what it is – a highly replayable sci-fi adventure, fun, engrossing, beautiful, atmospheric, with neat controls, good music and accessibility for all age categories.

Boomerang Chang Free

• Developer: CrazyGames.com

This fun indie arcade game offers a good deal of replay value and fast-paced, hilarious pixel boomerang throwing. You control a pixel ninja standing a top a tower and fighting off hoards of baddies closing in on him from all over – the land and the air. You shoot boomerangs at the baddies, and be careful because when your flying weapon does not hit its target, it comes back to hit you. The pixel art is beautiful; the gameplay is simple, but very hard ; the challenge is endless; the price is $0 – what's not to love? And remember – indie devs appreciate your rating their games.

LEGO® ULTRA AGENTS Antimatter Free

• Developer: The LEGO Group

Lego is one of the AAA developers this January that have gone all-in with the freebies – check out their page on Google Play – most games are now free. Lego BIONICLE is one such early-January release that comes completely free of charge and free of IAPs, and the game sees you controlling Bionicle robots fighting endless waves of crabs.

Lego Ultra Agents Antimatter is also free and IAP-free. If you have played the previous Ultra Agents game by Lego, you should be familiar with the story. In short, Antimatter is an anti-hero trying to convert good citizens into bad ones and Ultra Agents confront him. The game offers a decent feature set, with weapons, tech, good-looking design and familiar mechanics. The developer definitely bets on getting the younger generations of players hooked on the characters and buy more Lego physical toys. Hence, the accessibility of the game. Don't say I did not warn you.

N.O.V.A. 3: Freedom Edition Free-to-play

• Developer: Gameloft

The game itself is not new, but the fact that Gameloft decided to make it available for a lot more players worldwide, giving it away for free is noteworthy. Is piracy the reason behind the move? Or, maybe Gameloft's sales are declining – we don't know, and that is ultimately not what interests the average players. This mega-popular first person shooter has you blasting your way through the waves of aliens that have invaded and conquered Earth long time ago. Now is your time to avenge and claim what is yours. Or die trying. Or blast the heck out of it so that the aliens may not have it, either.

Adventure Time Game Wizard $4.99

• Developer: Cartoon Network

Those of you who fancy Cartoon Network shows may have noticed their mobile games are also numerous, but maybe slightly less popular. This game, however, may look like something you would want to try because it gives you the opportunity to make and play your own Adventure Time-themed games, or mini-games rather.

The initial game has Finn and Jake battle a Doodle Wizard's army in an open world encompassing a lot of lands you should be familiar with from the shows, like Candy Kingdom, Grasslands and other locations. You can play in the adventure mode, or craft your own levels. You can draw and bring to life traps, enemies and portals, loot and power-ups, but most importantly – heroes like Finn, Jake, BMO, Flame Princess and Ice King. There are two way to create the drawings – scan what you've drawn on paper, or make mathematical level designs in the game.

The Arcade area lets you check out the other user-created games and share yours. Finally, original voice over and availability in many languages makes it a worthy try for the fans of the Adventure Time show.

The Witcher Battle Arena Free-to-play

• Developer: CD Projekt Red

It has been a long time coming – the Witcher Battle Arena has been announced last year, and the developers at CD Projekt Red took their time working on this impressive MOBA. It certainly is one of the most prominent releases this month, not only because it is a game based on the famous Witcher fantasy series, but also because this first mobile spin-off features awesome perks for the fans of the MOBA.

It looks dazzling, and offers short sessions of gameplay of about ten minutes each that suits anyone from commuters to office workers on a coffee break. The game runs both in online and offline modes, so you can play it on the go. Of course, keep in mind that the offline mode does not have some features available in the online one. Single and multiplayer modes are available, as well as a typical RPG hero progression.

The free-to-play model implemented in the game is fair, according to the developers – users will be able to unlock all content, step by step, by simply playing, not exactly as tedious as grinding, and we will see about that. Also, paying players won't be able to bully the non-paying players.

There are 9 epic heroes, and if you have played the Witcher series of games before, you must be familiar with them. Each character comes with a unique skill set and combat style, as well as a great deal of items, weapons and magic attire. Also, the developers released a brief tutorial to give you a quick heads up about the UI and combat.

As far as combat is concerned, two teams, each consisting of three members, battle in fast-paced encounters on the Arena, trying to capture conquest points. A word of caution, though – the game was just launched on January 22nd, and it seems to have some technical issues. Hence, the 3.3 rating on Google Play. It hangs on my devices, too, and I prefer to give the developers some time to iron those issues out.