Because we like you guys like that, we’re rounding up the best games for 2017. If you’re just now catching up to games this holiday season, then take the chance to fill up your Android device with these great titles. You may never have the time to play them all, but there’s a certain calm knowing that the games you have in your device are the best you can find. Here they are in no particular order.
Pokemon GO
This Niantic’s hit game of 2016, but the year 2017 held some pretty big surprises for Pokemon GO players – very noticeably, the entry of Legendary Pokemon into the fray. The game may be more than a year old, but the game everyone started playing in 2016 is a very different one now in 2017. Niantic has added some features to make the game more rewarding for hardcore Pokemon fans, and there have been numerous tweaks and fixes to the game that make it a better one than the one you left behind in 2016. If you’re looking to get back into it, check out the download link below.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Vainglory
The first real MOBA game on Android still holds up as probably still the best MOBA game on Android (we’re holding out our opinion on Arena of Valor until we review it). Vainglory is enjoyable as a MOBA game – even with the restrictions of being played on a mobile device – for two things: firstly, that it has great graphics. Secondly, probably because the game developers stayed with the 3v3 format instead of pushing for the more common 5v5 format. We hear that a 5v5 update is coming for Vainglory, but for now, the game is still one of the best in the Play Store.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Death Road to Canada
If you need a zombie movie mashed up with a retro game, then what you need is Death Road to Canada. This little classic game has become quite popular because of the RPG and arcade game elements with lots and lots of humor. The basic thing in the game is not to get eaten, but the Choose Your Own Adventure-type decisions you need to make will either lead you to safety or being attacked by a very Canadian moose. So you have to have your wits about you if you’re to survive this great new game.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Love You to Bits
Love You To Bits is probably one of the best point-and-click games made this year – a gorgeous and very witty game that engages you to solve its puzzles. You play Kosmo, a space explorer searching for the scattered pieces of his robot girlfriend – he only has the lifeless head in his possession. We are in awe of the games rendering of its various scenes, and the game is thick with pop culture references. Every now and then, there will be a task that requires your imagination to move towards its limits. The game is too precious to waste, so wonderfully designed that we’d recommend it in a heartbeat.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Run-a-Whale
We’d be remiss if we didn’t include an endless runner in this list, and Run-A-Whale is just begging for you to play it. In actuality, it’s an endless swimmer, because you play a friendly whale that gives a ride to a shipwrecked pirate. The elements are a bit different from normal endless runners, you tap and hold the screen to make the whale dive. Let go and he breaks to the surface, soaring into the air and making a big splash as he returns into the water. The point of the game is to survive, but the game challenges you along the way. The visuals are great, and the game is mostly endearing. Grab it, you won’t regret it.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Sidewords
There are very few original ideas for word games in Android, mainly because you can only do so much with words as the main game elements. But Sidewords is one of those truly original word games, that’s why we like it so much. Players will get blank grids with words along two edges, with the aim to use at least one letter from each edge to make new words of three or more letters. The words you form become solid areas, and the aim is to fill the grid. On smaller grids, this is easy. Larger grids will give players headaches, but this is the right kind of challenge for word puzzle addicts. Go get it.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
No Stick Shooter
If you’re feeling more like a shoot ’em up game, No Stick Shooter gives you the best from old-school shooting games bt also gives you modern touchscreen controls. The title says it all, you don’t need virtual D-pads for the game, you just need to tap in the general location of baddies descending on your planet to kill them. It’s not a tap-like-crazy game as well, it involves some strategy because your specific weapons need time to recharge, and the correct type of weapon will work well with certain types of enemies. There are just 30 levels in the game, but don’t think you can breeze through those so quickly. Consider that a challenge.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Super Samurai Rampage
If you’re the type for mindless slashing of enemies, Super Samurai Rampage puts you in the character of an angry Japanese swordsman. There is no information on why you’re angry, but in these types of games, you don’t really need a reason. Swiping is the name of the game, swipe left and right to slash. Swipe up for a majestic jump, then rain down death from above by swiping all directions from your jump. It’s not your most nuanced game, but then again, when swords and slashing are involved, we don’t need that much of a push to go have some fun.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Slayaway Camp
This game was the winner of Google’s indie game competition for this year, and there’s no big surprise in that. Slayaway Camp is the puzzle game you should be playing if you’re up for some dark comedy with a 1980’s horror flick theme. You get to assist Skullface – the slasher in this story – to kill campers, and you just slide across the board slashing away. There’s a lot to like about this – especially the pixelated approach to tone down the darkness of the story. And there’s the comedic script that’s topnotch as well.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
Causality
You might be forgiven for thinking that Causality is just another typical puzzle game. But we’re here to tell you otherwise – in fact, this is a great game that gets you thinking about time travel. Your aim is to get spacemen to exits that match the color of their helmet. You need to guide them as they run automatically, avoiding mysterious shadowy spacemen that devour them. Time travel portals complicate things, as they move spacemen through time so they can assist their earlier selves. That will take a while to learn, so the fun – and the frustration – is in experimenting with Causality. You’ll love us for pointing you to this
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
