18 new Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (3/8/21 – 3/14/21)

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today’s list is broken up into several segments, ranging from best, average, to mediocre. So whether you’re looking for the best games of quality or are simply looking for the latest free-to-play gacha titles, you’re covered. This week I have a unique driving game where you’ll drive blind, an enjoyable card game from one of the more dedicated indies on the platform, and a fun little pinball game that you play in landscape. So without further ado, here are the new and notable Android games released during the last week.

Best Games

Titles that offer fair pricing, enjoyable gameplay, polished interfaces, or are intriguing

Blind Drive

Blind Drive is literally how you play this game. By driving blind. While this isn’t the first title to go all-in on sound-based gameplay, it’s a polished effort where you’ll have to listen carefully to make it all the way through without crashing your car. As you would imagine, headphones are recommended, as it is the sound design in this game that excels beyond most mobile releases.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Card Hog – Rogue Card Crawler

Card Hog is a card-based dungeon crawler from SnoutUp Games, a dedicated indie that’s been making Android games for years. As you can see, this is a colorful title where all moves and attacks take place on a 4×3 grid of cards. The longer you last while delving the depths of the game’s dungeons without dying, the better, and so you’ll slowly earn permanent upgrades as you play to ensure that you’ll last longer and longer each playthrough. The gameplay is easy to pick up, and since this is a free-to-play title, everyone can check it out.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $0.99 apiece

Infinity Pinball

Infinity Pinball is a pixel-based pinball game, offering an old-school look for a familiar pinball experience. Unlike most pinball games, you’ll play in a landscape view, with your flipper buttons on each side of the screen. So even though you aren’t making use of your entire screen for this game, I can say it’s a comfortable way to play that suits this release well.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $0.99 apiece

Arcane Golf

Arcane Golf is a slingshot game where you’re tasked with shooting a ball around a stage in order to reach a goal, much like golf. You’ll pull back on the ball to fire it off in the opposite direction, hopefully banking it off a few walls to reach your intended platform. So really, this plays like a platformer where you’ll use slingshot controls to make your way to each stage’s goal, and it’s pretty enjoyable for such a simple design.

Monetization: $1.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Slime Labs

Slime Labs is a physics-based platformer where you’ll ooze your way through each stage by avoiding obstacles on your journey to each stage’s win condition. Since you’re a slime ball, you’ll use your powers of conformity to make it past the game’s many roadblocks, and there are even a few hidden items you can collect to snag a perfect score in each stage, like collecting stars in a Mario title. All in all, Slime Labs is a typical platformer, and it’s an enjoyable one.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.99 apiece

Cube Escape Collection

Cube Escape Collection is precisely that, an app that collects every point-and-click Cube Escape game from Rusty Lake, though you’ll still have to pay for each chapter. While you’ve always been able to buy each chapter as a stand-alone title, now you can also collect them in a single app with this singular release. Just like the originals, these games offer challenging puzzles and intriguing stories, so if you enjoy adventure games and have yet to experience Cube Escape, now’s your chance to see what you’ve been missing.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.49 apiece

StarGazing

StarGazing is a casual puzzler where you’ll use your memory to draw constellations. The atmosphere is relaxing, the gameplay is enjoyable, plus the game contains all sorts of tidbits about these constellations, so you may even learn something. You’re free to try the game, and if you like what you see, you can remove the title’s ads through an in-app purchase.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.99 apiece

Dungeon Village 2

Dungeon Village 2 is the latest Kairosoft strategy game to receive an English translation. As you can see, this is a continuation of the Dungeon Village series, and so you’ll manage several towns while powering your heroes to ensure gold keeps flowing for the town’s incremental upgrades. It’s a simple setup, and if you enjoyed the first, then you’ll surely have fun with the sequel.

Monetization: $6.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Average Games

Titles that may not be the best-of-the-best, but still offer fun and interesting mechanics

Drish The Challenge – Free Platformer. Retro Game

Drish The Challenge is a couple of months old, but since we’ve yet to cover it, so I wanted to make sure people got a chance to see it. This is a platformer, and it’s a challenging one. It’s ad-supported, and there’s no way to remove these ads, but beyond that, this is an enjoyable game where you’ll solve puzzles as you platform your way to each stage’s goal. You’ll collect coins, which can be used to purchase better equipment, which is how you’ll advance past the more formidable enemies. It’s a classic setup that’s a joy to play, though the controls will take some getting used to.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Dead Man’s Phone: Interactive Crime Drama

Dead Man’s Phone is an early-access lost-phone game. This is a genre where you’ve found a phone in-game, which you’ll explore through a UI that mimics that of a smartphone. It is through this phone you’ll solve the mystery within the game, all by interrogating suspects through a video chat app. It’s familiar territory, but the game also offers its own unique twist on the genre thanks to these video-based interviews, so if you’ve enjoyed previous lost-phone games, then you might get a kick out of Dead Man’s Phone.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $4.99 apiece

Fer.al

Fer.al is a social game where you’ll create your own mythical creature to then collect materials that can be used to craft unique items. These items are useful for decorating your in-gam home or creature. Basically, this game is a skinner box, in the literal sense, but also because the game is built around monetizing customization. Luckily the game doesn’t get too greedy with this setup, so here’s hoping it stays that way.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $10.99

Battery Boy

Battery Boy is an endless runner, but it also offers a few pinball sections, so there’s a little more to this title than your typical casual game. Like most endless runners, your job is to run as far as possible without dying, and of course, the more your run, the more currency you can earn, which will be useful for unlocking new characters and skins.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $24.99

Art Of Wood – Craft And Paint

Art Of Wood is a casual sculpture and painting game. It will be your job to sculpt specific objects out of blocks of wood to then paint those objects with fitting colors. It’s a simple game best played in short bursts, so if you prefer casual releases, then Art Of Wood should be right up your alley. Keep in mind there’s no way to remove the title’s ads, so you will have to put up with them for the time being.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

MISTICO: 1st Person Point & Click Puzzle Adventure

MISTICO is a point-and-click adventure game in the same vein as Myst (if you couldn’t tell by the name). So much like Myst, you’ll poke and prod every object in every scene in order to hunt for clues that will allow you to work your way to the end of the game. As it stands, it would be nice to see a hint system added to the title since it can be tough to tell what sections of the game you can interact with, so this is a title that could use more polish before it’s ready for prime-time.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Mediocre Games

Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization

BATTLESHIP APOLLO

Battleship Apollo is a space-based strategy game that might not offer the best graphics, but it does offer deep gameplay. You can choose to go it solo, or take your skills to the net through online play in massively multiplayer arenas. Best of all, like any good strategy game, this title offers enough content that will last you for years, which means you can continue upgrading your ships endlessly. Sadly the monetization isn’t the best, so whether this is a game worth investing time in depends on how well you can ignore the grind that results from not paying up.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $99.99

Necromunda: Gang Skirmish

Necromunda: Gang Skirmish is yet another game that’s barely fleshed out, and yet it’s already packed with monetization. Sure, the game may crash every other level, you might not be able to find any online players, but there’s no doubt the purchases work perfectly. Ideally, this game offers a similar experience to Mordheim: City of the Damned, a turn-based strategy game that’s fairly popular. Sadly the dev for Necromunda still has a lot of work to do if they want to reach the heights of Mordheim.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $89.99

Warpath

Warpath is a new release from LilithGames, who are basically offering a war theme over top Rise of Kingdoms, another free-to-play strategy game from the studio. As expected, the visuals are great, though the gameplay is lacking thanks to the title’s reliance on in-app purchases. Really, the game boils down to a kingdom builder, much like Clash of Clans or Game of War, so it doesn’t even bring anything new to the table.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $99.99

Hunter Legend – Rise of Clans

Hunter Legend – Rise of Clans is a simple monster hunting game that’s packed to the gills with greedy monetization. This title isn’t built for fun, it’s built to empty your wallet, and so its mechanics are transparent, resulting in a boring game that continually aggravates with false roadblocks. So if the keyword-stuffed name isn’t enough of a signal that Hunter Legend should be skipped, perhaps the awful monetization is.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 – $99.99

Know A Worthy New App? Let Us Know!

If you have an application in mind for the next issue of the roundup, feel free to send us an email and let us know.

Important: there are 2 requirements in order for the app to be considered, listed below.

• the app’s launch date has to be no longer than 2 weeks ago
• it has to be original, ground-breaking, well-reviewed, interesting, fun, etc – the cream of the crop

Now, if and only if the above requirements have been satisfied, fire up an email to this address: [email protected].

1 sponsored placement per week is available (your app would be featured at the top and marked as sponsored) – please contact us for details.