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Considering the shortness of February and the general malaise that is the entertainment industry between January and March, it's impressive that Android received so many high-profile games during the month. And indeed we did: JRPG fans have no less than three new classics to check out, there's a new chapter of The Walking Dead for horror fans, and plenty of titles for more causal players to try. Below in no particular order, you'll find our picks for the seven best new Android games of February, plus a few honorable mentions.
There's no nice way to say this: interesting and new apps were a bit thin on the ground in September. Maybe it was the double-threat of new announcements from both Google and Apple that scared off developers, or maybe they're all hung up on ancient Green Day lyrics. Either way, things were looking pretty sparse, but we still managed to find a few interesting tidbits for you. Here are our top seven and a few honorable mentions.
[Game Roundup] Our Top Seven Picks For The Best New Games Of September 2015
Our picks for the best new games of September 2015.
September was a huge month for Android games, with big titles from both well-known developers and indies alike receiving Android Police coverage. Everything from high-end first-person shooters to minimalistic puzzle games are represented below in our monthly picks and honorable mentions. You might have a bit of a wait before your shiny new Nexus phone arrives, but when it does, you'll have no shortage of new games to play on it.
August was light on new Android apps, but there's one new arrival that might change things in a big way: Amazon Underground. Aside from that, Google's new push towards streaming games and a new translator service from Microsoft make up the more interesting apps from the big publishers. That said, there are a few indie gems in both our primary lineup and the Honorable Mentions sections, so check them out below.
If you're a console gamer, you know that late summer is something of a dead zone for major game releases, as all the big studios gear up for blockbusters in October and November. Mobile gaming isn't following that trend at all: we had some fantastic releases in August, servicing every niche from casual to hardcore. We've got big franchise releases from Fallout and Pac-Man, and more interesting indie releases like Card Crawl. Pick your poison from our seven favorites below, along with honorable mentions.
June didn't see any huge releases in terms of Android apps, though we did finally get a publicly-available version of the Kodi Media Center, and Photoshop for Android (yes, yet another version of Photoshop). There are also some new tools for cloud storage fans, and probably the best cooking app on the Play Store. We've got some notable extras (especially if you're a Stephen Colbert fan). Here in no particular order are the best seven new apps from June, along with some honorable mentions.
We've seen a ton of Android games launch in June, but even so there are some clear standouts. There are true premium games for fans of top-down shooters, space flight games, tactical RPGs, and crafting... and that's without even dipping into the Honorable Mentions section. On a technical level we've got everything from 60fps 3D masterpieces to a game that looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint. Check out the best offerings from an extremely generous month on the Play Store below.
There's no nice way to say this: May kind of sucked for new apps. There were a lot of notable updates to major existing apps (including a slew of Material Design updates), but the biggest news of the month came from Microsoft, of all places. Oh well - a short field just means it's that much easier to pick your bets. Here in no particular order are our top picks for the month of May, and a few runners up.
The biggest Android gaming news of the month was certainly the release of NVIDIA's SHIELD Android TV, and it brought with it quite a few high-profile PC ports. But since the vast majority of readers don't have one, I've decided to restrict this month's top picks to more general smartphone and tablet games. Fear not, SHIELD early adopters: you get your own picks down there below the honorable mention section.
April was a bit sparse when it comes to new apps - there aren't any real standouts, though Facebook certainly made a splash with its self-branded phone dialer. The rest of the best picks from last month are mostly advanced tools for power users, or in the case of the impressive edjing, experienced music producers. Here in no particular order are our picks for the best of the lot, plus a few honorable mentions that might have broader appeal.
If you want to play classic ports or new PC games on your phone or tablet, then April was definitely your month. Between the blockbuster adventure game Broken Age and classics like Ys, there's a lot of non-mobile goodness to go around. But don't worry: there are a few original games to investigate as well, notably Implosion and the third entry in the Sorcery series. Here in no particular order are our top picks, along with some honorable mentions.
February saw some considerable new apps, both in terms of new services like YouTube Kids and Sling TV, and in expanded tools like PhotoMath and Microsoft's first custom keyboard for Android. If you find it hard to see the tiny type on your new ultra-high-res phone, check out BIG Notifications. Below are our top seven picks from last month, along with some honorable mentions.
Dear readers: I have a confession to make. I completely forgot about our monthly best-of games series, because when the event came up on the calendar I was busy drooling over the new SHIELD set-top box and other Game Developers Conference-related stuff in San Francisco. Here, belated but hopefully still appreciated, are my picks for the top seven Android games of last month and a few honorable mentions.
January brought us the yearly madness that is CES, but that doesn't mean much in terms of software. The biggest news is probably Microsoft's continued expansion into multi-platform support for its biggest software sellers, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and now even Outlook. Google has been uncharacteristically quiet so far in 2015, aside from updating its current stable of apps.
Popular wisdom says that movies released in January are the detritus of the previous year, as studios breathe a sigh of relief once all the Christmas blockbusters and Oscar bait has left theaters. The game industry has inherited a bit of this stigma, but it's hard to argue with the evidence: for the first time in over two years, we skipped a game roundup because of a lack of content. Even so, there are enough notable newcomers to keep you occupied until Valentine's Day at least.
The holidays are a time for warm family gatherings and quiet reflection... and apparently for releasing a metric ton of Android games. Seriously, in December I couldn't even get our bi-weekly roundups out before a new highly-anticipated AAA game, port, or remake would fall into my inbox. Here are our seven top picks from the final and heaviest gaming month of 2014, along with some notable honorable mentions... and even that doesn't cover all the good stuff.
With Android Lollipop finally getting into full swing, November was the month for developers (or at least those devs that are paying attention) to release Material Design UI updates. Those updates took up a lot of AP coverage last month, but there are still a few standout apps for you to check out below. Just don't get too attached to Clippit - it's entirely too cool and useful to survive the wrath of the US copyright system.
If you're a fan of strategy games, you had a very good month in November. In addition to soft strategy like Kingdom Rush: Origins and Godus, you've got new entries in the XCOM and Civilization series, not to mention the very impressive newcomer The Banner Saga. There are also some respectable entries in what you might call the casual genre (if you weren't busy swearing at some of the higher levels in The Blocks Cometh), and we've added a few honorable mentions as well.
[Game Roundup] Our Top Seven Picks For The Best New Games Of September 2014
A look at our best games from September 2014.
September was an unusually good month for high-end Android games, especially those that are ported or simultaneously released on other platforms. The latest entry in the Anomaly series is sure to please tower defense fans, Mage Gauntlet will make action RPG players happy, the original Dragon Quest is available for those who appreciate the classics, and the much-loved Goat Simulator is there for... well, for gamers who like goats, I suppose. Here in no particular order are our picks for the best games of September, along some notable extras.
[Game Roundup] Our Top Seven Picks For The Best New Games Of December 2013
[Game Roundup] Our Top Seven Picks For The Best New Games Of December 2013
Happy New Year, Android gamers. If you're lucky enough to get today off from work, no doubt you're wondering how to spend your vacation and/or recovery time. We've got a few humble suggestions: the seven best games of the dozens and dozens that were featured on Android Police last month. This eclectic mix of titles should have a little something for everyone. Here are our favorites from December, in no particular order, with a few runners-up thrown in for good measure.