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Samsung finally remembers you actually paid for your phone, starts pulling ads from its apps
Health, Pay, and Weather are up first
We’ve complained about ads on Samsung’s smartphones for a while now, and we’re far from the only ones. A company selling devices priced well into the four-digit mark shouldn’t clutter up your display, especially in system-level services like the dialer. Thankfully, ads are finally starting to disappear from devices, starting with some of the company’s most afflicted apps.
FAR: Lone Sails is a gorgeous atmospheric adventure game, now available on Android
A visual masterpiece with middling touch controls
If you've never heard of it, FAR: Lone Sails is a stylish adventure game that's existed on PC since 2018, and it's a well-reviewed title that offers a story-rich experience without displaying a word on the screen. Primarily I would describe the release as a relaxing game that offers gameplay similar to indies like Inside, where the goal is to always move to the right to advance the story, and there's a unique Howl's Moving Castle mechanic in this release that will see you control a massive vehicle as it sails across a dried-out seabed. Of course, roadblocks are expected as you explore this desert, and so you'll solve puzzles to continue your journey forward.
Ubisoft already offers many free games on the Play Store, but most are stuffed with in-app purchases. Well, it would seem Ubisoft is giving back for once with its latest release Rabbids Coding. This is an educational game designed to help kids over the age of 7 learn basic programming skills. You see, those pesky Rabbids just trashed a space station, and so it will be the player's job to fix things by creating sequences of commands that will remove each Rabbid from the space station, one by one.
9th Dawn III, a deep and engaging action-RPG worth the asking price
And there's a demo so everyone can try the game for free
The 9th Dawn action-RPG series started eight years ago (2012) with Valorware's release of 9th Dawn on Android and iOS, and it's an enjoyable RPG that sports aging pixel-based graphics. The sequel, 9th Dawn II, made its way to mobile and PC four years later (2016), and is a much more polished affair, though a jump mechanic and missing controller support held the game back on mobile. Now that 9th Dawn III is finally here, it's clear the wait was well worth it. So if you're looking for a deep and highly-polished action RPG absolutely filled with loot, starting today, 9th Dawn III should be at the top of your list.
Monopoly Sudoku is the latest release from Marmalade Game Studio
While Monopoly is in the name, this is a standard sudoku title
Marmalade Game Studio has been releasing digital adaptations of Hasbro board games for a few years now, and already offers several familiar titles, like Clue, Battleship, and Monopoly. Of course, why sit on a lucrative license if you're not going to use it, and so Marmalade has been busy creating offshoots of these classic titles that offer their own unique mechanics in order to expand its catalog, and so the latest release from the company is Monopoly Sudoku, available today for $3.99.
Scythe: Digital Edition is an asymmetric competitive board game from Asmodee Digital
And it's cheaper than the Steam version
Asmodee Digital is best known for bringing many board games to Android thanks to its penchant for creating worthwhile digital ports of physical games. Despite the fact that board games are now more popular than ever, it would seem Asmodee has already worked through its catalog of easily-recognizable titles, such as Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne. This means Scythe: Digital Edition might not have the same name recognition as its forebearers, but it's still a quality release that captures the physical version's asymmetric competitive play.
Beat Legend: AVICII is the first game in a new rhythm series from Atari
Proceeds from the in-game music go to the late DJ’s charity
Atari just announced the arrival of Beat Legend: AVICII, and it's described as a rhythm-action experience, so it's essentially a rhythm game. As you would expect, this release contains many of the top tracks from world-renowned DJ and producer Avicii (Tim Bergling), such as Without You, Wake Me Up, and Levels. Better yet, this is a premium release, which means you can purchase Beat Legend: AVICII from the Play Store for $2.99.
This Is the Police tactical spinoff Rebel Cops shoots its way onto the Play Store
It's time to take the law into your own hands
Read update
HandyGames has announced today that its tactical spinoff title Rebel Cops is coming to Android sometime in the future. This is the same developer behind the games This Is the Police and its sequel, and while Rebel Cops has been available on Steam since September, it's nice to know a mobile version is in the works. Potential players should expect 15-hours of playtime in this turn-based strategy game, and of course, the gameplay and UI have been optimized for mobile play.
Heal: Pocket Edition is a heartfelt adventure game that delves into the realities of dementia
A short but worthwhile experience
Heal: Pocket Edition is a brand new point and click adventure game from the creator behind the successful Distraint puzzle-horror series, Jesse Makkonen. Unlike the Distraint series, where psychological horror takes a front seat, Heal: Pocket Edition delves into the realities of dementia. This means it will be your job to guide an old man through the game's gloomy puzzle-filled world as you piece together a tale that's primarily told through atmosphere instead of text. This means Heal is something of an experimental release that offers a heartwarming story that's primarily revealed through gameplay, and you can pick up the Android version today for $4.99.
Indie puzzler Path to Mnemosyne just landed on the Play Store
Crescent Moon Games brings Path to Mnemosyne to Android
DevilishGames' indie puzzler Path to Mnemosyne was just published on the Play Store by Crescent Moon Games. The title has been available on consoles and PC since 2018, and today marks the official release on mobile. Most notably, Path to Mnemosyne offers a unique black and white design where the game's hand-drawn path continually zooms out, making for a surreal experience that's almost hypnotic. Of course, puzzles will play a significant role in your progression to ultimately restore a young girl's lost memories.
Harvest Moon: Mad Dash turns the farming sim into a casual puzzler, now available on the Play Store
Natsume's Harvest Moon: Mad Dash has finally made its way to mobile
Out of nowhere, Natsume just released Harvest Moon: Mad Dash on the Google Play Store. Unlike the titles in the core Harvest Moon series, this release is not a farming simulator, at least not in the traditional sense. Harvest Moon: Mad Dash is actually a casual puzzle game that was released on consoles and PC at the tail end of 2019. While I had no doubt the title would eventually make its way to mobile, the fact that it was unceremoniously published on the Play Store this morning still came as a surprise.
Metroidvania Dandara gets Trials of Fear update, brings significant enhancements
Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition comes to Android as an extensive update to the 2018 release
Raw Fury has announced that its Metroidvania title Dandara has received a large content update today, and it's live on the Play Store. This update comes to the game free of charge, so if you already own the title, all you have to do is update it through the Play Store to see what's new. We already know that today's update brings with it new content to explore that's part of The Hidden Realms (which consists of three new areas), as well as a new boss fight, new powers, mechanics, and a new secret ending. New in-game descriptions, dialogues, and cutscenes have also been added to flesh out the game's story. So as you can see, the newly released Trials of Fear Edition offers some significant enhancements.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is one of the best Metroidvania games ever made, now available on Android
Out of nowhere, Konami releases Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Play Store
Talk about a welcome surprise. Konami has silently released Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the Google Play Store, and you can grab it today for $2.99. More importantly, this is a quality release that brings controller support, a new continue feature, content from the Sega Saturn version, and is displayed in the original 4:3 aspect ratio, so it's most likely a port of the PSP version. Really, the only thing that is missing from today's release is Nvidia Shield support.
3D puzzle adventure The House of Da Vinci 2 is out on the Play Store
If you like The Room, you'll probably also like The House of Da Vinci
The House of Da Vinci is a well-received, crowd-funded puzzle adventure game that lets you take the role of Leonardo da Vinci's promising apprentice. After your master's disappearance, you have to comb through his house to find clues on what happened to him. Four years after the original title, the Slovakian indie studio Blue Brain Games has now released the aptly-named follow-up on the Play Store, The House of Da Vinci 2. It follows mostly the same successful mechanics from the first title, only this time, you're going to travel through time to observe a "series of mysterious events that led to the greatest discovery in human history."
Well what do you know, Cold Beam Games just release the followup to its music-powered dual-stick shooter Beat Hazard eight years after the original arrived on the Play Store. The title is currently in early access, so is still under development, which is probably why it is currently on sale for half-off, which means you can grab Beat Hazard 2 today for $3.99.
Little Misfortune comes from Killmonday Games, the same developer behind Fran Bow, a popular episodic adventure game that contains a creepy atmosphere. Little Misfortune follows in Fran Bow's footsteps, as it's also a dark adventure game. Luckily, this time around the devs haven't broken up the title into separate releases on Android, which means Little Misfortune is a complete package, and you can pick it up today for $8.99.
Back in August of 2018, the stylish auto-runner Bendy in Nightmare Run was released on the Play Store by Joey Drew Studios, and it has been wildly successful, picking up over 5-million installs over the last year and a half. Shortly after Nightmare Run's release, the followup Bendy and the Ink Machine landed on Android as a first-person action-horror game, continuing the spooky theme of Nightmare Run. Today the offshoot title Boris and the Dark Survival has arrived on the Play Store. Just like the last two games in the series, you can expect an unnerving experience where you'll have to use your wits to survive an evil Ink Demon stalking your every move.
Nippon Ichi Software has released its classic strategy RPG Disgaea 1 on the Google Play Store, seemingly out of nowhere. This new release goes by the name Disgaea 1 Complete, which means the title is indeed a remaster of the original Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Better yet, Disgaea 1 Complete is a premium release, which means there are no in-app purchases or advertisements included. Of course, since this is a premium remaster of a classic SRPG that contains hundreds of hours of gameplay, a premium price is also attached.
OrangePixel is a game developer that has been releasing awesome Android games for almost as long as the OS has been around. This is why I'm excited to announce the official arrival of OrangePixel's latest game, Space Grunts 2. It serves as a sequel to the original procedurally-generated roguelike dungeon crawler Space Grunts, but this time around, the turn-based action has been refreshed with a new card-battle mechanic, competently mixing top-down roguelike gameplay with intuitive card-based battles. Best of all, Space Grunts 2 is a premium release, which means you can pick it up today for $3.99.
Rusty Lake is a developer best known for its Cube Escape and Rusty Lake series of point-and-click adventure games, though often, these titles offer a dark theme, which may not appeal to everyone. This is precisely why The White Door has drawn my attention. Much like its predecessors, it too is a point-and-click adventure game, but this time around the story and graphics are the primary focus, which makes this a game that's a little easier to pick up and play thanks to its streamlined split-screen gameplay that revolves around the title's mysterious narrative.