Welcome to the roundup of the best 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, to 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 slick sidescrolling shoot 'em up, an enjoyable pixel-based roguelike, and the latest Neo Geo ACA release. So without further ado, here are the new and notable Android games released during the last week.

If you're looking for older posts, here's where you can find our previous game roundups.

Best Games

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

Kero Blaster

Kero Blaster is a sidescrolling shoot 'em up, and the graphics offer a retro C64 look that perfectly fits the gameplay. While there are a few Contra vibes, this is a title that offers a similar feeling to that of Cave Story. The game is very linear, but it's nice to know exactly what your goal is, and that's to shoot your way through each stage. So as far as mobile sidescrolling shooters go, Kero Blaster controls well and offers tons of fun, making this one of the better run-and-guns on the platform.

Monetization: $5.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Blast Waves

Blast Waves is an enjoyable pixel-based roguelike shooter that offers hundreds of weapons to collect as you explore the game's six biomes. Even better, this is a premium release available at a single price point, with hours of gameplay, all for a low price. Plus, once you beat the game, you unlock a new mode where you can command troops, which gives players something to work towards while extending the longevity with new mechanics that change the game's flow. If you're a fan of roguelikes and shooters, you're going to get a kick out of Blast Waves.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Nobodies: After Death

Nobodies: After Death is the follow-up to Blyts adventure game Nobodies: Murder Cleaner. As expected, Nobodies: After Death is also an adventure game, and it will still be your job to cover up murders by solving mind-bending puzzles. The art is nice, the music is fitting, and the gameplay is challenging, and the story is nuts. What else do you need from an adventure game?

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $9.99

Space RPG 4

As the name implies, this is an RPG set in space. In other words, it's a space exploration game where you never know what's around the corner. You can take on the role of a space pirate, or maybe you'd like to ship items for easy money. The choice is yours. While the graphics aren't the best, and the UI is a bit of a mess, there's plenty here to explore if you're willing to learn. So if you're a fan of games like Starsector, then you're going to want to check out Space RPG 4.

Monetization: $2.49 / no ads / no IAPs

Pink Hour

Pink Hour is another game from the creator of Kero Blaster (at the top of today's list), and it's basically an introduction to the full game, as this is a short, bite-sized experience. So think of this as a demo for Kero Blaster, and since Kero retails for $5.99, the fact Pink Hour is a free release means you can check out the core gameplay of the paid game without going out of pocket.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Pink Heaven

Why offer one free experience to sell people on your new premium platformer when you can offer two? That's right; Pink Heaven is another free title from Active Gaming Media that offers a bite-sized experience of what's to be found in Kero Blaster. So yes, this is a short game, but since it's free, you can dip in to see what's on offer to decide if you want to plunk down $5 for Kero Blaster. Not too shabby.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Average Games

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

NAM-1975 ACA NEOGEO

SNK is clearly set on releasing its Neo Geo ACA games on mobile, so NAM-1975 is the latest Neo Geo game to make its way to Android this week. NAM-1975 is what's known as a shooting gallery game, where you control a gunner on a platform shooting enemies placed in front through a perspective graphics trick. So you can move back and forth, all the while shooting the enemies dancing across your screen. Think of it as a cross between a light gun game and a sidescrolling run-and-gun. While the touch controls aren't that great, the game does support corded controllers through the tap of a discreet cord icon on the homescreen. So if you happen to have a controller, NAM-1975 is much more playable with one connected; otherwise, you're stuck with the touch controls that aren't all that great.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

SHOT2048

If you've ever wanted proof that the leads on big development projects can't code, SHOT2048 is proof positive leads aren't strong coders or designers. This is a game developed by the ex-lead of the Sonic franchise, and it's basically a twist on 2048, the most basic of basic mobile games. The goal, roll big numbers to reach 2048 (or more). Thankfully SHOT2048 is pretty fun, which illustrates that leads can at least plan out worthwhile gameplay. While the presentation isn't the best, this is a perfect casual release to dip into throughout the day. It's great in short bursts, and while the advertisements are annoying, you can pay to remove them, which is always appreciated.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $5.99

Enchanted Worlds 2

Enchanted Worlds 2 is a simple puzzle-based adventure game. It comes from Syntaxity, which offers a boatload of similar games. While the presentation isn't the most impressive, thanks to its static imagery, if you enjoy solving puzzles while exploring 2D landscapes, then you may get a kick out of Enchanted Worlds 2. At the very least, the monetization is on point.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

World League Live! Football

This is a simple competitive soccer game, and since it's free-to-play, you are forced through a tedious tutorial. Gameplay boils down to shooting, passing, and stealing, and the kickoff makes it easy to steal the ball straight away, which makes for uneven matches. Then there's the fact the game is clearly set up for excessive in-app purchases, and even though the store isn't live yet, the machinations are there, like multiple currencies. The game is also buggy, where I got stuck in a menu, unable to escape. To say this game needs more work is an understatement, but at least the developer had the foresight to forgo IAPs until the bugs are sorted.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs (yet)

Mediocre Games

Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization

Monstars.io: Monster Evolution

Have you ever wondered what you'd get if you combined a Pokemon game with an io battle royale title? Well, I bet the result would be pretty similar to Monstars.io: Monster Evolution. This is indeed a simple battle royale io game, where the last man standing wins, but with a Pokemon-like evolution mechanic thrown in for an extra layer of strategic gameplay. Sadly, the monetization stinks, and the gameplay is pretty stale even with the evolution mechanics. If you've played an io game, you've played them all, and there are better titles out there that won't break the bank. Unless you're hard up for a Pokemon-like evolution game, this is an easy title to skip.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $49.99

Noah's Heart

Generic MMOs are a dime a dozen on the Play Store, and Noah's Heart does little to separate itself from the crowd. Not only is the name generic, so is the gameplay since it's all auto-based. Even though the graphics in this release look great, the gameplay offers nothing better than an idle game, where you simply tap on an endless stream of buttons to advance. Noah's Heart is currently in testing, so it isn't monetized yet, but the gameplay is still pretty stale, with typical anime tropes throughout. You can already tell this game was created as a cash grab, which is why I recommend avoiding it.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Random Dice: Wars

I used to be a big fan of 111%, but in recent years the developer has gone all-in with its monetization, and now its new releases are filled with greedy in-app purchases. Random Dice: Wars does not deviate from this new trend, though it appears to be much more polished than the developer's previous work, as this looks and plays like a typical generic PvP mobile game. Maybe one day 111% can get back to creating quirky games that are fun.

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

Graffiti Smash

There's a reason Ubisoft didn't attach its name to this title, and instead, it is the entity presenting a mobile game published by Boltrend Games, a studio that excels publishing low-effort branded cash-grabs. This is why it was no surprise to see how bad the slingshot-based gameplay is in Graffiti Smash. The animations stink, the art offers horribly stiff vector designs, and the gameplay is a mess of lazy gacha mechanics wrapped up in equally bad game design where grinding endlessly is the norm unless you open your wallet. That's right; this game is so bad Ubisoft didn't even want to publish it, which is saying something since the studio will publish just about anything, including NFT-riddled AAA titles.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $99.99​​​​​​​

Cut the Rope: BLAST

This is a Cut the Rop game that doesn't even come from ZeptoLab, who itself hasn't bothered to create a worthwhile game in this series in a really long time. So now SKYWALK is cashing in on this nostalgic franchise, and as expected, the game is an absolute joke. It's a match-3 game, which is about as lazy as it gets for an Android release, and of course, the game is absolutely stuffed with in-app purchases. And that's because the game is purposefully improperly balanced in order to push people into paying when they get stuck on an impossible puzzle, just like every other F2P match-3 game on Android.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $104.99​​​​​​​

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• the app's launch date has to be no longer than 2 weeks ago
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