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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 an awesome city-building sandbox, a slick ninja auto-runner, and a lost-phone game that explores the world of whistleblowers and journalists. 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

Android Police coverage: Townscaper is a charming city-builder and one of the best sandbox games on Android

Townscaper

If you're only going to purchase one game this week, you should consider Townscaper. This is a sandbox city-builder. There are no goals, and there is no purpose. You're free to build Mediterranean-style towns and cities however you like. The graphics are superb, the performance is spot-on, and the controls are fantastic since both physical controllers and the touchscreen work great. You can play in portrait or landscape, and the UI suits small phones and large tablets. There's an endless undo button, and thanks to the controller support, you can get as precise as you want as you build. The game does support high framerates, and the framerate is relatively stable, even when building large cities. Then there is the lighting system, which is fully adjustable so that you can perfect the screenshots of what you build. So if you've ever wanted to kill some time building beautiful Mediterranean cities, Townscaper is the game to look at.

Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Townscaper Developer: Raw Fury
Price: 4.99
4.3
Download

Ninja Chowdown

Ninja Chowdown is a slick auto-runner that offers fun 2D pixel-based graphics. The ninja theme will see you throwing a range of objects at your opponents as you run, which plays out in slow motion so you can accurately target your enemies. But this isn't an easy game. Your timing will have to be superb if you plan on making it far. There are 37 levels to explore, and thanks to the slick arcade mechanics, there's much more to this game than your typical auto-runner. Plus, the pixel graphics are great.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.49 apiece

Ninja Chowdown Developer: Abylight Studios
Price: Free
4.5
Download

Rubicon : a conspiracy of silence

Rubicon : a conspiracy of silence is an adventure game, somewhat similar to a lost phone game where you'll use a simulated phone UI to work your way through the story. This is a game about whistleblowers, and so you'll get to investigate and chat with multiple protagonists, and your choices are yours to make, which means there are multiple ways to tackle the game. All in all, this is a solid adventure title, and while the design is familiar, the story is interesting enough for a few playthroughs.

Monetization: $5.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Rubicon: conspiracy of silence Developer: La Belle Games
Price: 2.99
Download

The Fox in the Forest

Dire Wolf Digital has been bringing digital board game adaptations to mobile for years, and The Fox in the Forest is the latest release from the studio. This is a game for two players, and you can play locally through pass-and-play or online with others that own the game. Each player plays 13 cards to earn tricks, and whoever earns the most tricks wins. Of course, like all board game adaptations, things are more complicated than they first appear, so familiarity with the title is the key to success.

Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / no IAPs

The Fox in the Forest Developer: Dire Wolf Digital
Price: 4.99
4.6
Download

Get Together

Get Together is a short co-op game that requires two players. Each player needs a copy of the game, which is going to greatly limit who you play with since you'll have to convince friends and family to purchase the game just to play a few rounds. Get Together also requires constant communication, so you'll have to play in person or over a voice communication app. That's a lot of roadblocks just to enjoy a game, but luckily the adventure gameplay is solid. And since Get Together is cross-platform, those on PC can join those playing on mobile, alleviating some of the rigidness of the co-op design. So as long as you go into the game knowing full well that you can't play without a friend, then there is enough fun here to fill a few hours of bickering back and forth between comrades.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

GRID Autosport Custom Edition

GRID Autosport Custom Edition is a new version of Grid for mobile. It's basically a three-race demo. Seeing that GRID has yet to offer a demo on mobile while being priced at $9.99, it's difficult for interested parties to know if the game will run acceptably on their device. Thanks to this newly-released free demo, that's no longer an issue. Even better, if players like what they see, they don't have to purchase the full app. They can simply pay to unlock the sections that appeal to them in this release, which means you can now purchase the content in GRID piecemeal, all thanks to the release of this new version.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $9.99

GRID™ Autosport Custom Edition Developer: Feral Interactive
Price: Free
3.8
Download

Average Games

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

Timberman Kingdom

Timberman Kingdom is a mini-game collection. These mini-games revolve around forestry work, and so you'll get to cut down trees, work your way through mazes, and shoot rocks from a slingshot. This is an early access release from Digital Melody Games, a publisher that already offers a bunch of Timberman games under its brand, and so Timberman Kingdom is the latest release in this franchise, and since it's in early access, it's yet to be monetized, which means now is the best time to jump in.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Animals.io

If you couldn't tell by the name, Animals.io is indeed an IO battle royale. What's unique about this release is that you can choose to grow your group of animals by eating plants and meat or beating other groups. As you play, the area of the game grows smaller, forcing players to interact in a battle to the death. It's a familiar and straightforward setup, but since the game is ad-supported and since it runs well, it's worth taking a look if you enjoy similar titles.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Animals.io Developer: Tatem Games Inc.
Price: Free
4
Download

Field Guide Ingress

Okay, you got me, Field Guide Ingress isn't actually a game, but it is an app that ties directly into a game so that players can utilize the tools within for up-to-date and accurate info. So if you've ever wondered about Cycle Times, Link Distance, Agent Levels, Actions AP, and Item Info, this is indeed the app for you. Field Guide Ingress is free with ads, and you can pay to remove them if you find them annoying.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.49 - $3.99

Field Guide Ingress Developer: DROID TMT
Price: Free
Download

Mediocre Games

Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization

Resortopia

As you can guess, Resortopia is a management sim where you'll run a resort. The game is filled with adorable graphics and art, though the gameplay loop is pretty simple, where you'll deal with guests and their problems to advance the story. The cluttered UI is annoying, and really the whole thing feels like a shallow idle game, which begs the question of why this title is filled with in-app purchases. It's a poor timewaster at best, a total waste of time at worst, which is precisely why there is no trailer on the Play Store, the developer wants people to go in blind.

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

Resortopia Developer: DH-Publisher
Price: Free
4.6
Download

Trivia Crack Explorer

You'd think at this point Etermax would have run out of ideas for trivia games, but apparently not. Trivia Crack Explorer is an early access release, and it was designed to be played solo, a single-player experience for those sick of waiting for opponents in Etermax's online games. Seeing that this is a solo experience, it sure is odd that the game is stuffed with in-app purchases. While it's nice to see that you can pay to remove the game's ads, coin packs that reach $80 are just plain silly for something that you play alone. Apparently, Etermax's greed knows no bounds, which is probably why the studio keeps pumping out low-quality quiz games filled with horrible monetization.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $79.99

Trivia Crack Explorer Developer: etermax
Price: Free
4.3
Download

Cubic Clash

Cubic Clash is the latest in a long line of free-to-play titles from Boltrend Games. As you would expect, this is a title that's stuffed with in-app purchases, all for a lazy tower defense game built around PvP. And you know what PvP content in a F2P game means? It means the game is more than likely pay-to-win, which is exactly what this competative tower defense game is. There are gacha elements, you'll have to build a team, and then you'll take on whales one after another, often losing. There are hundreds of games just like this on the Play Store, and many of them are better than Cubic Clash.

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

Sprite Fantasia

Asia sure loves generic mobile MMOs, and seeing that many of these titles come to the West, it's hardly surprising to witness X-Legend Entertainment launching yet another anime-looking MMORPG on the Play Store. Just like the rest, this is an autoplay game that's more akin to an idle game than an MMO you actively play. Spelling errors, bugs, iffy servers, greedy monetization, it's all here. So unless you're really into wasting money on pointless MMOs that play themselves, there's nothing worth seeing here outside of the pleasant graphics.

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

Epic War: Thrones

Epic War: Thrones is a Game of War clone that offers excellent graphics. Of course, the title suffers since it's packed with in-app purchases, and frankly, the Dynasty theme is played out. So despite the fact the developer claims they'd like to turn the genre on its head, all they've delivered is a lackluster clone that's monetized aggressively. But hey, at least it looks great, which is apparently all that matters.

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

Epic War: Thrones 2nd Anniv. Developer: Archosaur Games
Price: Free
4.6
Download

Cricket League

If only we could get some sports games that weren't filled with despicable monetization. Clearly, today is not that day, and Cricket League is not that game. This is a release from Miniclip, a publisher/developer that stuffs ridiculous IAPs into all of its mobile games, and so Cricket League never had a chance. Like all sports games, you play to win currency that you'll use to build your team, and those that simply pay cash for such things will have the best teams around, which means the multiplayer aspect is entirely unbalanced. Then there are the bugs and the rampant cheating in the leaderboard, which really sums up this release.

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

Cricket League Developer: Miniclip.com
Price: Free
4.3
Download

NBA NOW 22

Oh boy, another poorly monetized sports game, and this time it's an NBA game from Com2uS, Somehow this company has secured the rights to the official NBA license, and so real teams and player likenesses are included. Straight up, the controls stink, and online matches are often uneven, which is why the game's review score is so low. While it's hardly shocking to see Com2uS launching yet another cash grab, it is surprising to see how low the NBA will sink to make a quick buck.

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

NBA NOW 23 Developer: Com2uS
Price: Free
4.4
Download

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: oh.no.its.the@androidpolice.com.

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