Welcome to the latest entry in our Bonus Round series, wherein we tell you all about the new Android games of the day that we couldn't get to during our regular news rounds. Consider this a quick update for the dedicated gamers who can't wait for our bi-weekly roundups, and don't want to wade through a whole day's worth of news just to get their pixelated fix. Today we have a fantasy take on Risk, a stylish action-platformer, a minimalist god game, an RPG expansion, a train puzzle game, and an 8-bit endless runner. Without further ado:

[roundup_app name="Legends of Callasia" pname=gp video='']

Legends of Callasia is a strategy game with Risk-ish elements, but a setting that's more comfy with elves and dwarves. Players try to expand their kingdoms across a map by creating units and engaging with their foes in a way that will be familiar to anyone who's tried the board game, but collectible cards and hero units can be played to shift events and gain a strategic advantage. The game has both single and multiplayer maps with up to 8 combatants at a time. The full game is $15 (same as the Steam version) with an optional $8 expansion.

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The Great Callasian War rages across the lands. Choose a faction and awaken the legendary heroes to lead your armies and destroy enemy forces. Build cities, conquer kingdoms, and form or break alliances on tabletop-style maps with bonus cards that can turn the tide of battle. Follow the story of the factions in single-player campaign missions, or test friendships in online multiplayer with an original simultaneous turn-based system that adds deep strategic elements in predicting other players’ moves.

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Shadow Bug

Shadow Bug is a whimsical take on the action-platformer. You play an animate dot with some ninja weapons, slicing through Lovecraftian monsters with tap-and-swipe gestures. The monsters themselves are more like stepping stones than obstacles, allowing you to zip around the level like a fantasy martial artist. The silhouetted foreground graphics are a bit dull, but they offset the hand-painted backgrounds nicely. Shadow Bug is free with IAP that goes up to $22, which kind of sucks, because the $4 iOS version doesn't have any.

You are the overpowered ninja hero Shadow Bug. Save your home forest from the evil factory by slicing monsters to pieces. TAP ON THE MONSTER. Leap, slash, splash. One finger is all you need. Become the ultimate ninja and adventure through beautiful and twisted landscapes full of action and adventure.

  • Hand crafted levels filled with action, exploration and puzzles.
  • Memorable boss fights.
  • Mesmerizing art with picturesque parallax backgrounds and mystical silhouettes.
  • Breathtaking soundscape with an epic soundtrack and immersive sound effects.
  • Leaderboards for speedrunning levels.
  • A completely new take on platformer games.

Qurius

In Qurius, you are the benevolent god of a tiny world, discovering its secrets and helping its little polygonal people. You're not a weather god, though, because the weather in the game world mirrors real-world weather data for your location. The gameplay revolves around clearing away mystical sludge, building up shamanic shrines, and discovering new people and creatures. It's an interesting little distraction, though those looking for challenge or endgame might be put off. In-app purchases go up to almost $20.

Your weather is magic. Harvest, collect and globally share magic gems made from your real, live weather conditions. Save a mysterious world from imminent destruction. Only you can return it to its former glory. Discover insanely cute creatures, amazing stone buildings and magic portals to other worlds. Qurius is a new type of game unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, unlocking the hidden power of real time local weather and global environment data. Come explore the mystery and discover the hidden connections.

Qurius Developer: icejam games inc
Price: Free
3.7
Download

The Quest - Isles of Ice&Fire

The Quest, a loving throwback to the days of 2.5D fantasy RPGs from the 90s, hit the Play Store back in November. This stand-alone expansion doesn't require the original game, but it ties into it if you happen to have it installed. It's more pixelated fantasy goodness in a Tolkien-style world, at half the price of the full game - if you were on the fence for The Quest, give Isles of Ice & Fire a try before downloading the full version.

The Quest - Islands of Ice and Fire is an expansion to The Quest, a beautifully hand-drawn open world role playing game with old school grid-based movement and turn based combat. After enabling the expansion, you can continue to play The Quest with your existing character(s) to explore new areas and quests. However, if you don't have The Quest, you can also play the expansion as a standalone game.

Conduct THIS!

Normally trains conductors have automated crossing barriers to keep them from hitting traffic, and railway passengers are expected to get to the correct station on their own. Conductors in Conduct THIS are a bit more hands-on: players are in control of everything, making sure rail lines, switches, road crossings, and passengers all run smoothly. When multiple lines and trains are introduced to the low-poly world, things get more complex in a hurry. In-app purchases (including a $5 option to remove ads) go up to ten bucks.

Conduct THIS. Is an addictive game of explosive railway action that will challenge your inner conductor. Set in a stunning world, with incredibly simple controls you race against time to bring passengers safely to their destination by commanding trains, switching tracks and avoiding collisions in increasingly challenging action-puzzles. As you progress you unlock new trains, gain access to new beautiful and mysterious regions and earn awards.

Cubway

Cubway is something of a mix between a puzzler and a platformer. There's only one plane to travel along, and you can only go forwards, not backwards. Advancing to the next level requires patient progression to see how the monochromatic obstacles react to your presence. It's a slow and methodical take on the zen game, and the stark light-and-dark graphics are interesting in an ethereal way - backgrounds are atmospheric still photos, foregrounds are basic geometric shapes. Cubway is free with no in-app purchases.

Guide the cube through the long way full of dangers and difficulties, visit many interesting and mysterious places. Mechanics of the game are concentrated around different types of interaction with the obstacles. Some of them are: finding correct spot to overcome the obstacles, blowing them, correct timing of your movement, avoiding dangers, changing your movement directions by the switchers and many more.

Catch the Bus

Most runner games have whimsical premises designed to delight and amuse you. In Catch the Bus, your job is to catch the titular bus, which at least has the positive aspect of being entirely relatable to anyone who's ever depended on one for a commute. The pace is fast without being unmanageable, and the way the bus passengers mock you for ceaselessly running and jumping is amusing in a mean-spirited way. City-themed environments are varied and the game offers both timed and endless modes. Though the Play Store says it has IAP, I found only ads.

Has it ever happened to you that you are so eager to get home but you're on the other side of the street and the only bus you can take has just departed from the stop? In this case there is only one thing you can do: RUN. And it's not gonna be easy… To reach the next bus stop you'll have to avoid café tables, phone booths, hipsters, other strange people and so much more...

Be sure to check out our gaming coverage from earlier this week: