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 I have a new digital adaptation of a physical board game from Asmodee Digital, a premium number-based combination puzzler, and a quirkily minimal brick breaker. So without further ado, here are the most notable games released this week.

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Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Games

Zombicide: Tactics & Shotguns

Android Police coverage: Zombicide: Tactics & Shotguns, a new digital board game adaptation from Asmodee Digital

Zombicide: Tactics & Shotguns strays from the collaborative design of the physical board game that inspired this release. Instead, it offers a single-player affair. The gameplay revolves around tactical RPG mechanics. Everything is turn-based. It will be your job to command a team of zombie slayers one move at a time in an effort to destroy as many zombies as possible.

Monetization: $4.99 / no ads / IAPs from $2.99 - $4.99

Ninja Girl RPG

Ninja Girl RPG is an older release that has been recently rebuilt for newer devices. Because of the necessary changes made to the game, this listing will not work on devices with a screen smaller than five inches. The good news is Android OS 7 and 8+ are now supported. So if you're looking for a fun little action RPG to play through and have yet to check out Ninja Girl RPG, now's your chance.

Monetization: $0.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Ninja Girl RPG Developer: Halfgeek
Price: 0.99
Download

Twelvesmith

Twelvesmith is a number merging puzzle game, similar to 2048 or Threes!, though in this instance you'll have to combine numbers inside of a hexagon, which adds a new layer of challenge to the familiar setup. The goal is to craft twelve numbers on the board, and you'll have to watch out for blockers that can easily halt your progress. Twelvesmith is a premium release with an upfront price, but if you'd like to check out the game without going out of pocket, make sure to take a look at the free version.

Monetization: $1.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Twelvesmith Developer: Flippfly LLC
Price: 1.99
4.8
Download

Into the Sky

Into the Sky is a fun little Sokoban-style game. This particular release contains a sci-fi theme where you get to play the role of a robot that's tasked with solving complex puzzles by moving lasers and lenses in a specific order. The controls can take some getting used to since you'll use all four corners of your screen for movement, but once you've played a few rounds, you'll notice that the strange controls are actually pretty intuitive for a game with an isometric view.

Monetization: $1.99 / no ads / no IAPs

The Little Acre

The Little Acre is a hand-drawn point-and-click adventure game set in 1950’s Ireland. There are two playable characters, though the main story revolves around searching for your missing father. This search leads the protagonist to a strange land, which is where things start to get interesting. Just like the majority of games in this genre, you'll spend your time searching for clues and solving puzzles. While I can't say this game does anything to set itself apart from its competition, it's still a quality release that's worth the asking price.

Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Forget Me not: Organic Garden

Forget Me not is a very bizarre game. The premise is centered around growing organs on trees. Once harvested they can be sold in your organ shop. The gameplay is rather simple. Just a few taps and your first organ tree will begin to grow, and once you can harvest some organs, you can then sell them for some cash. When your pockets are finally brimming with currency, you'll be able to purchase more trees to then grow even more organs, which means you'll earn even more money. It's a simple setup, but the unique theme is what really brings it all together.

Monetization: $3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Despotism 3k

Despotism 3k is a new premium port that has made its way to Android. It's a permadeath strategy game that's filled with dark humor. Your goal is to extract energy from the humans you shuffle from facility to facility. In order to obtain the most energy, you'll have to ensure that your humans remain fed while not succumbing to exhaustion, which is a lot more difficult than you may at first suspect.

Monetization: $7.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Despotism 3k Developer: Konfa Games
Price: 3.49
3.7
Download

Smite Blitz

Smite Blitz is clearly still under development, though there are plenty of mixed signals out there. The game's Facebook page says it is out as a technical alpha test, but once you boot it up, you will be greeted by a splash screen that states the game is currently in a closed beta. The thing is, you don't actually need an invitation to play. All you have to do is install the game from the Play Store listing. For the most part, it plays like any other free-to-play mobile RPG, but with a Smite theme. At the very least you can jump in right now to check it out before it's monetized, so if your interest is still piqued, make sure to install Smite Blitz before the testing phase ends on May 1st.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Cluesheet Companion

Cluesheet Companion is a tie-in release for Clue: The Classic Mystery Game on Nintendo Switch and Steam. Clue is, of course, a game that demands each player keep a list of what items, rooms, and people have been seen in a game, to then deduct precisely which item, room, and person had something to do with a recent murder. Usually you would keep track on a piece of paper, but it sure is a lot easier to use an app designed specifically for that function.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

fungi.game

Nonline Studios' fungi.game plays similarly to an io game. It's a multiplayer title where you are tasked with growing your main body by sucking the life out of your opponents. Instead of directly controlling how your body moves, you'll draw lines that connect you to other shapes. You can even split your body so that you can migrate your mass slowly around the stage as you search for your enemies.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Hero of Empire - Free Royale Strategy Game

Hero of Empire is yet another arena-based PvP game with card-collection mechanics. It would seem just about every dev on the Play Store is eager to copy this winning formula, so if you're looking for more of the same wrapped in a slightly different package, Hero of Empire is as good a choice as any.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Circle Bouncer

Circle Bouncer is a casual arcade game where you have to bounce on buttons to make your way down a tube layer by layer. Many games similar to this exists on the Play Store, though Circle Bouncer adds in a new mechanic where you'll have to control multiple balls as they bounce, which is going to require a lot of precision from the player since there are many obstacles that have to be avoided.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $1.99 a piece

Balls Rotate

As a child, I would often visit an amusement park during my summers with my grandparents, and one of my favorite attractions was playing through all of the carnival games to see how many prizes I could win. Typically these prizes would consist of shoddily stuffed animals or cheap plastic toys, but every once in a while you'd score a little handheld game that usually contained little metal balls that you had to position correctly into specific holes on the board. To do this, you would rotate the game in all manner of directions until you got everything to line up perfectly. This carnival prize is precisely what I thought of when I tested Balls Rotate. The goal of the game is to rotate the circle in the middle of the screen so that you can position the balls that are moving inside so that they all fall out into a cup. This demands perfect timing and a lot of precision, much like the carnival prizes of my youth.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $2.49 a piece

Virus War - Space Shooting Game

Virus War combines frantic top-down SHMUP action with the mechanics of an arcade brick breaking game. It'll be up to you to destroy the many numbered balls at the top of the screen by repeatedly shooting them with your aircraft's weapons. The goal is to destroy every last ball, but in order to do so, you'll have to shoot each one as many times as the number displayed inside of its circular bounds demand.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $2.99 a piece

Virus War - Space Shooting Developer: Kunpo
Price: Free
4.3
Download

Hammering : Block Puzzle

Hammering : Block Puzzle doesn't look anything like a 111% release. Instead of brightly colored minimal graphics that utilize shapes and lines, this puzzle game exudes a clean and clear approach to its graphics. The main screen consists of a wooden board with realistic nails in it. This board is always moving down the screen, and it will be your job to hammer its many nails before they reach the bottom of the board.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $2.99 a piece

JJTAN by 111%

JJTAN by 111% brings back the look of the developer's earlier games, with its bright colors, clean lines, and minimal graphics. It's a rather simple game that only requires one finger to play. You choose the direction you would like to shoot your ball, and then watch as it bounces off the many numbered circles in the playfield. The goal is to deplete those numbers by bouncing your ball against the spheres as many times as the listed number requires, much like a brick breaking game.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $2.99

Planet Life

Planet Life is an adorable resource management game where you get to play the role of a lonely planet. For the most part, this release plays like any other adventure game, though it's clear that its unique theme is the main draw. You'll also find quite a few dungeons to explore, and they may just reveal the secret of gaining respect from the space gods if you can actually manage to reach your core.

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

Planet Life Developer: Northplay
Price: Free
4.3
Download

Labyrintheon: Corridor Maze Battle

Labyrintheon is an enjoyable board game where you face off against a single opponent to see who can get to the other side of the board before the other. Of course, this won't come easy, as each player has a ton of tools at their disposal, such as walls, laser canyons, not to mention a bunch of cool power-ups. By placing these obstacles on the board, you may reach the finish before your competition.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $15.99

Doors & Rooms: Escape games

Last week I covered the free release of the escape game Doors & Rooms, and this week I have the premium release for those that would like to purchase the game outright, though it would appear that it too contains in-app purchases, just like the free version. So if you already know what to expect, then this purchase should come easy, and if you are still on the fence, make sure to check out the free version before you spend any cash.

Monetization: $2.49 / contains ads / IAPs from $2.49 - $17.99

Treasure Adventure: Numeracy

Treasure Adventure: Numeracy is a new children's math-based educational game from Visual Math Interactive. This is a learning game designed for all ages, so expect the math problems to be on the easier side. Of course, this allows the app to be used by those who are beginning their math journey, which is great for kids who are starting their first year of school.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $19.99

The Unic

The Unic is a procedurally-generated puzzle game that's all about patterns. It will be your job to hunt down duplicate designs, complete pattern selections, and build your own deck out of the designs you've collected. So if you're a designer and deal with patterns in your day to day, this is indeed the game for you. There are three game modes to choose from, no internet connection is required to play, and the gameplay is suitable for all ages.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $19.99

The Unic Developer: Lozange Lab
Price: Free
3.7
Download

Baseball Megastar 19

Baseball Megastar 19 may be late to the baseball party this year, considering the season started last month, but it's here all the same, so if you'd like to know what it's like to make it big in the competitive world of professional baseball, Baseball Megastar 19 is a competent choice. There's no official licensing in this release, so don't expect to see your favorite teams and rosters, though there is something to be said for a baseball game that doesn't have to adhere to any ridiculous branding standards.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $38.99

Captain Planet: Gaia Guardians

Never underestimate the power of nostalgia. For such a cheaply animated children's cartoon, Captain Planet's longevity is surely surprising. Sure, trotting out the familiar characters of the show to sell yet another branded idle game feels pretty cheap, but it's not like taking advantage of nostalgia has stopped greedy devs in the past. So make sure to thank Adult Swim for cashing in on our childhood.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $3.99 - $49.99

Revue Starlight Re LIVE

Revue Starlight Re LIVE is a new mobile RPG that picks up where the popular anime left off. This means you can expect an original story that continues the events of the show, as well as a retread of the gameplay found in the majority of team-based RPGs on the Play Store. So yes, you can expect an auto fighting mode for those that wish to experience the story without having to slog through the gameplay manually.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $79.99

Cyber Hunter

In May of 2018 this NetEase RPG was going by the name Project : Battle, but sometime in the last year that title was changed to Cyber Hunter. What strikes me as odd, is that NetEase officially announced the release of Cyber Hunter on 4/26/19 and that its second season also began this day. How does a game that was just launched start in the second season? Something is very off about this setup, which begs the question of why a "release" was announced at all if the game has been running so well that a second season is beginning. It's almost as if the "release" date is entirely arbitrary and is simply used as an excuse to get coverage for a year-old game.

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

Cyber Hunter Developer: NetEase Games
Price: Free
3.9
Download

NBA 2K Mobile Basketball

NBA 2K Mobile Basketball is a new free-to-play NBA game from 2K, and it is currently pretty buggy. It's obvious the game was not ready but was pushed out the door to collect money from unsuspecting players, which isn't really that much of a surprise considering this is a 2K release. Hopefully, 2K will get around to fixing the game so that it's actually fun to play at some point.

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

NBA 2K Mobile Basketball Game Developer: 2K, Inc.
Price: Free
4.4
Download

Rival Stars Horse Racing

Rival Stars Horse Racing is a racing game where you get to manage your own horse stable and race a bunch of different horses. The racing controls can feel clucky, though racing tends to take a backseat to the game's management mechanics. The more races you win, the more money you earn, the more horses you can purchase, and who doesn't want to collect a bunch of different horses?

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

Rival Stars Horse Racing Developer: PIKPOK
Price: Free
4.4
Download

Rumble Stars

Rumble Stars is the latest release from Frogmind, the creators of Badland. At first, it may look like yet another PvP arena game, which is only half the truth since this is also a soccer game. You'll get to face off against opponents to see who can score more goals, and of course, you'll find tons of characters to collect in the form of cards. You'll be able to create all kinds of different teams with those cards to best suit your playstyle. So yeah, Rumble Stars is basically Clash Royale mixed with a bit of soccer, though the same free-to-play annoyances are present.

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

Rumble Stars Football Developer: HypeHype Inc.
Price: Free
4.1
Download

Mighty Pets & Puzzles

It's not often that I'll cover match-3 games in AP's roundups, but Mighty Pets & Puzzles offers something a little different, which is why I've included it in the list this week. Not only will you be tasked with matching shapes and colors on the puzzle grid, as you would expect, but you'll also get to collect adorable pets that can help you solve the game's match-3 puzzles. There are hundreds of pets to collect, and you can even upgrade them to maximize their usefulness.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $109.99

ASTROKINGS

ASTROKINGS is a Game of War clone with a sci-fi theme. So if you're looking for a game to grind through, this is the game for you. Reportedly, it isn't balanced all that well towards the late-game. Hopefully, the devs will address this issue. Still, if you've played one Game of War clone, you've basically played them all, so unless you are looking for more of the same wrapped up in a sci-fi package, then you may want to stick with your current favorite in the genre.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $199.99

ASTROKINGS: Space War Strategy Developer: Tilting Point
Price: Free
3.9
Download

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