Welcome to the roundup of the 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 game releases from the last week. So whether you're looking for the best games of quality or are simply looking for the latest gacha releases, you're covered. Of course, I have a few highlights to share, including the rough launch of a map-based Pac-Man game, a story-driven puzzler all about evoking emotion, and a fantastic text-based game that explores memory loss as a mechanic. So without further ado, here are the new and notable Android games released during the week of October 12th, 2020.

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Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.

Best Games

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

Lineweight

Lineweight is an odd release, though it's definitely worth playing. You see, this is a story-heavy title that's designed to evoke emotions as you play, so it is more art than a game, though what's there is highly polished, which is rare for a mobile release. There are five separate stories to experience, and each should evoke a different emotion, so while there aren't many game mechanics to experience in this release, the stories contained within are easily worth the unlock price.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $2.99 apiece

Lineweight Developer: Team17 (USA)
Price: Free
3.9
Download

unmemory

Plug in Digital's unmemory is an interesting release. If you've ever seen the Christopher Nolan movie Memento, where a man must piece together his wife's murder without the use of his short term memory, this game offers a similar story. This means you'll have to piece together what's going on by reading carefully, and since this game is basically an interactive story, sounds and puzzles are used as game mechanics that can help advance the narrative. So if you're tired of all of the choose your own adventure games on the Play Store, unmemory offers a fresh experience reaches beyond the bounds of the majority of text-based games.

Monetization: $7.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Girabox

Girabox is the latest release from Crescent Moon Games, and it's a minimal puzzler where you'll rotate each level in order to move a box to its goal. As you would expect, the game grows more and more challenging as these levels progress, and since the design is minimal, you'll have to bring your thinking cap to make it to the end. Many solutions aren't obvious at first, but that's what makes this game enjoyable, the fact that it's challenging.

Monetization: $1.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Girabox Developer: Criss Cross Games
Price: Free
Download

Ordesa

Ordesa comes from ARTE Experience, the same people behind Homo Machina, a gorgeous avant-garde puzzler. As you would expect, Ordesa is another artful release from the studio, though this time around, the game plays like an interactive movie, with real people staring in the title's videos. By using your phone to interact with Ordesa's environments (such as tilting your device), you'll advance the story in an effort to figure out your mysterious past. While this setup is a little pretentious and uses typical tropes like memory loss, the story is intriguing enough to plunk down $3 for this highly-polished title. 

Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Zombie Goes Up

Zombie Goes Up is a casual game that's perfect for the month of October. You'll play as a zombie that's trying to dig its way out of a very deep grave, so the game plays like a reverse of Downwell. It's a simple game, but it's fun as far as casual experiences go, and since it's fitting for the season, I'm going to recommend that people check it out.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $2.99 apiece

Zombie Goes Up Developer: NEUTRONIZED
Price: Free
3.9
Download

EMMA The Story

EMMA The Story comes from Plug in Digital, the same publisher behind unmemory. Unlike unmemory, this title is more an interactive story than a full-fledged game, and since it's only 20-minutes long, it can be finished in a single sitting. The story itself is worth viewing, and it offers a pretty satisfying sci-fi bend. Whether or not people will feel this short story is worth the asking price is another question, though $1 is pretty cheap for an enjoyable 20-minute experience.

Monetization: $0.99 / no ads / no IAPs

The Quest - Asteroids

The Quest - Asteroids is the latest stand-alone expansion for the mainline game of the same name. In this particular expansion, you can expect to explore a faraway world after getting sucked into a mysterious black hole. While you can jump into this release as a new player without any problems, if you're going to bring over a character from a previous release, it's recommended that your character is at least level four before you start this story.

Monetization: $2.99 / no ads / no IAPs

The Quest - Asteroids Developer: Redshift Games
Price: 2.99
4.7
Download

Package Inc. Lite

Package Inc. Lite is the free version of the premium delivery simulator from InfinityGames.io. I covered the premium release back in August (2020), and now that a lite version is here, everyone can check the game out without spending any cash. If you like what you see, then you can purchase the full version right here. All in all, this is a competent delivery sim from the same devs behind Traffix and Railways, two enjoyable sims in their own rights that also focus on micromanagement.

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

Boom Slingers - Battle Cards

Boom Slingers - Battle Cards is an early access release that offers slingshot mechanics in what is primarily a Worms clone. Much like its inspiration, you'll take turns shooting at your enemies in order to eventually clear the stage. Of course, your enemies also take their own turns as they shoot at your team, so you'll have to think out your attacks strategically if you wish to reign supreme.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $11.99

Boom Slingers Developer: Supersonic Studios LTD
Price: Free
4
Download

Risky Wars

As you can guess, Risky Wars offers gameplay similar to that of the board game Risk. This is hardly a new genre for mobile, though what's on offer is enjoyable enough even though the presentation is somewhat lacking. Luckily the core gameplay holds up, and if you're familiar with Risk, then you should have a solid understanding of how to play. At the very least, pass-and-play is on offer, and since you can customize the rules for each match, you can easily play the game with a local group of five, all from one device.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $9.99

Revolution Chess

Revolution Chess turns the board 45 degrees so that you'll play on an angle, which completely changes the dynamics of the game, where pawns have the best offense, and the king has the ultimate defense. So if you love traditional chess but are also looking for something a little different, Revolution Chess is an enjoyable release worth checking out.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $31.99

Revolution Chess Developer: Revolution Chess
Price: Free
Download

Mediocre Games

Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization

PAC-MAN GEO

Android Police coverage: Pac-Man Geo brings the classic arcade game to your city streets, but it's in rough shape

As a fan of the original Pac-Man, I was really hoping Bandai Namco would knock it out of the park with the release of its map-based game PAC-MAN GEO, but sadly the dev delivered a game that offers an awful camera position that also sports unresponsive controls. This makes it difficult to play the game since you never know which directions to swipe on the isometric view map, and since these swipes often result in delayed movement, accuracy goes out the window, which is totally detrimental to an arcade game like this. Still, if you happen to live in an area with a lot of roads, you can create your own courses to play on, though the gameplay once a map is complete is still rarely enjoyable thanks to the awful camera and controls.

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

Big Brother: The Game

Big Brother: The Game was officially launched globally this week, and as you can guess, it's a cash-grab themed around the reality TV show. This is why the game is stuffed with in-app purchases, though the real clue is that the game offers cash prizes. Of course, if you want to earn your spot to earn a prize, guess what, you'll be spending much more on IAPs, and you can't even compete without paying to be part of a house. It would also appear that the game is extremely buggy, another sign Big Brother: The Game exists solely as a cash grab.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $94.99

Final Order

Final Order has left early-access this week, which means it's a full release ready for prime time, and it's described as a real-time MMO strategy game, though really it's just a Clash of Clans clone that sports a bunch of cool-looking Kaiju. So if you're really into giant monsters, perhaps you'll get a kick out of this release, though the title's aggressive monetization and grindy gameplay ensures that the title is often annoying instead of fun.

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

Monster Quest: Seven Sins

Monster Quest: Seven Sin is the latest gacha game to offer creature collection, much like a Pokemon title. Of course, this is a free-to-play mobile release, so it's packed with in-app purchases, and now that the game is out of beta, it's rebalanced horribly for free players. While this is hardly unexpected from a generic gacha game, it's clear this release exists as a cash grab, which is why I won't be playing it.

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

Infinity Mechs

Infinity Mechs is an idle game, and while it sports pleasant graphics and giant robots, the core gameplay is still a snooze. If you enjoy growing numbers for the sake of it, I suppose you may have some fun with this release, though it's riddled with questionable monetization, so you have been warned. All in all, this is yet another game that looks and sounds great but plays like garbage.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $109.99

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