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. 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 fantastic arcade flight sim from Atypical Games, a quirky zombie game, and a title from BuzzFeed. So without further ado, here are the new and notable Android games released during the week of December 21st, 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

Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy

Sky Gamblers: Air Supremacy is the latest release from Atypical Games, but it's not actually a new title since it's a re-release of an older game that was previously delisted. As you can see, this is an arcade flight sim, like Ace Combat or Afterburner. You can expect to play through a solo campaign, but if you're more into multiplayer setups, I'm glad to report that there are plenty of online modes to explore as well, such as team deathmatch and capture the flag. All in all, this is a competent arcade flight sim, even though it's an older title making a return. Sadly it would appear those that had previously spent money on the older listing are having trouble getting access to the paid content in the new release, a common problem Google has yet to sort out for listings making a return on the Play Store under a new ID.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $2.99

Basketball vs Zombies

Basketball vs Zombies is an early access release, and it's a pretty simple game where you'll smash baseball bats into zombie's faces in order to hit their heads clean off their shoulders straight into a basketball hoop, hence the name of the title. This is a colorful game that sports pixel-based graphics, and it looks great in action. So if you enjoy casual games that are reasonably priced, you may get a kick out of Basketball vs Zombies.

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

Run Boggo Run

I'm not sure why, but BuzzFeed has released an auto-runner on the play Store. It comes from the creators of the Land Of Boggs, not that I have any idea what that is. Apparently, Google doesn't either, since nothing comes up in search outside of links to Bogg characters across all manner of social media, so it's looking like BuzzFeed offers some sort of animation department that pushing Boggs across the internet. Of course, it's not like you have to be familiar with the property to play this game since it's pretty simple, but at least it's fairly cheap. So if you enjoy auto-runners, or get a kick out of cheap/quirky animation, then you may enjoy Run Boggo Run.

Monetization: $0.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Bikepark.io

Sure, io games may be a dime a dozen, but that doesn't mean there aren't a few noteworthy titles within this genre, and so I present Bikepark.io. This is a racing game at its core, but you'll get to push and prod your competition as you fly down hills in order to ensure you place first. So like many io games, you'll get to attack your opponents, though this doesn't take priority over racing as fast as you can, which is what separates this release from the typical io crowd.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Average Games

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

Corner Strike

Corner Strike is a clear Counter-Strike clone for Android, published by Crescent Moon. As you can see, the game offers simple low-poly graphics, and as you would expect, the gameplay will see you run and gun until you're dead or the last man standing. It's a familiar setup for this type of shooter, so if you're looking to scratch your Counter-Strike itch on mobile, there are worse options than the lazily-named Corner Strike.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $29.99

Corner Strike Developer: Crescent Moon Games
Price: Free
Download

City Takeover

VOODOO pumps out a lot of garbage, so the publisher gets a bad wrap, but what's often ignored is that all of its games are priced appropriately, allowing users to easily remove ads from the majority of its games. So even though this studio concentrates on casual releases, it sometimes brings new games to the Play Store that are worth a look, and City Takeover is one of those games. It will be your job to connect the title's building in order to grow their populations, and this won't always come easy, so the game indeed offers a challenge. So for a casual release, there's some fun to be had here.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.49 apiece

City Takeover Developer: VOODOO
Price: Free
4.1
Download

Mediocre Games

Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization

Claw Stars

Claw Stars is an early access release that's essentially a claw game. Much like the physical claw games of arcades, it will be your job to obtain unique items by picking them up with your claw. Of course, this is a free-to-play release, so it's monetized horribly, all to alleviate the game's grind walls, much like any F2P match-3 title. So while skill isn't a requirement, patience or a fat wallet definitely are.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $1.99 - $99.99

Claw Stars Developer: Appxplore (iCandy)
Price: Free
4.5
Download

Royal Knight - RNG Battle

Royal Knight - RNG Battle is an early access release that's described as an RPG, but really it's a casual game where you'll tap on cards to pull off moves against NPC opponents. The thing is, these fights are easy until you hit the grind wall, and then it's time to grind or pay to advance past this false wall. Then it's back to easy fights until the next grind wall, which is why games like this are never any fun.

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

33RD: Random Defense

33RD: Random Defense is basically a tower defense game that plays out on a 3x3 grid. It will be your job to set up your defense in order to take on the game's bad guys, all in an effort to ensure the bad guys never reach the number 33 on the board. Should you let too many enemies appear, it's game over, so you'll have to plan accordingly if you want to keep the enemy number below 33. Sadly the game is monetized horribly, so the little bit of fun that's available is ruined by a greedy design.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $3.99 - $99.99

33RD: Random Defense Developer: Wondersquad
Price: Free
4.3
Download

Gate Of Mobius

There was a time when I used to wonder why some many games utilized fairy tale themes, but I eventually realized these familiar characters are public domain, so they are free to use. So when devs don't want to splash out on original or branded characters, this is what we get, constant fairy tale themes that at this point are indistinguishable from one another. So now that we've established this dev is cheap, the many in-app purchases in the title come as less of a surprise. More or less, this is a generic action RPG that's filled with a pointless grind as well as too many in-app purchases.

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

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