12 new Android games from the last week: The best, worst, and everything in between (2/15/21

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 enjoyable roguelike where you'll swing your sword wildly, a story-based deck-builder that offers an enjoyable sense of humor, and an auto-runner that delights hand-drawn doodle art. So without further ado, here are the new and notable Android games released during the last week.

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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

SLICE KNIGHT – DUNGEON FIGHTER & WEAPON SIMULATOR

Slice Knight is a simple roguelike where you'll delve into the depths of dungeons in search of endless loot. The gimmick is that your weapon is constantly swinging around your body, and so you'll have to time your movement to ensure your weapon hits your enemies before they hit you. This creates a unique mechanic outside of the typical dungeon crawler, and since the game is monetized appropriately, it's a worthy listing for today's Best section.

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

Watch Me Stream My Mental Breakdown

Watch Me Stream My Mental Breakdown is an odd title that's made its way from PC to Android this week. This is a card-based single-player game, and it's story-heavy, so it will require patience. But if you're into deck builders but have felt your options have lacked a sense of humor, then Watch Me Stream My Mental Breakdown might be what you're looking for. While the price is pretty steep for a mobile release, it does compare to the current Steam price.

Monetization: $19.99 / no ads / no IAPs

Doodle Dash

Doodle Dash is the latest auto-runner on the Play Store, and as you can see, the entire thing is hand-drawn. Like most auto-runners, you'll run, slide, and jump your way to victory. The game offers randomly generated levels, so the gameplay is endless, though if you're familiar with auto-runners, then you may grow tired quickly. Still, there's some fun to be had, and the monetization is fair, so there's very little here to complain about.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $7.99

Dice Life - Roll the Dice & Build your Dream Town

Dice Life is a pleasant-looking life sim that employs RNG dice rolls, which at first this mechanic sounds annoying, it works well. Basically, this game plays like any other farming sim that also offers life sim features, and so it will be your job to build up your town by throwing as many lucky rolls as you can. So if you enjoy town management games, or farming sims, or life sims, or any other similar slice-of-life genre, you may get a kick out of Dice Life.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs from $2.49 - $11.99

EVO ISLAND

Evo Island is an early access release, so it's a work in progress, but so far, it's an enjoyable strategy game. It will be your job to conquer a strange world by populating it with your species. This task will require you to balance your population growth, resistances, intelligence, and upgrades to ensure that you're people populate every region on a strange planet instead of dying out.

Monetization: free / no ads / IAPs $0.99 apiece

Insanium

At first glance, Insanium looks like a poorly designed game, what with its high-contrast colors and dated 64k pixel-based graphics. But this couldn't be further from the truth. You see, this is a modern release that was designed to mimic the game Alien from the ZX Spectrum. So it was created with a genuine intention that appropriately offers a similar experience, but with the added benefit of wittier writing. So if you enjoy strategic adventure games, Insanium offers a lot of fun that might be missed if you judge everything by graphics alone.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $3.99 apiece

Average Games

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

Guess It

Guess It is an extremely simple game. At the bottom of the screen, you'll find a mix of letters, and it will be your job to figure out the word these letters create by drawing on the screen. The thing is, you're not actually drawing. You're simply dragging the brush around as it slowly reveals an image. This image represents the word you're trying to decipher. So as far as I can tell, you simply slide your finger around until the image reveals itself, which isn't all that fun. While the game is free, it's also pretty boring.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Gather Match

Gather Match is a simple matching game, and when I say simple, I mean it. You tap on a block to match it with another, and that's it. In between these puzzles, you'll have to watch annoying fullscreen ads, and currently, there's no way to remove these ads. So I can confidently say this is a game that's easily skipped unless you're looking for a simple puzzler and don't mind ads.

Monetization: free / contains ads / no IAPs

Premium RPG Ghost Sync

RPG Ghost Sync is the latest RPG from Kemco, and much like the rest of this developer's catalog, this is a paid RPG that also contains a boatload of in-app purchases. Sure, most of these IAPs are totally optional, but there's still no way any of these generic RPGs are worth the asking price. So I'd recommend waiting for a sale since this game doesn't bring anything new to the table compared to everything else in this dev's catalog. At the very least, there is a free version available for those that would like to take a look before they decide to buy.

Monetization: $7.99 / contains ads / IAPs from $0.99 - $49.99

Mediocre Games

Titles that are buggy, unpolished, or offer aggressive monetization

Recontact London: Cyber Puzzle

Recontact London: Cyber Puzzle is similar to the many lost-phone games out there, but instead of interacting with a phone, you'll spend your time hacking into security cameras to watch for clues in these videos. The game employs five distinct kinds of puzzles to mix things up, and since the game is continuously updated, supposedly, the gameplay is endless. Sadly this title is monetized poorly, which explains why the dev aimed to create something that's endless.

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

Marble Clash

Marble Clash is a marble game that plays like pool. It will be your job to hit your balls in the corner pockets by firing your striker at them. The game uses a slingshot mechanic, and it works well, so the controls aren't a worry. The problem is, this is a competitive game, and it contains a boatload of in-app purchases. So if you're looking for a fair fight, you're going to have to bring along a few friends, as the matchmaking in this game isn't very good. After all, this is a new release, and so there aren't many players, which means you'll often be matched against bots.

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

Darkfire Heroes

Last year Rovio purchased the studio that created this game and then changed the studio's name to Rovio Copenhagen. So now Darkfire Heroes is a Rovio property, not that it's any good. The game just entered into a soft launch, and it's basically a gacha game where you'll collect heroes to take on an endless amount of foes through strategical battles. Reviews are already calling the game pay-to-win, so plenty of false roadblocks await you to ensure that you spend money on this skinner box. So yeah, Rovio's still treading water, but with junk like this, you have to wonder how long they'll be able to keep it up. Oh, and despite the fact the game isn't even ready for prime time, it's already stuffed with in-app purchases.