About Matthew Sholtz
Matthew is the Games and Apps Editor at Android Police. He's been gaming since his first taste of a TI-99 at four years old. Matthew has been an Android user since the HTC Hero and has covered roundups, reviews, and daily mobile game news for over a decade. He's a person who holds a peculiar yet deep interest in all things to do with handheld gaming and constantly pushes to advance the state of the mobile industry beyond the bounds of its predatory monetization obsession.
Matthew is a furious nitpicker and something of an (albeit amusing) curmudgeon, a writer who can instantly find fault in just about anything, yet he chooses to wield this power for good from the comfort of his armchair to ensure the best Android games and apps aren't lost to obscurity.
Latest Articles
20 temporarily free and 43 on-sale apps and games for Monday
Don't miss out on the sales for Final Fantasy III, Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition, and Heroes of Loot
Welcome to Monday, everyone. For the last couple of weeks, each Monday has started off with some strong sales, and this Monday is no different. Final Fantasy III is easily the most notable sale today, but I would be remiss if I did not mention that Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition and Heroes of Loot are two quality games that are also worth picking up. I'm also excited to announce that we have a sponsor for our sales roundup today, so please give a warm welcome to the edufitness app SOTKA for supporting our work to consistently report the best sales available on the Play Store. As always, I've highlighted the interesting titles in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 20 temporarily free and 43 on-sale apps and games for the beginning of the week.
25 new Android games from the week of February 24, 2020
Dota Underlords, Dragon Quest of the Stars, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed, and more
Welcome to our 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 I have the official launch of Valve's auto chess title, the Western release of a Dragon Quest gacha game, the soft launch of Electronic Arts' tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies 3, and the arrival of LEGO's free-to-play hero brawler. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android games released during the week of February 24th, 2020.
15 temporarily free and 25 on-sale apps and games for Friday
Don't miss out on the sales for Old Man's Journey, Back to Bed, and ELOH
Welcome to Friday, everyone. The end of the week is here, and so I have a few app and game sales to share with everyone today. While it would appear today is a slower day for sales, there are a few notable games in the list, such as Old Man's Journey, Back to Bed, and ELOH. As always, I've highlighted the interesting titles in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 15 temporarily free and 25 on-sale apps and games for the end of the week.
Welcome to Wednesday, everyone. It's the middle of the week, and so this is a slower time for sales, but that doesn't mean I don't have a few standouts to share today. So if you're looking for a solid puzzler, Mirage: Illusions is completely free today, and if you enjoy spooky adventure games, then Distraint 2 is a solid pickup at more than half-off. As always, I've highlighted the interesting titles in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 17 temporarily free and 27 on-sale apps and games for the middle of the week.
For some reason, LEGO has been busy this year lending out its brand to nefarious developers. Last week LEGO Star Wars Battles was announced, and it appears to be a free-to-play Clash Royale clone from Warner Bros. Today Gameloft's LEGO Legacy: Heroes Unboxed arrived on the Play Store for pre-registration, and it looks like a MARVEL Strike Force clone. Before this year, LEGO usually concentrated its efforts on quality games offered for free to advertise its brand, but now it would seem that the company is perfectly comfortable sullying its namesake to earn a quick buck off of the children that enjoy its toyline.
Plants vs. Zombies 3 leaves pre-alpha testing, enters soft launch in select territories
EA hasn't released Plants vs. Zombies 3 just yet
Electronic Arts recently revealed that Plants vs. Zombies 3 has finally left its pre-alpha testing phase and has now entered into a soft-launch release cycle for select territories, and the Philippines is the first country to gain access. More countries will be added to the soft launch list in the future, though EA is still tight-lipped about any sort of expected time frame, and so the development of Plants vs. Zombies 3 will continue to trudge along during this technical testing phase.
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It would appear that everyone's favorite new MOBA trend is Auto Chess, so of course, Valve has their own version in the works that's built off of Dota. The game is called Dota Underlords, and it just entered into a limited beta where Dota 2 Battle Pass owners can jump in early to test the waters on PC. After a week of stress-testing through Battle Pass, an open beta will begin for everyone else, and this will include Steam (Windows, Mac, and Linux), Android, and iOS users.
Dragon Quest of the Stars is available for download a day early, but you can't play it yet (Update: Out now)
Pre-download today, play tomorrow
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Square Enix has revealed this morning that its mobile RPG Dragon Quest of the Stars is officially available on the Google Play Store for pre-download. We last heard about Dragon Quest of the Stars back in January when Square announced that the title was available for pre-registration and that it would be officially released on February 25th. Well, clearly today isn't the 25th, but you can indeed install Dragon Quest of the Stars a day early if you'd like to prepare for tomorrow's release.
Welcome to Monday, everyone. While it's always tough to face the beginning of the week, I'm glad to report that there are a plethora of sales on offer today, and CalenGoo is easily a standout, along with The House of Da Vinci, Gunslugs 2, and Siege of Dragonspear. Plus, all of 3 Minute Games' Lifeline titles are on sale today. As always, I've highlighted the interesting titles in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 51 temporarily free and 73 on-sale apps and games for the beginning of the week.
Welcome to the roundup of the newest Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have a gorgeous 2D auto-runner from Noodlecake Studios, the long-awaited sequel to the escape room game The House of Da Vinci, and an enjoyable arcade game that mixes Pachinko with a brick breaker. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android games released during the week of February 17th, 2020.
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have a new VPN from Firefox, Google's release of the homework-helper Socratic, and an early-access note app that offers a design similar to Keep. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android apps released in the last two weeks.
Welcome to Friday, everyone. It's the end of the week, and so it's time again to pore through the latest app and game sales currently available on the Google Play Store. Not only are there a plethora of interactive Dr. Seuss books on sale today, the Twitter client Fenix 2 is on sale for half off, and Wahler Digital's fantastic puzzlers from the SiNKR series are also available today for half off. As always, I've highlighted the more interesting titles in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 28 temporarily free and 43 on-sale apps and games for the end of the week.
It has just come to my attention that FaceIT's stylish indie adventure game Summer Catchers is finally available for pre-registration on the Play Store. Back in July of 2019, the game was published on Steam by Noodlecake Studios and has racked up many positive reviews on the platform over the last six months. The game plays like an auto-runner, though it also offers a story-driven experience, so expect something a lot more polished than the standard auto-runners on the Play Store.
Welcome to Wednesday, everyone. It's the middle of the week, and while today is a slow day for sales, I'm still excited to share with everyone that Stardew Valley is currently available for $3 off. Seeing that the game just received a monumental update on Android, today's the day to pick it up. Of course, there are a few other standouts available in today's list, which I've highlighted in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 21 temporarily free and 30 on-sale apps and games for the middle of the week.
Welcome to Monday, everyone. I absolutely love it whenever I can start the week off with a bang, and today is one such day. Not only are all of the Goat Simulator titles on sale, Baldur's Gate II makes an appearance for half-off, and Orange Pixel's Meganoid is more than half-off, and it's easily one of the better randomly-generated platformers on the Play Store. As always, I've highlighted the more interesting titles in bold to make discory easier. So without further ado, here are 30 temporarily free and 47 on-sale apps and games for the beginning of the week.
Welcome to the roundup of the newest Android games that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous week or so. Today I have the latest survival game in the Bendy series, a gorgeous narrative-based adventure game, and a unique music-driven arcade shooter. So without further ado, here are the more notable Android games released during the week of February 10th, 2020.
Well what do you know, Cold Beam Games just release the followup to its music-powered dual-stick shooter Beat Hazard eight years after the original arrived on the Play Store. The title is currently in early access, so is still under development, which is probably why it is currently on sale for half-off, which means you can grab Beat Hazard 2 today for $3.99.
Little Misfortune comes from Killmonday Games, the same developer behind Fran Bow, a popular episodic adventure game that contains a creepy atmosphere. Little Misfortune follows in Fran Bow's footsteps, as it's also a dark adventure game. Luckily, this time around the devs haven't broken up the title into separate releases on Android, which means Little Misfortune is a complete package, and you can pick it up today for $8.99.
Welcome to Friday, everyone. The end of the week is finally here, and so it's time to check out the latest app and game sales available on the Google Play Store. For some reason, this entire week has been filled with icon sales, and today is no different. Besides the many icon packs on sale today, there's a few games worth mentioning, such as DISTRAINT: Deluxe Edition, Hack, Slash, Loot, and Peace, Death, so don't miss out on those. As always, I've highlighted the notable titles in bold to make discovery easier. So without further ado, here are 33 temporarily free and 73 on-sale apps and games for the end of the week.
This past November ConcernedApe (Eric Barone) released a free update for Stardew Valley known as version 1.4, and it has finally made its way to Android today. This is a large update, and so it brings along new content, features, and bug fixes, all while improving the gameplay experience with a handful of quality of life features.