Exciting? Check. Thrilling? Sort of the same as exciting, but check. Calm? Check. Actioney but with some puzzle elements? Er, check. Pie? Check. Well, check yesterday, but there's some left over in the fridge. Help yourself (it's chocolate), then help yourself to some awesome Android games, too!
Return Zero - Racing games on mobile platforms can be hit or miss. This one's a big hit in a big way. It's simple, it's stylish, it's challenging without being frustrating, and beyond all else, it's awesome. Tilt your phone to steer your futureship (totally made that word up) left and right. Race through the blueish fields to stay in the game, and tap the arrows on the left to switch from racing low to high. You can also hold the button on the right to enter super slow-mo mode, allowing you to calibrate your path and get back on the right track. But, you know, since this is a racing game, you don't want to do slow-mo too often! A great game even non-racing fans will enjoy. Return Zero Free is also available.
Stones of Tranquility Lite - Aah, here's a nice change of pace. Instead of racing around futuristic worlds or frantically matching puzzle pieces, how about we just stack some stones by a waterfall? Stones of Tranquility isn't a game as much as it is an experiment in calming your mind. There are no achievements, power-ups, explosions, or any of the other fare us gamers are accustomed to. Instead, you simply tilt the phone to move a platform to catch stones as they fall. Stack them all successfully and you move on to the next level. If you fail, it's cool, just give it another shot. A good way to relax, and a fun, good-looking stress-free game to boot! The free Stones of Tranquility Lite is also available.
Spinballs - A matching-style puzzle game with an unusual sort of twist. You are given a series of orb-topped discs that can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise with a single tap. The goal is to rotate as many of these discs as you can to create groups of like-colored balls. Line a few items up, tap the button at the bottom of the screen, and see how many simultaneous matches you made. It's quite a challenge to go for the big matches, as with each turn you can destroy a group, sort of like working with a Rubik's Cube. The free Spinballs Lite is also available.
Cordy - "Impressive" is the first word you'll utter when you see this game in motion. Cordy is a gorgeous platformer from Silvertree Media that utilizes 3D environments forced into a 2D perspective that frequently rotates as you move about the levels. It resembles LittleBigPlanet in a number of ways, but the action is simpler and less collection-based. Use the on-screen controls to move, hopping and running across the beautifully-animated terrain, collecting items to power-up your battery that activates portions of the stage. If you don't have a newer phone model, this one might give your processor a bit of a strain, so be sure to set the graphics to "simple" instead of "HD" in the settings menu. A dozen levels are free, but you must use in-app billing to unlock more stages.
NOTE: Games listed may not be available outside of North America. Prices are subject to change and are therefore unlisted. Please see the individual game pages for purchasing info. Games have been confirmed to run on Android 2.2 on an HTC Incredible.
Oh! Not available outside North America :(
Has anyone else noticed that the 'platform' in the RSS feeds for Mobile Monday is often wrong? For example, today it read "[Platform: Mobile (Windows)]"
[Thank you for pointing this out. The RSS feed has been fixed regarding this. -Jay]
Cordy and Stones of Tranquility isn't available for my phone for some reason, even though it does seem to satisfy the listed requirements, and I've run OpenGL ES 2.0 stuff on it, so I know it supports that. Anyone know why?
Might want to add that Cordy is amazingly difficult if you don't have a multi-touch screen.
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