Here we find ourselves on the eve of a brand new month. Let us commemorate the achievement of the passing of another 31 days with a list of the best Android games from last month. If your bank account has taken a hit after acquiring all of these games don’t worry, we are here to comfort you.
After April brought top titles like The Walking Dead and XCOM, May had a lot to live up to, but certainly did not disappoint. Below we have put together our list of the best games that this past month had to offer. Take a look and see if you missed any.
Tell us below in the comments if you think there were any games we missed or if you completely agree with everything we said (which never happens on the internet).
1. Monument Valley ($3.99)
By far and away the best game to be released this month, Monument Valley comes from the creators of Whale Trail, but couldn’t look or play any differently. The game will bring on memory of the indie console game Fez, which has you solving puzzles by literally spinning the world around to open up new pathways to get to your destination. Gameplay is smooth and responsive and fit for a mobile device’s touchscreen, which is more than a lot of games for Google Play can say.
And as if unique and fun gameplay wasn’t enough, the game looks gorgeous. This is the type of game that you want to play on those enormous high definition screens that Android has adopted. There is a story line, but its a subtle one that you aren’t presented with up front.
All things considered, this game is definitely worth the $3.99 price tag that it comes with. You don’t want to miss out on this one.
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2. Trials Frontier (Free)
Trials Frontier is the expansion of the wildly successful Trials franchise available for mobile devices. Grabbing a motorcycle and getting from point A to point B has never been so difficult. Early levels in Trials games are deceptively easy, but then the difficulty starts ratcheting upwards very quickly. You will be begging for checkpoints in certain spots because some jumps and stretches of the game will take you over 50 tries to complete. But it is still amazingly addictive.
As if conquering each map for yourself wasn’t hard enough, Trials is known for its time challenges against your friends. Once you grab some buddies to play the game with, you can race each track against their ghost. Either you can blow past them and show them how bad they are, or realize that you might want to uninstall to hide the shame of your failures when compared to them.
The game is free and supported by in-app purchases that allow you to access new bikes and other goodies. If you are looking for a fun game to kill some time, this is definitely worth picking up for free. Just be careful to not get too addicted.
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3. Half Life 2 ($9.99)
The reason these next two games are not 1 and 2 on this month’s list is because of their NVIDIA Shield exclusivity. Half Life 2 tops the list as my favorite game of all time. It is really that good. Debuting in 2004 as one of the bearers of the Source engine, HL2 just did everything right. It had a great story, amazing gameplay, broke new ground by using the Source engine’s physics and looked great throughout, although 10 years later the graphics may look a bit dated.
You play as Gordon Freeman, living in a futuristic world where the Combine rule everything with strict rules and even stricter punishments. The story unfolds in front of you as your task is to escape the dangerous City 17 and help to try and free the world from the “benefactors” control. Probably the most impressive feat of HL2 is the range of gameplay that it features. At points it is a First Person Shooter, but then it changes into a horror-survival game that encourages you to save your bullets. It can easily change into a physics-based puzzle game as well: all on the fly. It transitions between different gameplay styles so easily and effortlessly that the game is constantly engaging and fun.
Back in 2004 when I first purchased HL2, it came with 6 (yes, six) installation discs. But now we have advanced to the point where the entire game can be installed over WiFi onto your Shield device. This is the same game that has won so many awards throughout the years for being done so well. If you have a Shield and you haven’t played this game, do yourself a favor and pick it up.
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4. Portal ($9.99)
What can I say about Portal that hasn’t already been said? Another amazing game that we are lucky has come to Android. If you have never played it, I suggest watching the video below as the gameplay can get rather tricky at times. You play as Chell, almost literally a lab rat stuck in a scientific testing center with the center’s artificial intelligence, GLaDOS. You are presented with a device that allows you to shoot an opening and exit to a portal that you or objects can travel through and, well like I said, the video explains it better.
Ask anyone who has played Portal and they will most likely be able to spout off a few lines that GLaDOS gives you throughout your time in the game. The dialogue is incredibly well written for just one speaking character and you will enjoy the comic relief as you struggle to figure out some of the later puzzles in the game. “Thinking with portals” is more than just a tagline in this instance, the game really does require you to think outside the box if you want to complete it. You will come out of Aperture Science thinking that you are a genius in physics, momentum and gravity.
Another must play game if you have an NVIDIA Shield, even at the $9.99 price.
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5. Dark Lands (Free)
Last but not least we have Dark Lands. A new game in the side-scrolling genre, but with some new aspects. The central point of the game is still to get your warrior hero as far along his endless journey that he can, but it is more than just running and jumping over traps. You use your weapons to take down enemies and bosses while continuing to move forward until you die. And then load it up to try again. This time you can upgrade your weapons and armor to help you get past the guy that defeated you last time.
The art style of Dark Lands is what caught our eyes. The stylized black characters with a colored background makes it very clear what you are supposed to do and where you are supposed to go. At first glance it reminds me of Limbo, an indie platformer that you can find on consoles. This is definitely the type of game you will want to keep on your device for a while to see how high your score can get.
For the low price of free, how can you turn down this game?
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Don’t forget to look back at all of the previous top 5 games of the month posts!
This post was last modified on May 29, 2014 11:25 am