13 new (and 1 WTF) Android games from last week: the best, the worst and everything (01/25/21

Welcome to the summary of the best new Android games that aired on the Play Store or were seen by us the week before. Today’s list is divided into several segments, ranging from the best, medium and mediocre. So whether you’re looking for the best quality games or just looking for the latest free gacha titles, you’re covered. This week I have the launch of early access for a mobile adaptation of Magic: The Gathering, a new Slashy puzzle from Blue Wizard Digital and the latest cash-grab gacha from Square Enix. So, without further ado, here are the new and remarkable Android games released over the past week.

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Looking for previous editions? Find them here.

Best games

Titles that offer fair prices, pleasant gameplay, refined interfaces or are intriguing

Magic: The Gathering Arena

Android police coverage: Magic: The Gathering Arena enters early access on Android

While it’s surprising that Magic: The Gathering has been absent on mobile all this time, now that the game has finally come to Android, it’s clear that Arena offers gameplay comparable to the PC app. That way, mobile users can pick up where they left off while away from home. So, if you’re a fan of MtG, or are looking for a good place to start, the early access launch for Magic: The Gathering Arena is a great place to learn the basics. The game facilitates players with their mechanics with a useful tutorial, plus you don’t have to worry about buying physical card packs just to learn how it works.

Monetization: free / no ads / $ 4.99 – $ 19.99 IAPs

Slashy Camp

Slashy Camp comes from the creators of Slayaway Camp, one of my favorite puzzle games of 2017. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to hear that there was a new game from this developer, although I can’t say another endless game on the Play Store sparked my interest a lot. Fortunately, this release retains many of the components that made the first title so popular, such as sliding intelligently down a level to kill campers. In fact, the endless running mechanics simply serve to make this game infinite, while you try your best to kill as many people as possible in each race. I am also happy to see that the game is monetized fairly.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $ 0.99 each

pink

Pink is Bart Bonte’s latest puzzle game and is part of his colorful game series. In this particular version, there are 50 puzzles to solve, and they are all logical puzzles, so you will have to bring your head to think if you want to get through this. Tips are available if you have questions and prefer a premium experience, you can pay to remove ads from the game.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $ 1.99 each

Mystic Hammer

Mystic Hammer is basically a clone of Plants vs. Zombies, but it is competent, and moved from PC to Android this week. So, in essence, this works as a defense game, where you will protect each track from enemies that are increasingly invaders of the title. There are 50 levels to explore and, thanks to a good dose of RPG mechanics, there is enough depth here to keep people busy for a while.

Monetization: free / no ads / no IAPs

Average games

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

Mycetopia

Mycetopia can offer excellent graphics for a Metroidvania mobile title, but unfortunately the gameplay suffers thanks to many setbacks and other short-sided design options. As this is a new version only for Android, the reviews are out there and are not very positive. After playing a bit, I must say that I agree. It looks like this is just another unnamed Metroidvania indie title recently ported to Android. Fortunately, the asking price is not that bad, and since this is a premium release that features a low price, it is not like betting on this title would break the bank. Just don’t expect an innovative Metroidvania, and you will probably have a lot of fun.

Monetization: $ 3.99 / no ads / no IAPs

321 Shootout

321 Shootout is a nice looking first person arena shooting game. It offers fast action, which requires quick reflexes, as you would expect from an arena shooter. So, if you were hoping to scratch your sniper itch on your phone, 321 Shootout is a good choice this week. Best of all, it’s monetized properly, so you don’t have to worry about abusive in-app purchases. While it is clear that this is an independent case that could need a little more polishing, the game is free, so anyone can take a look if they want.

Monetization: free / contains ads / IAPs $ 0.99 each

GameApart: leading Game Night Digital

GameApart is an older release, but as I haven’t covered it yet, I thought now is a great time to highlight a title that offers a collection of mini-games that can be played remotely with friends and family on apps like Skype and Meet. This version works a lot like the Jackbox titles, where the application deals with the game’s content, with everyone participating in the game through a locally installed version of the application, while using some form of communication through a separate application. While some bugs are still present, such as ads interrupting their sessions, the developers are working on these issues.

Monetization: free / contains ads / $ 1.99 – $ 4.99 IAPs

HIDDEN LANDS – visual puzzles

Hidden Lands is a colorful puzzle game where you will have the task of detecting the difference between two images while immersing yourself in the mechanics of some hidden objects. So yes, this is a simple game, but it looks good and you can have fun as you progress through the title’s 100 missions. Unfortunately, the game’s announcements can be annoying and the lack of an introduction will leave some people guessing what they should be doing, not that it is so difficult to figure things out quickly.

Monetization: free / contains ads / $ 1.99 – $ 9.99 IAPs

Mediocre games

Buggy, unfinished titles that offer aggressive monetization

DRAGON QUEST TACT

Android police coverage: Dragon Quest Tact is Square Enix’s latest gacha game, now available for Android

Dragon Quest Tact is an older game that has been around in Japan for some time, but has just been released in English this week. As this is an older title, its age shows, especially since this is a dated gacha game that hardly compares to the new king Genshin Impact, although if you’re a Dragon Quest fanatic, you might like the theme. Of course, you’ll have to deal with greedy monetization and poor gameplay balance, a staple of games like this that Dragon Quest Tact doesn’t avoid.

Monetization: free / no ads / $ 0.99 – $ 79.99 IAPs

BLESS MOBILE

Bless is the latest MMO to see a mobile interpretation released on the Play Store and, like this rest, this is an automatic game to earn money, where many reviews from the Play Store mention that the game has already had a difficult start in the USA. Therefore, it is not only an older title that has just arrived in the United States, but also suffers from the constant shuffling of the server that plagues similar titles. Essentially, this title brings nothing new to the table and repeats the same mistakes as the rest, creating yet another mobile MMO that is easily ignored.

Monetization: free / no ads / $ 0.99 – $ 79.99 IAPs

Star Hunter

Stellar Hunter is a new release that we covered last year when he was at the beginning of the access. This is a space-themed RPG with roguelike mechanics and, although these terms are often used to describe almost all Android games ever made, it is not surprising to see that this title also plays like the rest. This means that you will touch your movements at the bottom of the screen while a team of 4 explore strange planets while fighting alien enemies. As expected, the Stellar Hunter is unprofitable and still has bugs, despite the recent stable release.

Monetization: free / contains ads / $ 0.99 – $ 99.99 IAPs

Infinite realm

Infinity Kingdom calls itself an MMO strategy game, but seeing as it is a mobile title, all of this is not an accurate description of what this game offers. In reality, this is a title focused on PvP that changes servers almost monthly. In fact, whales can simply camp on the game servers, which means that free-access players will not enjoy cannon fodder for these camp-rich whales. It is painfully clear that this game is worth winning.

Monetization: free / no ads / $ 0.99 – $ 99.99 IAPs

Hero Craft

Hero Craft is a new voxel game that works like a sandbox RPG, but each dungeon is generated procedurally, so this is also a roguelite. Each dive in the dungeon will reward you with the items needed to slowly update your character and equipment so that you will eventually be powerful enough to work your way through the most challenging content. Unfortunately, the game is poorly monetized, and since the voxel design is the laziest you can find in the world of indie game design, it’s clear that this is a money gain designed to appeal to Minecraft fans.

Monetization: free / contains ads / $ 0.99 – $ 99.99 IAPs

WTF game of the week

Titles that make you say “WTF”

Save the baby!

Save The Baby is an absolutely ridiculous game in which you have the task, you guessed it, of saving a baby from dangerous situations, such as pulling out your eyes with a traffic cone. You know, normal everyday situations that babies get into. As you can see in the photos below, this launch is basically a lazy asset investment, but it is the premise that really shines. After all, who wouldn’t want to waste their time ensuring that the baby who, for some strange reason, allowed him to crawl down the street is not hit by 2-ton vehicles? Clearly, this baby’s parents are criminally irresponsible to their child, which makes this WTF list perfect.