Quick: how many games do you have installed on your Android, and how many of these do you actually play? Let’s face it, there aren’t too many games that are worth playing. The two games in this post, Robotek and Tripletown, are different. Not only are they super addictive, but they are also free.
These are not flashy, super-hyped games, but hidden gems that you’ve probably never heard of. I write them up because they have stood the test of time, having been the two most played games on my Android for a very long time.
These games are ‘freemium’ rather than freeware, which means that although you can play them 100% freely, you could choose to buy in-game items if you do not feel like earning them. But believe me, you can get good enough at these quickly enough that you really don’t have to buy anything. Best of all, they are both ad-free.
1. Robotek
This game is surprisingly addictive, and one of the most engaging yet easily accessible games you will play on any device. Robotek is a turn based post-apocalyptic robot-fighting game that combines elements of rock-paper-scissors, slot machine gaming, and chess.
There are the three broad categories of actions in each turn; summoning robots, launching attacks, or launching defensive measures.With each turn you have to ‘spin’ the virtual reels/icons, and the result will determine what you get for that turn, with two icons of the same thing giving you a better effect, and a full three icons giving you an extra turn. The randomness that this system introduces has a very strange addictive effect, but unlike the real slots, this game has lots of room for skill and long term strategy, and requires a lot of thought to master.
Here are 4 quick Robotek tips: (1) Avoid the temptation to engage Robots that are a lot more powerful than you, (2) the objective is to win more games than you lose in the long term, as you can play strategically and still lose if your opponent has a lucky streak, (3) if you lose all of your energy and cannot play any more, you can reset the campaign in the options screen, and (4) the best way to get your robot helpers to replenish their energy is for them to get a straight shot at the other droid.
Aside from playing against the computer, you can play against another human online or by passing the device. The developers of this game deserve credit for getting the balance just right among the different in game elements.
Robotek is easily my favorite Android game at the moment. Try it and stick with it for a while, you will note be disappointed.
2. TripleTown
A ‘match 3’ type puzzle game where the objective is to build a town by combining simple building blocks into a bigger whole. It can be described as a marriage between, say, ‘Bejeweled’ with ‘Sim City’, and manages to fuse the best of both worlds into a playable, addicting whole.
The challenge here is not running out of room to place the elements that you are given at every turn, while planning out the best ‘town’ that you can build with them. Players have to combine simple building blocks into more complex elements. So, for example, three grass icons will form a bush, and three bushes will form a tree, and three trees a house, etc. But there’s a subversive element: Bears, which do their utmost to mess things up, but can be trapped and used as building blocks themselves.
The ‘interesting’ thing about Triple Town is that each game has a limited number of turns, which you have to replenish by earning and spending coins (or, alternately, you can pay for unlimited turns). My advice: don’t buy anything, as the very challenge of earning enough coins to pay for future turns adds to the game’s excitement. Predictably, you can also use your coins to buy specific objects if and when you need them, etc.
Overall Triple Town one of the best games I’ve installed on my Android.
Appeal to readers:
I’d like to write more posts about excellent free Android games. If you know of a game (or games) that I must include in a future post, please let me know about it in the comments section.
