I've only had my Nexus 7 for a few weeks and really like it but it can be frustrating to find games that are exclusive to Android that are really good. I know a lot of Kemco RPGs come out on Android first and I've grabbed some others (also getting some games that weren't compatible with my 3GS.) Right now I'd say my favorite exclusive is Puddle. Absolutely absorbing atmosphere and unique gameplay as you try to get liquids through a level with various obstacles that affect that liquid. Looks fantastic on a Tegra 3 device. So what are some others?
I created the threads for Cyber Knights RPG, Templar Assault and Star Traders which are very good games. Star Traders is no longer an exclusive, though. That being said, it's more catered to an audience that would rather focus on content and substance over necessarily pretty graphics and animations coming from a large studio. These are ambitious games developed by two brothers, on a part-time effort. They have free versions of their games, with no ads, just limited content. The Kingturn series is also quite good, though it's once again turn-based, tactical RPGs. Their Kingturn RPG Plus one is free, with an IAP to unlock the full game, so it could give you an idea of how it plays. Dungeon Ascendance is, so far to my knowledge, the closest you'll get to Desktop Dungeons on a mobile - it has a sufficiently different twist to it that the Desktop Dungeons developers have acknowledged that it is a different game to theirs, and not a straight copycat as some in the past. I haven't played Desktop Dungeons that much, but some of the same mechanics seem to be present. It also has a free version, no ads if I recall correctly, but limited content. I would definitely recommend all of these, at least to see if it's your kind of game. What kind of games do you like? I guess my catalog has been quite biased to what I actually have time to play, but you might be able to get other recommendations if you're looking for something more specific. There are several OrangePixel games that have never been ported to iOS, if you're into platformers, and most have a free, ad-supported version if you'd like to try them out.
Shapes & Sounds is a good droid exclusive. Simple gameplay coupled with good art make it worth playing. http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=180023
9th Dawn is probably the biggest open-world rpg right now. Retro-looking with many modern elements. Demo version and 3$ version.
I came here to say that. I've completed and love Kingturn Underworld RPG and Kingturn Plus RPG. Kingturn RPG looks great. I created threads for all here. Highly recommended. Thanks for the recommendation. I've noticed 9th Dawn and been curious.
Thanks for the tip as well, going to download the demo straight away and try it out later. @undeadcow: it was actually thanks to your strong recommendation for Knighturn that I ended up trying them out, and actually getting the 3 of them. I have to say, the graphics of the original Kingturn, together with the fact that I hadn't read the manual and FAQ made that I didn't really play it much and just disregarded it. However, I'm glad you advocated for it in the iOS thread - I'm happy I have found these games! Great thread so far!
Non-casual games If you are looking for non-casual games, I would second @pjft and recommend the games by the Trese Brothers: Star Traders, Templar Assault, and Cyber Knights. However, I happen to be a Trese Brother, so ... take that with a grain of salt! Either way -- they are games for gamers who want depth, complexity, and replayability. Check 'em out!
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I know there's some good stuff out there just not as easy to find out about as it is on the iOS. And thanks, in particular to undeadcow for creating a bunch of threads over here, even though I wanted this forum it was kind of for the selfish reason of finding out about Android games. Hope that I'll get versed enough to make some more knowledgable contributions of my own.
I'm in the same boat. I don't even have an Android yet but have heard a lot of promising things about the format. Maybe if I start threads for a few promising Android exclusive games that look promising people will post feedback and help me decide if I should get a "droid." It's been a while since I could enthusiastically recommend Knighturn because it's been removed from App Store. The developers claim that it's much more popular on Android but have suggested they might make the upgraded edition available on iOS soon.
I've been playing this as well and it is compelling to play on especially with a Nexus 7. Recommend picking this up. And another post of thanks to undeadcow for posting all those threads. Appreciated.
Right, I guess what I mean is your comments on the old thread made me get it. Knighturn was constantly showing up on the recommended games in the Google Play store, when I was browsing games that I liked. However, the screenshots didn't tell me much. At one point I found the TouchArcade thread being bumped in the forums, I'm not sure why, and I read through it and decided to take a chance By the way: the 9th Dawn game that Lester recommended seems to be quite competent. I played a small bit with the demo, and it is surprisingly well done! I'll probably get the full version - let me play around with it a bit more to see how it evolves. A for the forum section, I'm very happy to have it - I've been an iOS gamer for several years, but for over a year now I've also had an Android phone, so my iOS gaming is restricted to my iPad. It's great to finally have a good place to discuss this kind of things. My personal take on the whole Android vs iOS scene is that iOS has many more games, many more high profile games, and overall more polished games as well. While there are several unique gems on Android, they are very much indie-driven, and sometimes their quality will vary a bit. Also, from my experience, if they are exclusive to Android, they will more often than not be low-profile games. Big studios will invest in iOS first - or, at least, at the same time. You will get much faster updates on Android, perhaps earlier releases if the developer is small and/or is not worried about releasing both at the same time. You will also get several free games being supported by Ads. Not that many IAPs as iOS yet, because Ad support is very common, and perhaps easier to do in Android. Which is actually good since you might be able to try out several games for free before committing to a purchase that removes the ads. On the other hand, you'll have lots of low quality games, or unfinished games in the store, perhaps developed by hobbyists, since it is quite easy to develop for the Android platform, from a technical requirements standpoint. I'm sorry for this being all over the place, but the summary is: there are some few gems on Android; iOS is more polished, has more quality games and for now I still feel that it is ahead of Android and will still be for the near future. I would expect some more indie gems to show up on Android, and for higher profile releases, they'll start to be released on both platforms, but I'd expect these releases to still be released on iOS first. Cheers, Paulo
^^ With Nvidia's involvement, some of the bigger devs are latching on. Even EA optimized Mass Effect: Infiltrator and the THD versions of games like Shadowgun and, well maybe not as loved on TA, Dead Trigger, are outstanding. There's some Tegra exclusives as well like the aforementioned Puddle. I really think Tegra 4 could blow the roof off for Android (and in the process make my Nexus 7 outdated). There's already some exlusives announced for it including the excellent PC mech shooter Hawken. Not sure if Andoid will catch up to the iOS in sheer numbers of games, but I do think there will be some really awesome things coming. The biggest downfall is still the split market due to the wide variations of all the devices. That's a tough one to overcome.
Agreed. Ouya will also bring something to the table, and I'm cautiously optimistic about it, from the buzz I keep reading from some indie developers on Android. The device fragmentation is a real problem, sadly - you can't really have it all though. The premise for Android was that it would be an open platform, so that you could run it on pretty much the device you'd want to mass-produce and sell - from the cheap, low-end one to the high-end devices. That flexibility, though, makes it more similar to the PC in its early days, with different resolutions, different CPU speeds, different amount of memory, etc., but I guess at a larger scale. It is a tough one to overcome indeed.
First time I've noticed these android forums here but the game I'm enjoying the most right now is Pocket Stables it's one of Kairosofts so if you know grand prix story etc you know pretty much what to expect I would put this in Kairos top 3 games I still haven't quite beat it although I'm getting close.
Good call. I haven't played any kairosoft game recently, the last one I really played was Dungeon Village, and boy did I have a blast with it. Might have to look into this one.
Thanks for the Kingturn recommendation. Gonna get all 3. Any specific order? I see PLUS is a remake of their first title, do I play it first? Or does it not matter since each has a story of its own?
Just a few games I am currently playing and enjoying and don't think they are on ios (not 100% certain): Slice Ice (ad supported but removable once you install any game and run it - tapjoy) Gyro (main mode for free, can unlock the rest easily again with tapjoy) graBlox Megaflux
Ingress is probably the best Android exclusive for now though it's fairly hard to get an invite from Google.
Kingturn Plus is the orginal story and Kingturn Underworld is a subsequent prequel. Both are fairly stand alone but have some overlapping characters and elements. I can't speak for Kingturn (plain Kingturn) because it's been Android exclusive. I don't think order is that important but it is cool that all occur in the same universe/mythology. Edit: From description it looks like plain Kingturn continuity might be as a semi-sequel to Kingturn Plus. Also the Mangobile website lists the Kingturn Trilogy that that order - Underworld, Plus, plain.
Yeah, I agree. We are in the kind ios group, willing to give Android a fair chance. Curious to see how the android games compare to ios.
