Best Android Games as of April 2018
PUBG Mobile
It's pretty incredible how well PUBG Mobile plays on Android. This is a massive PvP battle royale game that pits 100 players against each other on a massive island loaded with weapons, ammo, tactical gear, and vehicles. You drop in as a solo player or as part of a team and must use all your best skills to take down your opponents until you're the last man standing.
It's not unheard of for a popular PC or console release to find its way to Android, but you'll be surprised at how well PUBG plays on a smartphone. The developers have made it easier for mobile players to pick up and manage items, and have also added bots in the lowest ranks to help ease players into the game experience. Bluetooth controller support would be a nice addition, but the touch controls are some of the best I've seen for a shooter on mobile.
It also allows you to scale back the graphics so you can enjoy smooth gameplay even when playing on an older device. If you've got a newer device, crank those settings to the max and enjoy one of the best looking mobile games I've played in a long while.
PUBG Mobile somehow delivers all the epic moments you'd expect the PC game scaled down perfectly for mobile devices. Best of all, it's free to play and currently devoid of any in-app purchases. Get your squad together, and I'll see you on the battlegrounds!
Stranger Things: The Game
Stranger Things: The Game is the tie-in mobile game that other companies wish they could churn out. It's a full-fledged action adventure game with a full cast of playable characters, tons of collectibles, and a retro graphical style that fits into the show theme and setting.
The game presents the entire town of Hawkins, Indiana along with the adjacent Mirkwood Forest to be explored. It plays like a classic Zelda-style adventure game, with the ability to switch between characters lending itself to creating complex puzzles.
Credit Netflix's marketing team for spending the time to make sure the developers at BonusXP Inc. delivered something special for fans of the series. They've created a real winner here, and a true contender for game of the year — and I'm not even a huge fan of the source material.
The controls are optimized for mobile and there's great game design on display here. The overworld is vast and filled with secret areas to explore and familiar items from the show scattered throughout as collectibles.
There's just so much to appreciate here. Not only is it a faithful adaptation of the show, it's available for free with no in-app purchases or ads — although you can certainly count the game itself as being an ad for the second season of Stranger Things. Here's hoping it ushers in a new trend of substantial mobile games based on TV shows and movies.
Reigns: Her Majesty
Reigns was one of the best games of 2016 and actually won the first ever Google Play Indie Games contest. So needless to say we were pumped to check out the sequel.
In Reigns, you play as the monarch of the land and make decisions that affect four aspects of the kingdom: the church, the people, the army, and the royal wealth. Your goal is to keep all four in balance — if any meter fills to the max or is entirely depleted your reign is over… and a new reign begins!
The sequel plays nearly identically to the first game, except this time you play as the Queen instead of the King, complete with new characters to interact with and multiple branching storylines to discover. The gameplay is as easy as swiping left or right on cards and if it's anything like the first game there's a ton of great easter eggs to find along the way!
I would hate to spoil anything for this new game, but if you played the first one and are afraid that it's going to be too similar, I can assure you there are plenty of new mechanics to make this one of the best titles of 2017.
The Battle of Polytopia
Death Road to Canada is a $10 game — I want to open with that just to get the sticker shock out of the way before I talk about how awesome this freaking game is. (It's currently on sale for a dollar, though, which makes it an even better purchase.)
Facing a zombie apocalypse, you must lead a scrappy squad of somewhat interesting characters on a deadly mission to the relative safety of Canada. Along the way, you'll need to explore and loot places for supplies, while also managing your team's health and morale.
Everything in Death Road to Canada is randomly generated, making every play-through a unique experience in this dynamic road trip action-RPG. You can randomly generate your character and buddy or custom design your starting characters with different attributes to help them stay alive, but you probably don't want to get too attached unless you're a really good shot.
The controls admittedly take some getting used to, and there's a pretty steep learning curve as you learn which weapons are most effective and which times it's better to fight or run. And you will die, early and often, although that's part of the fun of a zombie apocalypse, right?
There's a ridiculous amount of depth in this game, including 10 different game modes to unlock. The price might seem a little steep, but if you're a fan of rogue-like zombie games, it's well worth the investment!
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Nintendo has done it again.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is the latest Nintendo franchise to make the leap to mobile, and it's arguably the best transition we've seen yet.
If you've never played an Animal Crossing game on GameCube, Wii, or Nintendo DS, here it is in a nutshell: a relaxing casual game about collecting items, making friends, and building a little virtual life for yourself in a beautifully animated world. It's a super cute and fun concept that's been lovingly ported over to mobile.
In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp you get to build out your very own campsite, which you can customize with furniture and decorations to entice other nearby campers to come and hang out. Your goal is to level up your friendships by fulfilling requests, which in turn help you to level up your character and unlocks new items to craft for your campsite. There's so much to explore and collect and while there are in-app purchases for buying in-game currency they can be disabled in settings and aren't required to enjoy the game.
Animal Crossing is a natural fit on mobile, as it's the type of game that's best played in casual bursts. Definitely worth checking out and a great pick for younger kids. Hop in your camper and get exploring!
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