-Eddie Cochran
Especially when you’re a student or teacher or a seasonal worker or have been vacationing for a good long time. In such cases, one is likely to find a hard knot forming in the pit of their stomach as the days grow slightly colder. They no doubt find themselves, as night begins to fall earlier each day, taking practice glances into the seemingly bottomless abyss of their future as a wage slave.
But, not to worry because, as in all things, Hardcore Droid has got your back. For this week of August 17th, 2015, we’ve slapped together a list of the 5 best new games on the Play Store. Any one of these excellent games is guaranteed to stave off the summertime blues or at least bring you a little joy during, what is for many, a difficult time of the year.
5. Lego Batman
This is the same type of Lego action game that droves of you will be familiar with from the world of consoles, and PC, I suppose. I’ve played at least a half dozen different types Lego (insert franchise du jour) video games with my sons, and they definitely make for bona fide action games. While the tension may be ratcheted down a bit and the puzzles on the easy side, they are still invariably fun games, and Lego Batman: Beyond Gotham on Android is no exception. The title not only plays well with the ole virtual thumbstick but is heavy with awesome Dark Knight stuff. The game features over a hundred playable characters, bunches of unlockable Batman suits and over a hundred missions. Highly recommended.
4. Harbinger: Battleship
Modeled after indie powerhouses Out There and FTL, Harbinger: Battleship has a lot to live up to. Since I was up last night fiddling with this title, I can happily attest that, aside from a handful of bugs, Harbinger generally lives up to its well-regarded inspiration. Like said indie classics, Harbinger involves outfitting a space ship for a tough, nigh on impossible mission. In this case it’s crossing a vast star map to wipe out an alien invasion. Problem is, the sector in question is all the way across the quadrant; and so, you have to hyper jump from sector to sector battling pirates and other assorted baddies along the way. Post ass-whipping, you collect the resources your vanquished foes have left behind. You then put them to work repairing your ship and building it up into an alien nut-twisting, juggernaut badass.
If you are not into a tough challenge, Harbinger is not for you. However, if you enjoy the lately popular roguelike paradigm that more often than not has you dying and starting over numerous times before becoming a force to be reckoned with (in this case before building the final iteration of the SS Nut-Twister). Roguelike, FTL fans and anyone who likes a challenge, will be in their glory with this well-made action/strategy title.
3. Doom & Destiny 2
If the idea of a funny, irreverent and self-referential RPG is for you the antithesis of good role-playing, then by all means skip indie RPG, Doom & Destiny. If, on the other hand, you are an open-minded mobile RPG fan, then don’t be put off by D&D’s humorous approach to story-telling nor by its somewhat old school JRPG look. Firstly, remember that the game is an RPG built from the ground-up a by a talented and passionate microdev team. However, it clearly isn’t the game’s humble beginning that make D&D 2 one of the best RPGs on the Play Store. Remember that this brand new sequel is bigger, deeper and boasts more professional production values than did its excellent predecessor Doom & Destiny I. To that end, the game boasts some great new visuals and special effects (for an indie title from a microdev) and sports a longer and more detailed story. All indicators suggest that like its predecessor it’s a smart, funny, and overall superb indie-RPG. In short, if you are an RPG fan who plays games on a mobile device, get it.
2. Fallout Shelter
Digital crack.
While the above fragment really says it all, you probably want to know about this baby. I played this enjoyable and extremely popular nuclear fallout shelter simulation, wherein you oversee the development and maintenance of a vast, futuristic fallout shelter known as a Vault (a Vault as in good ole Vault 13 from the Fallout Universe), for about 3 hours this past weekend and immediately uninstalled it. Truth be told, I was having a lot of trouble putting this thoroughly engaging simulation down, and as is usual for a family man like myself, I had a couple of things to do, and wanted to spend my gaming time on the 5 other things I’m playing.
Developed by the master game makers at Bethesda, Fallout Shelter is depicted in the cute and demented cartoonish graphics surrounding Vault Boy. The game’s genius, however, is in its gameplay. Once you get started on your Vault you’ll end up juggling so many timed and contextually meaningful projects that you will promptly find yourself immersed in Fallout Shelter’s gameworld. Though easily played in short spurts, completing a vault will take some time to be sure. If you’ve got the extra time for a game with no overarching goal and have the even slightest interest in a deep, mobile simulation game, look no further as Fallout Shelter is everything it’s cracked up to be.
1. Tales of Illyria: Destinies RPG.
What? We chose a small, indie RPG over Lego Batman: Beyond Gotham and Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter. Have we lost our bearings? What the hey is going on?
Fact of the matter is, Tales of Illyria: Destinies blows away both titles and then some. Destinies represents not only one of the finest mobile RPGs of the month, but a title you will surely find on both our Best Android RPGs of the year list, and very likely on our Best Android RPGs Ever Made.
Deep, immersive, fun and smart.
Destinies is all the above. Like it two predecessors Illyria: Destinies is the kind of storied RPG that one looks forward to playing, much in the way that one longs to return to a great book. It’s partly the rich, dynamic story you create and engage with as you explore Illyria’s gameworld, and it’s partly Illyria’s unique gameplay as it is in part the finely balanced and smart Oregon Trail mechanic one engages with as they traverse Illyria’s gameworld.
This latest Illyria game is unique among the three games in the series as not only is it the largest Illyria game, but it is the also the first one that’s set in an open world. It’s the same Illyria players will remember, but instead of following quest A to quest B, players can go wherever they want and complete the game’s countless quests in whatever order they prefer. To top it off Destinies’ Oregon Trail element works like a dream on a touch screen and the game itself: deep, nuanced and mobile as a novel, is perfect for curling up in a chair with. In short, get this excellent game. It is the best new game you’ll find on the Play Store. Period.
