Appointment with F.E.A.R.
By Tin Man Games - Buy on Android
We had to hold the door for this late entry into the charts. I'm glad we did, as Appointment with F.E.A.R. is the highest-ranking Android game of the month.
It's another exemplary gamebook from Tin Man Games, but this time with a fresh superhero theme that really couldn't be more appropriate when you look at what passes for a blockbuster movie these days.
Appointment with F.E.A.R. dares to mess with the source material, offering a choose-your-own-adventure comic book that we dare say everyone will enjoy.
Max Gentlemen
By The Men Who Wear Many Hats - download on Android
Bonkers mind-warping game of the month goes to Max Gentlemen. Hands-down. It's not even a contest.
It's all about balancing a stack of hats on your character's head, whilst bears and gentlemen box in the background, and crows and boomerangs and beer glasses fly overhead.
We told you it was odd.
Deep Under the Sky
By Northway Games - buy on Android
Deep Under the Sky isn't just beautiful to look at, it's also unique to look at. I for one haven't seen another game that looks anything like it.
Set on an intricately detailed Venus, it sees your jellyfish-like life form shooting out seeds. It's up to you to guide those seeds to an appropriate resting place, utilising a string of propulsion-based abilities.
Yes, at heart it's a pretty straight-forward physics puzzler. But it's a good one. And did we mention it looks rather nice?
The Inner World
By Headup Games - buy on Android
Here's another unusually beautiful game. It seems to be the month for them.
The Inner World is a point and click adventure set in a fantastical fairy tale world of tumble mice, wooloofs, and deadly gorfs.
The puzzles should be familiar to anyone who's ever played a game of this type before, though. We're talking elaborate multi-part conundrums that will require all your wits to crack.
Super Crossfighter
By Radiangames - buy on Android
The master of all things neon-soaked and arcadey, Radiangames, returns with the artist formerly known as Super Crossfire, Super Crossfighter.
Name change aside, this is a seamlessly accomplished blaster that takes the raw ingredients of Space Invaders and adds a hefty pinch of chilli.
The biggest change is that you can instantly warp to the opposite side of the screen at a button press, but there's plenty else here that shakes up the formula.
Skulls of the Shogun
By 17-BIT - buy on Android
When it first launched, Skulls of the Shogun was that rarest of things: a game that made you jealous of Windows Phone 8 users.
It started out life as a Windows exclusive, but now it's made its way onto Android and we can all get back to ignoring Microsoft's third-place smartphone platform again. Only kidding, Windows Phone fans!
This is a thoroughly charming and insanely polished turn-based strategy game with a memorable cartoon art style. Guide General Akamoto through the afterlife, engaging in small-scale skirmishes and hoovering up the skulls of the vanquished.
Duet
By Kumobius - download on Android
Here's another maddening twitch game in the vein of Pivvot and Super Hexagon. Like those games, Duet's inherent simplicity is only matched by its hair-pulling difficulty.
The idea is to rotate a pair of joined balls so that they narrowly avoid the deviously positioned blocks that come your way. It's ridiculously difficult, but extremely well executed.
Oh, and when you fail, the remains of your splattered balls (ouch) can be seen in subsequent runs. Nice.
Calculords
By Seanbaby - buy on Android
What's this? A maths based puzzler? It'll never sell. Ah, but what if you stir in an ace retro-sci-fi art style and a compelling lane-based strategy element?
That's Calculords in a nutshell. We're quite proud of managing to sum it up so succinctly, actually, but the truth is it's like nothing you'll have ever played before.
Trust us, though: it all adds up to something special. Yes, that was a mathematics joke.
Dragon Quest IV
By Square Enix - buy on Android
Following on from the sterling conversion work done on Dragon Quest VIII,Dragon Quest IV rejigs the NES classic (via the Nintendo DS and PSOne) to be playable on a smartphone.
That means switching to a portrait view and offering one-handed controls. The game at its core remains excellent, though, with classic JRPG gameplay and turn-based battles.
There's even a surprisingly nuanced storyline, though in true DQ style it remains a light-hearted affair.
Epic Skater
By Kongregate - download on Android
Do we really need another endless runner? If it's as good as Epic Skater, then yes we do.
The key here is that you're doing more than just jumping and collecting. There's a simple but engrossing trick system to master here, and a rag doll physics engine that makes you feel every painful crash.
Once you get into your groove and start unlocking more advanced tricks,Epic Skater reveals itself to be much more than another Canabalt clone.
By Tin Man Games - Buy on Android
We had to hold the door for this late entry into the charts. I'm glad we did, as Appointment with F.E.A.R. is the highest-ranking Android game of the month.
It's another exemplary gamebook from Tin Man Games, but this time with a fresh superhero theme that really couldn't be more appropriate when you look at what passes for a blockbuster movie these days.
Appointment with F.E.A.R. dares to mess with the source material, offering a choose-your-own-adventure comic book that we dare say everyone will enjoy.
Max Gentlemen
By The Men Who Wear Many Hats - download on Android
Bonkers mind-warping game of the month goes to Max Gentlemen. Hands-down. It's not even a contest.
It's all about balancing a stack of hats on your character's head, whilst bears and gentlemen box in the background, and crows and boomerangs and beer glasses fly overhead.
We told you it was odd.
Deep Under the Sky
By Northway Games - buy on Android
Deep Under the Sky isn't just beautiful to look at, it's also unique to look at. I for one haven't seen another game that looks anything like it.
Set on an intricately detailed Venus, it sees your jellyfish-like life form shooting out seeds. It's up to you to guide those seeds to an appropriate resting place, utilising a string of propulsion-based abilities.
Yes, at heart it's a pretty straight-forward physics puzzler. But it's a good one. And did we mention it looks rather nice?
The Inner World
By Headup Games - buy on Android
Here's another unusually beautiful game. It seems to be the month for them.
The Inner World is a point and click adventure set in a fantastical fairy tale world of tumble mice, wooloofs, and deadly gorfs.
The puzzles should be familiar to anyone who's ever played a game of this type before, though. We're talking elaborate multi-part conundrums that will require all your wits to crack.
Super Crossfighter
By Radiangames - buy on Android
The master of all things neon-soaked and arcadey, Radiangames, returns with the artist formerly known as Super Crossfire, Super Crossfighter.
Name change aside, this is a seamlessly accomplished blaster that takes the raw ingredients of Space Invaders and adds a hefty pinch of chilli.
The biggest change is that you can instantly warp to the opposite side of the screen at a button press, but there's plenty else here that shakes up the formula.
Skulls of the Shogun
By 17-BIT - buy on Android
When it first launched, Skulls of the Shogun was that rarest of things: a game that made you jealous of Windows Phone 8 users.
It started out life as a Windows exclusive, but now it's made its way onto Android and we can all get back to ignoring Microsoft's third-place smartphone platform again. Only kidding, Windows Phone fans!
This is a thoroughly charming and insanely polished turn-based strategy game with a memorable cartoon art style. Guide General Akamoto through the afterlife, engaging in small-scale skirmishes and hoovering up the skulls of the vanquished.
Duet
By Kumobius - download on Android
Here's another maddening twitch game in the vein of Pivvot and Super Hexagon. Like those games, Duet's inherent simplicity is only matched by its hair-pulling difficulty.
The idea is to rotate a pair of joined balls so that they narrowly avoid the deviously positioned blocks that come your way. It's ridiculously difficult, but extremely well executed.
Oh, and when you fail, the remains of your splattered balls (ouch) can be seen in subsequent runs. Nice.
Calculords
By Seanbaby - buy on Android
What's this? A maths based puzzler? It'll never sell. Ah, but what if you stir in an ace retro-sci-fi art style and a compelling lane-based strategy element?
That's Calculords in a nutshell. We're quite proud of managing to sum it up so succinctly, actually, but the truth is it's like nothing you'll have ever played before.
Trust us, though: it all adds up to something special. Yes, that was a mathematics joke.
Dragon Quest IV
By Square Enix - buy on Android
Following on from the sterling conversion work done on Dragon Quest VIII,Dragon Quest IV rejigs the NES classic (via the Nintendo DS and PSOne) to be playable on a smartphone.
That means switching to a portrait view and offering one-handed controls. The game at its core remains excellent, though, with classic JRPG gameplay and turn-based battles.
There's even a surprisingly nuanced storyline, though in true DQ style it remains a light-hearted affair.
Epic Skater
By Kongregate - download on Android
Do we really need another endless runner? If it's as good as Epic Skater, then yes we do.
The key here is that you're doing more than just jumping and collecting. There's a simple but engrossing trick system to master here, and a rag doll physics engine that makes you feel every painful crash.
Once you get into your groove and start unlocking more advanced tricks,Epic Skater reveals itself to be much more than another Canabalt clone.
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