The best Android games this week - Thomas Was Alone, Modern Combat 5, and Traps n' Gemstones

Every Friday, Pocket Gamer offers hands-on impressions of the week's three best new Android games.

Traps n' Gemstones
By Donut Games - buy on Android (£2.99 / $4.99)

Traps n' Gemstones is definitely the surprise hit of the week. This cute and charming little Metroidvania, from the usually unremarkable Donut Games, is a brilliant slice of retro adventure fun for your Android.

In typical Metroid style, you're given a huge area to explore at your leisure (this time, a pyramid), items to find (like whips and dynamite), enemies to defeat (mummies and bats) and secrets to find (dusty old relics).

It's more focused on puzzles and backtracking than tricky platforming or tense boss fights, so don't fret about the virtual controls. Just worry about how many hours you're going to sink into exploring every nook and cranny of this game.

Thomas Was Alone
By Bossa Studios Ltd - buy on Android (£2.49 / $3.99)

Console game makers - striding out onto keynote stages with a blazer over their hoodie - will tell you that you need loads of polygons to tell a truly affecting story. Indie dev Mike Bithell disagrees.

With Thomas Was Alone, Bithell tells a touching (and often funny) story with a bunch of rectangles. And narrator Danny Wallace gives more charm and personality to a box than most games manage with their entire cast.

This boxy game is also a platformer, of course - with Thomas and pals using each other's unique shapes and skills to solve gently challenging puzzles. But it always ties back into that narrative.

Modern Combat 5: Blackout
By Gameloft - buy on Android (£4.99 / $6.99)

Modern Combat 5 is not going to win any awards for innovation or artistic vision. It's just not that sort of game. It's a big, dumb, gung-ho, ultra-bro murder sim.

And that's okay, because it does what it says on the tin - and it does it with aplomb. This is a fierce and feisty shooter with sharp controls, loads of mission types (including the excellent breach sidequests), and a suite of online modes.

Harry slapped a Silver Award on the game's uniform, and said "if you're looking for a polygon-heavy military man-blaster then it fits the bill nicely."