Top 10 best Android games of November 2012
Jedi birds, adventurous somnambulists, and tubby adventurers
You may be unsurprised to find that November featured a bunch of iOS games belatedly making their way over to Android.
While many of these titles are of a very high quality (as we'll see in a bit), Android owners do tend to get a little peeved at all this waiting around.
The delay between iOS and Android game releases is getting shorter all the time, though, with many major titles now being launched simultaneously on the App Store and Google Play. Four of the ten games in our list below are testament to that.
For now, though, let's put platform politics to one side and just highlight ten of the best on Android from the past month.
Enjoy.
Angry Birds Star WarsBy Rovio - buy on Android
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The coming together of the Angry Birds and Star Wars properties was always going to be a big event. What we didn't know for sure, though, was whether it was going to be worth playing.
It is.
In fact, it's arguably the best Angry Birds game yet, with Rovio cherry-picking the best elements of all the other games (including Angry Birds Space's advanced astrophysics) and sprinkling some Lucas magic on top.
Arcane LegendsBy Spacetime Studios - buy on Android
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Spacetime Studios knows a thing or two about mobile MMORPGs, having produced several fine examples in the shape of Pocket Legends, Dark Legends, and Star Legends.
Arcane Legends is the latest and greatest in the series.
It looks like it's stepped out of a Disney movie - no po-faced 'realistic' elves here - and the quest and party systems are reassuringly robust. You can get plenty of online kicks without splashing out loads of cash, too.
Sleepwalker's JourneyBy 11 bit studios - buy on Android
Sleepwalker's Journey has a somewhat dreamy feel to it, and that's not just down to its lovely graphics. The idea is to guide the sleepwalking Moonboy through each treacherous stage, directly interacting with level furniture in order to lead him to safety.
This typically involves sliding platforms and ramps in and out of Moonboy's way, helping him reach the stars dotted around each stage without his toppling to his death.
Retro Racing
By Mr Qwak - buy on Android
Step back to a simpler age of arcade racing with Retro Racing. This is top-down grippy go-kart stuff that will take you right back to your Amiga days. If, y'know, you're old.
Suitably enough, the developer of Retro Racing was actually responsible for a couple of classic Amiga racers back in the day, which makes this all the more authentic.
CuriosityBy 22Cans - buy on Android
Curiosity was the game that was on everyone's lips throughout November. Judging by the response to our ongoing Curiosity Cube Daily Diaries, enthusiasm for 22Cans's supreme casual oddity remains undiminished.
Every smartphone gamer in the world (or so it seems) is prodding away at the same colossal cube, chipping away individual blocks to uncover the next layer.
What's at the centre of it all? Well, that's why it's called Curiosity - and why we keep playing.
Hamilton's Great Adventure THDBy Fatshark - buy on Android
This slick adventure-puzzler may be a conversion of a fine PC and PS3 game, but it's also a smartphone exclusive. In it, you guide a portly explorer through a bunch of exotic locales, collecting keys and treasure.
As the 'THD' bit of the title should tip you off, the lush 3D graphics on display here mean that only Tegra 3-equipped Android devices can run Hamilton's Great Adventure. If you've got the hardware, though, it's well worth exploring.
PredatorsBy Angry Mob Games - buy on Android
The iOS original may be more than two years old, but Predators remains a pretty entertaining hack 'n' slash game, starring everyone's favourite crab-faced extraterrestrial.
Stalk your human prey and dispatch them in cinematic fashion. With splat-inducing spikey things, in other words.
Predators isn't particularly big or clever, but because it's made by the team behind Guerrilla Bob it knows how to have a stupidly good time.
Paper MonstersBy Robots vs Wizards - buy on Android
This technically ambitious 2.5D platformer calls to mind that other good-looking 2.5D Android platformer Cordy. Mostly, though, it calls to mind Mario.
Yep, Paper Monsters borrows heavily from the best, and while it won't be making quite the same impression as the Nintendo legend it's still a fine game.
Take control of a cardboard robot and leap your way through four worlds packed with sumptuously homecraft-y levels. Lovely.
Waking MarsBy Tiger Style - buy on Android
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We're glad Waking Mars made its way over to Android eventually, because it's part of a rare breed of quietly atmospheric, contemplative platform-adventure games.
This is science fiction gaming with the emphasis firmly on the science. Learn about the alien plant life growing underneath the surface of Mars and use your increasing knowledge of the Red Planet's biodiversity to progress through the game.
Clever stuff.
Chaos Rings OmegaBy Square Enix - buy on Android
Take one look at Chaos Rings Omega (or either of the other Chaos Rings games) and you could easily mistake it for a full-blown console Final Fantasy game. While it's from the House of Chocobo, though, Chaos Rings Omega has been designed especially for smartphones.
You must guide pairs of characters around a mysterious mansion, indulging in turn-based battles, levelling-up, and advancing the soap-like plot.
Like JRPGs? You'll love this.
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