Who needs to spend several hundred dollars on a console when we’ve already spent several hundred on the latest tablet or smart phone, right? Hey, at least the games are cheap and this week sees the release of some damn fine games. Better than the PS4 launch line-up?
I’ll leave that up to you folks to argue over. I’ll just say this — I’m betting my new iPad Air and trusty Android phone will be getting more of a workout this weekend than my PlayStation 4, especially with Epoch 2, Tilt to Live 2, Alpha Zen and GT Racing 2 to keep me occupied.
What I’m Playing This Week
Tank Nation — Wormhole Games — iPad — Free
Remember the classic PC game Scorched Earth? Tank Nation is a bit like that, only the tanks here can move, players can collect and upgrade parts and they can battle online against each other for bragging rights.
Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous — One Man Left — iOS — $2.99
Tilt to Live was a very clever little game that was the best thing you could do with an accelerometer. You moved your little ship about, using power-ups to destroy encroaching dots, until you died. Tilt to Live 2 is all that, but with new power-ups, new kinds of dots and a playful new aesthetic fully-aware of how much we loved the first game.
Stellar Wars — Liv Games — iOS — $1.99
They made Legendary Wars, Monster Wars and Zen Wars. What wars haven’t Liv Games covered? How about Stellar Wars? A new lane battling game from the folks that put the genre on the map, this time with robots. Yay robots!
Alpha Zen — Large Animal Games — Android, iOS — Free (to start)
From the creators of the delightful Colour Zen comes Alpha Zen, a design-minded word game that’s a bit like designing a crossword puzzle. Link letters in words from famous sayings together in boxes. It’s really rather neat. I like it.
Get Alpha Zen on Google Play — Get Alpha Zen on iTunes
Oceanhorn — Cornfox & Bros. — iOS — $9.49
My god, this game. It’s a story-driven adventure, obviously gorgeous, with music by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu and Kenji Ito. It could be mobile’s Zelda. Expect more on this title soon.
Don’t Shoot Yourself — Ayopa Games — iOS — $0.99
An inventive little puzzle shooter, where the goal is to not shoot yourself. 99 of the bullets you carry will only hurt yourself. The last round in the chamber will break the walls of your cage. Don’t… you know.
Get Don’t Shoot Yourself on iTunes
Battle Command — Spacetime Studios — Android, iOS — Free
From the folks that brought us Battle Dragons comes a game very much like Battle Dragons, only instead of a combination of base building with fantasy RTS, it’s base building with space RTS! It’s like StarCraft, if you squint your eyes really, really tight.
Get Battle Command on Google Play — Get Battle Command on iOS
Epoch 2 — Uppercut Games — iOS — $US5.99
Uppercut Games’ incredibly gorgeous robot shooter returns, picking up the post robot-apocalypse story where it left off. It’s even more gorgeous now, if that’s even possible. Don’t miss it.
GT Racing 2 — Gameloft — Android, iOS — Free
Gameloft’s answer to Real Racing 3 is here, and it’s not half-bad. In fact, I kind of like the feel of this “real racing experience” a little better, and the guidance it gives first-time players is invaluable.
Get GT Racing 2 on Google Play — Get GT Racing 2 on iTunes
What are you playing this week, while all the new PlayStation 4 owners are futzing about with their televisions?
Comments
5 responses to “Killer Mobile Games Don’t Need No Shiny New Console”
God, are we ever going to outgrow this elitism? My iPood is better than your PS# is moar graphix than xbone. Yeh, yeh, I get the author implies he has a ps4 etc. but what the shit? That whole first paragraph… “Leave it up to you folks to argue over…” Why would we argue? Just play games on any system you like and have fun.
Sigh. Rant over. Peace, love and flowers ‘n shit.
Nope, see the various articles on fanboyism etc.
Basically as I see it, we’re hard wired that way.
We all know PC’s are the best anyway.
Oceanhorn please release to Android.
Lately i’ve been really wishing I got an Android phone instead.
Why?
There are no Android exclusives listed.