Favorite phone/tablet games

[Neverhoodian]

Smartphones and tablets tend to get a bad rap when it comes to games. The market is a veritable dumping ground for all kinds of shovelware, from blatant Mario and Flappy Bird clones to manipulative F2P titles like Candy Crush.

Yet every so often you run across a diamond in the rough; a quality game that stands head and shoulders above the rest and provides a genuinely fun and compelling experience. This thread is for those games.

Here's some of my favorites (Android user):

Crash Dive: [http://panicensuessoftware.com/CrashDive/index.html] A WWII submarine game in the vein of classic subsims like Aces of the Deep. You can choose between single missions and going on war patrols in the Atlantic. An intuitive interface, impressive visuals, multiple difficulties and randomized convoys will keep the inner Kaleun in you coming back for more. Certain sacrifices had to be made with regards to realism, but it's probably for the best.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tt2kgames.xcomeu&hl=en] A very impressive port of the 2012 title. The only real concessions made here are a downgrade in visuals, a fiddly camera (it keeps wanting to zoom in too much) and it lacks the content from the Enemy Within expansion. Other than that it's the same XCOM you know and love. If you ever wanted to play XCOM on the go or from the comfort of your bed, this is for you.

QuestLord: [http://www.questlord.com/] A first person turn-based RPG reminiscent of old school dungeon crawlers. Tackle the main game and explore an expansive fantasy world or pick single runs that are more akin to roguelikes (complete with rock-hard difficulty). Just be sure to check your map often as it's easy to get turned around. Also, you may want to turn off the music. The tracks are extremely short and repeat often.

Hoplite: [http://www.magmafortress.com/p/hoplite.html] A turn-based puzzle-roguelike-checkers hybrid. It's easy to learn, yet the difficulty ramps up quickly. Careful planning of one's moves is paramount.

Feel free to chime in with your recommendations!

 

[TheRiddler]

There's a great little puzzle game on the App Store by Nitrome called Icebreaker. You play a viking trying to rescue his friends frozen in the ice. Not too much advertising, non-necessary microtransactions, and it's free. I enjoyed it, although admittedly it's a bit short. Screenshot below:

[spoiler/][image/]http://2nfex6k1mez4cl96p1r5a3u8mt.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/icebreaker2.jpg[/IMG][/spoiler]

 

[Ronald Nand]

I've been looking at some good stealth games on mobile and I've found some good ones:

Perfect Cell- This game is about $3, you play as a alien who has crashed into earth on an asteroid, you've been taken into a secret base and have to escape while gathering other members of your species to strengthen your powers. The game makes good use of touch controls, instead using swipes and dragging your finger as input rather than virtual sticks.

Its a stealth/puzzle game, you can play aggressively killing every solder and scientist in your way or play stealthily avoiding every enemy. Each play style feels different with stealth/aggressive being fast, while stealthy avoidance being slow paced. There's a demo which gives a good feel of the game, there's no IAP and you'll want to play each level at least 3 times to fully experience each play style.

Robbery Bob- This game is free, there's IAP to buy coins, you earn coins playing normally too, the currency you use to buy items and upgrade your abilities. I managed to buy all the upgrades without too much difficulty, although it does get grindy if you want to obtain all the costumes without buying IAP.

This game is very good value, there's a ton of levels and the stealth system is good, with some of the later levels being very challenging. The game is played ghost style, you can't harm the enemies and you have to avoid them while trying to steal all the loot in each level.

Mailmen- This game is about $2, its like Commandos on mobile, you have three mailmen, whom each have unique abilities, you have to deliver all the mail in the level and collect stamps while avoiding dogs patrolling the area. You have to use each mailman's abilities to complete each level. I've haven't got too far into it, but I like it so far.

Pixel Ninja- Its a pretty basic stealth game, it encourages you to play in two ways either killing every enemy or avoiding every enemy, but its free so it won't hurt downloading it.

Spy Mouse- Its starts out as a stealth game, but later becomes a run from one safe spot to another later on, its free so it doesn't hurt to download it.

Dynamite Jack- I've only played the demo, but its interesting, the key mechanics are exploring a mine and setting traps for enemies, the demo is worth checking out.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Honestly? Robot Unicorn Attack 2. The first was fun, but I really like to go back to the second when I need to kill some time. Bejeweled Blitz is simple fun too. I don't really do mobile, so this is good enough for me.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Tetris is the game I play most on my phone. It's Tetris so it's pretty enjoyable. Also the version I got was free which is nice.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

I just got a few paid games, XCOM, BG:EE for starters. Haven't played the latter. The former has all the goodness of the PC version, but the touch controls and small screen make it a little awkward and more time consuming.

Free games, I have most of the board games: Chess, Draughts, Othello/Reversi, Backgammon and Solitaire from the card games. Others...I played Jurassic Park and Hobbit: KoM for a while but got bored. I still check-in with Crime City daily to collect my money and tinker with my neighbourhood.

I just recently discovered Magic: Duels of the Planeswalkers on android. It actually works and plays really well. However, the "freemium" model is horrid, horrid, horrid. You effectively get a demo of the game and a few levels in (with a single deck unlocked) you hit an impenetrable paywall. You cannot enjoy any more cards, decks or missions whatsoever in a free mode. Nothing unlocks as you play, you can't build up any in-game credit to unlock anything, nada. Paywall and that's it. I uninstalled it. A shame since I was having fun with it. I've heard good things about Hearthstone and Shadow Era.