Top 10 best Android games: June 2011

For much of the UK, June was a grim and dismal month, characterised by rain punctuated by odd spells of short-lived sunshine.

So, for gamers, conditions were perfect for a period packed with cracking Android releases and crystal clear handheld displays, unsullied by annoying reflective screen issues.

The standout release, which hit the Android Market on July 1st but was available free via GetJar beforehand (creating a nice little loophole for us to sneak it into this list), was the long-awaited iOS port of Cut the Rope.

Fortunately, to keep thumbs busy during the month-long build-up to release, there were still plenty of first rate titles to play throughout June.

So stick around for last month’s highest scoring Pocket Gamer hits, and let us know if any other gems slipped through our quality control net in the comments below.

Handing a well-deserved Gold Award to the mobile gaming phenomenon, we said in our review that, “anyone with the slightest interest in physics puzzles should savour this little treat”.

Cut the Rope didn’t shift millions of copies on iOS because of its name. It succeeded because it’s the perfect balance between lovely visuals and pleasantly challenging puzzles.

It also helps that ‘cutting ropes’ is a intrinsically appealing and satisfying, even when you’re wrestling with the synapse-sizzling tougher levels added since the game’s initial release.

Furthermore, Cut the Rope is a pitch perfect port, which really benefits from being played on larger Android handsets and tablets. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, apologise to everyone and snap up a copy now – it’s your duty as pocket gamer.

As the precarious, wobbly, flat-pack desk currently being typed on will testify, building stuff is not this writer’s forte.

Thankfully, games like Apparatus are created to sate our innate desire to tinker with tools, only without real world pitfalls like collapsing walls and four-inch nails through your thumbs.

Bithack’s title might officially be a public beta (which hasn't stopped Minecraft from shifting millions of copies), but the lack of final polish still adds a healthy dose of rough and ready charm to the game’s already appealing physics-based gameplay.

At heart, Apparatus a balancing act in which you create weird and wonderful designs using planks, joints, ball bearings, and a lot of optimism.

Complementing a streamlined, puzzle-centric Campaign is a Sandbox mode that gives Android inventors the chance to build something truly wondrous using the game’s simple tools.

And then you hit ‘Start’ and watch it crumple cruelly to the ground. At least, that’s what happened to us.

The match-three genre has proved surprisingly resilient, despite being pretty much perfected in PopCap’s Bejeweled.

The games tap into our primal desire to find order in chaos, creating patterns when first glances only see only a multi-coloured mess.

Generally, they’re pretty relaxing, too - well, unless you’re playing Wiz Kid Jr.

Super Combo Collective’s title looks, and initially plays, like any other Bejeweled-alike, but adds its own cruel twist on the genre to ramp up the tension.

Survival relies on keeping your Mana bar topped up by matching blobs of the same colour. This would be pretty straightforward if there weren’t nasty totem spirits out to sap your health whenever you’re not looking.

They can be defeated with powerful thunderbolts, but these can only be earned by completing chains - meaning success requires an adept balance of offensive and defensive play.

So, if you’re a hardcore match-three player (rather than a casual gaming granny on a break from some hidden object hunting), Wiz Kid Jr. is the June game for you.

Like Cut the Rope, ShakyTower wins no prizes in the imaginative moniker department, but it more than makes up for that with lashings of physics-focused fun.

It’s a simple premise: construct the highest tower you can by dropping blocks from the sky so that they land safely on top of others stacked below, using the accelerometer to tilt gravity and keep your precarious property from tumbling over like a drunk on a dance floor.

Once you get to grips with the basics, new block types are introduced to scupper your plans, like slippery ice cubes and skull-marked red surfaces that destroy anything that lands on them.

It’s not flawless - we criticised the reliability of the tilt controls - but ShakyTower still offers plenty of wobbly thrills at a bargain price.

Probably the only Android last month with the ability to ruin a good pair of trousers, Aftermath XHD is a gore-soaked zombie splatterfest that - for once - takes itself relatively seriously.

It may have lifted more than a few cues from the Left 4 Dead design template, like Spewer enemies that gob toxic goo, but Aftermath’s storm-ridden, night-time cityscape is a masterpiece of minimalist design.

With just a few haunting piano notes and random lightening cracks, TwoHeads Games’s isometric shooter weaves a fraught atmosphere where every auto-fired gun blast feels like a deafening cacophony.

Yes, it’s an iOS port (with the same camera-flailing issue that needled players of the original), but at least the developer has bolted on some bonus levels, HD textures, and Xperia Play support to catch the attention of the Android horde.

To soothe your frazzled nerves after polishing off Aftermath’s tense, if rather brief, campaign, how about a nice relaxing game of pool?

Kinect Bytes has cued up eight variations on the bar room favourite, along with Snooker, Carrom, and Crakinole (the latter two of which sound like enemies from an old skool RPG, but are presumably obscure tabletop sporting pursuits), all wrapped up in sharp visuals and intuitive, ultra accurate controls.

The game only stumbles at the first break, with a heavy focus on simulation potentially putting off players looking for a quick, arcade-style experience. Like the sport itself, however, practice makes perfect, and once you’ve sunk a few tricky reds the added depth really starts to draw you in.

Stick with it and you’ll soon be potting like Paul Newman in The Hustler, rather than tubby Terry from the Dog and Duck who regularly skews balls off the table and into people’s pints.

Sticking with sports that are best played with a beer close to hand, we roll smoothly down the lane into Bronze Award-winner Galaxy Bowl.

Decent bowling video games are a genuine rarity, mostly due to flimsy physics and a lack of polish that make the worn out, dented balls at your local AMF appear enticing.

Fortunately, as we pointed out in our review, the bowling in Driftwood Mobile’s game, “feels as accurate as a mobile phone approximation could”.

Simplicity is the key, with ball-hurling handled with a finger flick and vital aftertouch applied by swiping the ball or tilting the phone (take a guess which is more accurate).

The graphics are bright and colourful, with balls that shine like Captain Picard’s scalp and atmospheric, pin-clattering sound effects.

It’s a shame, then, that less time was lavished on creating a compelling tournament mode or AI rivals compete with, meaning Galaxy Bowl is likely to split those looking for a quick bowling fix and demanding a more compelling simulation.

Kairosoft seems to have nailed ‘one’ winning ‘formula’ (Yep, I’m here all week) for making mega hit mobile games.

Since Game Dev Story first gave Android gamers the chance to craft the first Ninja/Reversi hybrid and bankrupt their once thriving studio in the process, the developer has enjoyed a stream of deserving hits.

Grand Prix Story switches the focus from game development to building up an unbeatable Formula 1 team, yet the core management mechanics remain roughly the same.

You start off small, with one driver, a snail-paced motor, and some inexperienced mechanics, but after a few seasons you’ll be able to roll out a mean machine capable of roaring into major tournaments and eventually the titular Grand Prix.

You’ll do most of your research tinkering behind the scenes, however, as races are almost entirely simulated - apart from doling out occasional speed boosts.

This takes some of the drama out of the game’s initial appeal, but Kairosoft’s fans know the real meat of the experience is to be found in micromanaging your way to virtual glory on the winner’s podium.

While most tactical RPGs are stuck in the turn-based rut of old skool design (yes, we’re looking at you Swords and Earrings), games like Battleheart show that breaking the formula often brings the biggest sales boosts.

While successful battling relies on the standard tank/healer/ranged party template, the unit controls are perfectly suited to touchscreen play. You tap on a character and draw a line to either move to a safe spot, or directly onto an enemy to launch an attack.

Judiciously balancing each unit’s weapons, and deploying their devastating special abilities at pivotal moments, is the key to winning tougher scraps like the regular boss fights.

Plus, with a loveable, cartoony art style, Battleheart is likely to capture your soppy old heart as well as your cerebral cortex.

Just because it looks like Geometry Wars and sounds like Geometry Wars, that doesn't mean Hyperlight is Geometry Wars.

Bizarre Creation’s twin-stick retro shooter may provide a fair dose of inspiration for CatfishBlues’s Pocket Gamer Silver Award-winner, but the gameplay is where the developer’s inspiration shines through.

Instead of shooting enemies, the focus is on dodging them and building up enough FTL (Faster Than Light) fuel to turn the tables and angrily smash into anything that moves - much like a neon-coloured Hulk who’s stepped on a bit of Lego.

It’s a satisfying but relatively unforgiving mechanic, thanks to the one-hit-kills policy, and you’ll need to occasionally wrestle with the accelerometer tilt controls used for ducking and weaving your small ship between the relentless enemy waves.

Still, if you’re burned out on PewPew 2 Hyperlight offers a quality twist on retro-themed shooters that’s worth more than just a quick blast.