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Top 10 best Android games of July 2013

Abstract puzzlers, multiplayer action games, arty adventures, and a showcase 3D racer

Top 10 best Android games of July 2013
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The only thing hotter than the weather in the UK this July was the Android game release roster.

It's been a strong month for 'droid games in terms of both pure quality (including three PG Gold Awards and three PG Silver Awards) and sheer variety.

Do you want to know the most impressive statistic, though? Only one of the ten games on the following list is a delayed / belated iOS conversion.

The rest have been launched simultaneously - or as near as dammit - on Google's and Apple's mobile platforms.

It's just another sign that Android is seriously on the rise as a legitimate games platform.

Ending
By Aaron Steed - buy on Android

We're not entirely sure whether you'd class Ending as a puzzler, a turn-based strategy game, or an abstract roguelike.

In fact, it's all of these things... and so much more. Guide your little @ symbol to each level exit, observing enemy formations and learning its movements.

Gentlemen!
By Lucky Frame - buy on Android

There aren't many games on Android that we'd insist you only play if you have a tablet, but Gentlemen! is one of them.

It's a superb 1-vs-1 arena battler, but the glorious twist is that you play on a single Android handset. A great justification for that new Nexus 7 purchase.

True Skate
By True Axis - buy on Android

This is that delayed iOS conversion we mentioned in the intro - it's been ten months since our initial iPad review of the game.

True Skate has lost none of its impact in the subsequent time, though. It's still a highly precise and highly demanding skateboarding sim with a wonderfully tactile control system.

Rymdkapsel
By Grapefrukt - buy on Android

The only thing tougher than saying the word 'Rymdkapsel' is figuring out what it is from looking at screenshots. Go on: give it a try.

Wrong.

It's actually a real-time strategy game, you see. Part of its appeal lies in fathoming how exactly its various systems fit together. Once it clicks, though, you'll be hooked.

Respawnables
By Digital Legends - buy on Android

We're still not entirely comfortable with the concept of IAPs in a competitive multiplayer shooter, but Digital Legends just about pulls it off.

There's more than enough polish, charm, and reward in Respawnables to convince us that the Spanish dev may be on to something here.

Monster Shooter 2
By Gamelion - buy on Android

Thought the twin-stick shooter was dead? Maybe it is. But if that's the case, then Monster Shooter 2 is a snarling, sharply attired zombie with a thirst for carnage.

Ridiculously detailed 2D graphics, hugely imaginative weaponry, and lots of pretty explosions will keep your interest in this 'dying' genre alive for a while at least.

Riptide GP 2
By Vector Unit - buy on Android

If you've bought a new Android phone over the past couple of years, there's a fair chance that Riptide GP came pre-installed as a showcase for its 3D gaming chops. Mmmmm, pretty splashy effects.

Guess what? Riptide GP 2 is likely to be pre-installed on the next generation of Android devices. It's splashier than ever, and a super-slick arcade racer to boot.

Sprinkle Islands
By Mediocre - buy on Android

Controlling the flow of water in treacherous, cramped conditions might be familiar to anyone who's used a UK pub bathroom.

In Sprinkle Islands, however, this scenario plays out in a far more exotic - not to mention entertaining - manner.

It's a simpler game than the original, but it's all the more accessible for it.

Tiny Thief
By 5 Ants - buy on Android

Android got its first taste of the Rovio Stars approach to mobile publishing in July. And it tasted very sweet indeed.

Tiny Thief might be a fairly simplistic take on the point-and-click adventure, but its triple-A sheen and irresistible charm will hook you in regardless.

A Ride Into The Mountains
By Chia-Yu Chen & Lee-Kuo Chen - buy on Android

Shooting stuff out of the air with an Angry Birds-like slingshot system has never been handled with as much arty appeal as it has by the creators of A Ride Into The Mountains.

It's just you, a horse, a bow, and some beautifully rendered pixel-art trees. Oh, and some squawking monstrosities begging to be stuck.


Top 10 best Android games: June 2013
Top 10 best Android games: May 2013
Top 10 best Android games: April 2013
Top 10 best Android games: March 2013
Top 10 best Android games: February 2013
Top 10 best Android games: January 2013
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.