The best Android games this week - Rochard, Faif, and Smash Hit
The magic number
Every Friday, Pocket Gamer offers hands-on impressions of the week's three best new Android games.
I won't lie: it was a struggle to find even three new Android games worthy of our full-bodied recommendation this week.
Google Play might have quantity on its side, but the quality is sometimes lacking. As such, it's much harder to find the diamonds in the rough than it is over on Apple's App Store (boo, hiss, etc.).
But we did it.
Here, then, are three brand-new 'droid games that are worth your time and money.
Think we've missed a top new Android game? Shout at us like we're not human beings with feelings in the comments section at the bottom.
Faif
By Nicolas Saraintaris - buy on Android (£1.19 / $1.99)
Faif is like playing Russian roulette, only with significantly less chance of receiving a fatal head wound.
In these one-on-one RPG battles, you choose five adjacent tiles from the board, and the game then randomly picks one of those. Heart tiles heal you, skulls hurt you, gems are added to your loot pile, and swords attack your opponent.
But - and here comes the clever part - your attack power is determined by the number of skull tiles you picked. If you don't put your life on the line, you won't do any damage to your opponent.
It's a wickedly delicious risk vs reward mechanic, which makes every face-off unbearably tense. The whistling Western showdown music is just the icing on the cake.
Rochard
By Recoil Games - buy on Android (£4.99 / $6.99)
Okay, so we haven't actually played Rochard yet. That's because no one in the office today has got a Tegra 4-powered Android gizmo to hand.
But if it's anything like the PC and PS3 original, it should be worth a fiver.
Rochard is a physics-platformer in which you borrow Gordon Freeman's gravity gun to pick up objects and manipulate the environment so you can solve tricky puzzles and beat up bad guys.
It boasts five chapters, a full storyline, and a cartoony visual style. If you've got the necessary hardware (the game won't work without a controller), do check this out. We'll see about getting a full review up on the site soon.
Smash Hit
By Mediocre - download on Android (Free)
Smash Hit might feel like more of a tech demo than a game, but there's something unquestionably fun about lobbing balls at panes of glass and seeing them shatter into tiny shards.
That's kind of the be-all and end-all of this surreal roller coaster ride. As you roll through the levels, you simply try to smash as much glass as possible without running out of balls.
There's not much to it, but it's worth a free download to see the graphics tech in action. If you want more, you can upgrade to the full thing, inside the game, for £1.49 / $1.99.
