Top 10 best Android games of September 2014
Spies, dungeons, blocks, and goats
Last month I found myself initially bemoaning a less-than-classic August for Android gaming. It was only when I'd assembled the list that I realised I was completely wrong.
This month I got a similar feeling, but sadly I wasn't mistaken. September hasn't exactly been vintage.
But it hasn't been bad either. We may have 'only' the two Gold Award winners among the competitors, but there's a lot to like elsewhere too.
CounterSpyBy Dynamighty - buy on Android
This classy PS Vita conversion has everything going for it - fantastic 3D graphics, tense, clever gameplay, and a confidence and sense of style that tells you it came from the land of consoles.
Ostensibly a side-scrolling stealth game, CounterSpy also has third person cover-based shooting seamlessly woven into it.
Add in some of that oh-so-fashionable procedural level generation and you have a bit of a classic on your hands.
The Nightmare CooperativeBy Lucky Frame - buy on Android
Lucky Frame has made a name for itself concocting odd genre mash-ups, and here's another.
The Nightmare Cooperative mixes roguelike dungeon crawling with sliding puzzler bits.
As you move through each top-down dungeon, your crew of heroes all moves together, meaning you have to carefully plan your every step.
Block FortressBy Foursaken Media - buy on Android
No, it's not another Minecraft rip-off. Well, not entirely.
While Block Fortress undoubtedly nicks Mojang's art style and some of its world-building ideas, Foursaken applies those to a unique blend of tower defence and first-person action.
Despite the obvious influences and one or two rough edges, we haven't quite played anything quite like Block Fortress, which goes a long way with us.
Mage GauntletBy Rocketcat Games - buy on Android
Before the wonderful Wayward Souls, there was Mage Gauntlet - a kind of dry run for Rocketcat's masterful roguelike action-RPG.
It's got many of the same core ingredients - chiefly fast-paced hack and slash gameplay and warm retro-inspired graphics - but with a more classically defined structure and none of the free-wheeling ambition or multiple character classes.
Still, if you've played Wayward Souls to death, or just want something a bit more structured, Wayward Souls is a must-have.
Goat SimulatorBy Coffee Stain Studios - buy on Android
Here you play a rampaging goat in a compact but dense open world setting filled with breakable and interactive elements. If you can't see where the potential fun is in that, you might as well take up another hobby.
Goat Simulator is deeply silly, extremely shallow, and more than a little slap dash.
It's also an internet phenomenon that lets you make a goat bounce up and down on a trampoline. A trampoline!
Treasure Fetch: Adventure TimeBy Cartoon Network - buy on Android
Treasure Fetch: Adventure Time is basically Snake tarted up for a generation who don't remember when Nokia was a strong and relevant standalone brand.
As such, it's got a garish, primary coloured Adventure Time skin and lots of ADD-targeted goals to achieve.
It's also really good fun, so any nostalgic pining for the good old days of monochrome screens and bloopy sound effects will get short shrift from us - on this occasion, at least.
UnmechanicalBy Teotl Studios - buy on Android
This beautiful physics puzzler took its time coming to Android, but it's more than welcome.
Unmechanical is all about solving mysterious futuristic puzzlers by shifting stuff around with your flying robot's extendable claw.
There's plenty of switch-flipping and toing and froing, as you might expect, but those gorgeous visuals are what sets this game apart from the rest.
Spider-Man UnlimitedBy Gameloft - download on Android
Squeezing one of the world's most beloved superheroes into an auto-runner might sound like a recipe for fanboy rage, but the truth is that Spider-Man Unlimited is good fun.
In fact, it's one of the better stand-alone auto-runners of recent times. It looks great (it's a Gameloft game, so of course it does), and there's just enough variety to keep boredom at bay.
Okay, so there's only a tenuous link to Spidey himself, but it's a good arcade romp all the same.
Bio Inc. - Biomedical PlagueBy DryGin Studios - download on Android
Now here's a dark, twisted little game. It's a puzzler that tasks you with infecting human beings with the worst diseases you can come up with.
You've won if you manage to kill them. Yuck.
Still, it's original, and there's a certain amount of queasy gallows humour to it all - provided you've got a sufficiently strong stomach.
AuroBy Dinofarm - buy on Android
Auro's had a bit of a tortured path to release. It's taken some four years of development, and trouble with the iOS version has resulted in the Android build coming out first. Imagine!
Beyond that, though, we're interested in Auro because Dinofarm's last game, 100 Rogues, was a fine dungeon-crawling roguelike before that even became properly cool with smartphone gamers.
Plus, Auro looks and sounds stunning - a strategic dungeon-crawling adventure with an intriguing bump-based combat system.
Want more? Then check out our scientifically accurate and automatically updated list of the best Android games.
Top 10 best Android games: August 2014
Top 10 best Android games: July 2014
Top 10 best Android games: June 2014
Top 10 best Android games: May 2014
Top 10 best Android games: April 2014
Top 10 best Android games: March 2014