Best Android games of June 2014

By Simon Sage
last updated

Another 30 days, another batch of excellent new Android game releases

We've gathered up yet another collection of the very Android games to come out over the last four weeks. Whether you're looking for a twitchy action title, or a slow, methodical strategy game, or a light, bite-sized puzzler, we've got a bit of everything. We've only got five to look through, plus we'll have another round-up for non-game apps. As always, our community tends to dig up some great finds too, so be sure to swing by the comments to find more.

Hitman Go

Hitman Go is fresh take on the classic assassination game for consoles and PC. Players control a piece representing Agent 47, an iconic character from their PC and console franchise Hitman. Players work their way around a diorama-style board, turn by turn, to eventually take out their mark. Enemy patrols move after you move, and combined with special tiles for hiding and bonus objectives, you'll find yourself in some very tricky situations. The stiff, plastic art style and physics, soothing music, and smart, classic puzzle gameplay combine to make a really memory experience.

Kiwanuka

Kiwanuka is an imaginative puzzle game where one staff-toting wizard is guiding a large troupe to the end of a treacherous path in order to free one of their brothers or sisters. The core mechanic to accomplishing this is creating tall towers of followers standing on one-anothers' shoulders, and tipping them over to cross gaps, and allowing the others to cross. Don't try to find the logic there, you won't find any, but it's pretty fun to watch, especially since the art style adopts this super-flat, polygonal look. If you're looking for an extremely fresh puzzle game, try Kiwanuka.

  • Download: Kiwanuka (opens in new tab) ($2.99)

VVVVVV

VVVVVV is low-fi platformer made by the creator Super Hexagon that really screws with your sense of gravity. Players are guiding a spaceship captain through a bizarre alternate universe after being sucked into an anomaly and having his crew scattered. Instead of jumping up over threats, players reverse polarity of gravity so they fall towards the roof or back to the floor. Every game screen is another section of a massive, sprawling play area, each with its own unique challenge and clever name. Scour every nook and cranny to rescue your shipmates and figure out a way of getting out of this bizarre place. Besides a truly unique take on classic platforming, VVVVVV has [an absolutely stellar 8-bit soundtrack]. If you want to get a sample of the gameplay, be sure to snag the free Super Gravitron game (opens in new tab) that was launched alongside VVVVVV.

  • Download: VVVVVVV (opens in new tab) ($2.99)

Blek

Blek is a puzzle title that has been earning accolades from all over for its wonderfully fresh mechanics. Players are presented with a series of circles that have to be popped before moving onto the next stage. Black spots are peppered in between; touch those and you have to start over. The way you hit those targets is by tracing a single gesture on the screen which is then repeated on its own over and over after you lift your finger. The line can be as simple as a short swipe that continues moving forward, but more often then not you'll have to get pretty creative. Between the absolutely organic control scheme, otherworldly sound effects, and flat, minimalist cleanliness of the graphics, Blek is surely a game you won't soon forget.

  • Download: Blek (opens in new tab) - ($2.99)

Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake!

Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake is a throwback to classic action RPGs like Zelda framed as a series of puzzles. Players switch between several adorably crude monsters with their own abilities to move and avoid obstacles and rescue delicious pieces of birthday cake. There's a village full of characters to talk to with their own unique personalities and stories. The art style is altogether whimsical (though potentially very borrowed), and simple tracing controls are well-suited for mobile. Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake is colorful take on puzzle games with enough retro charm to keep older folks playing, and enough humor for the younger crowd too.

Honorable mentions

Your favorite Android game releases?

Obviously we only have so many eyeballs, and the Google Play Store is a big place. Leave us a comment with your favorite Android game that just came out this month.

Simon Sage
Simon Sage
Simon has been covering mobile since before the first iPhone came out. After producing news articles, podcasts, review videos, and everything in between, he's now helping industry partners get the word about their latest products. Get in touch with him at simon@futurenet.com.
61 Comments
  • Really? A slideshow? BS! Yeah, I see the "ALL" button, but it's easier to read an article when it defaults to a list. The site redesign isn't all about user friendliness, I see. You're treading on thin ice, Android Central...
  • Man, am I exhausted from hitting that "ALL" button. I mean it took me about .5 seconds to locate it and another .5 seconds to get my cursor to it and click. And finally another .5 seconds for the page to load. Damn AC I demand my 1.5 seconds back!
  • I assume it is to get a new ad to show up each time which is kind of annoying. I use adblock though so I don't mind too much.
  • It most certainly is for that reason. More and more ads all over AC recently. Even the podcast.
    Gotta pay for the Glorious Leader's new office and all those plane tickets and Hilton suites all over the globe..
    It sure adds up quickly when you want to personally attend all those events while living in Pasadena!
    Business is good at AC.
    Cant say there is more content than before, though.
  • All that because you had to hit 1 extra button huh? 1st world problems at its finest. ಠ益ಠ
  • Hilarious how a site dedicated to Google, who makes all their billions on ads, can't make money on ads... how do you people think all this is "free"? Use the damn app if it's so irritating. Your dumb if this makes you mad.
  • +googol ಠ益ಠ
  • Agreed.... To whom it may concern... QUIT YOUR BITCHIN! Don't use this site or any other site if you don't like it.
  • Where is this all button you speak of?? I don't see it anywhere.... Never mind. I see it now. I swear that wasn't there until I refreshed the page.
  • Yeah, I don't complain anymore once I realized I could make it all go away with the click of that All button.
  • I don't see any All button :( I can't even get the drop-down page selector, so I have no choice but to read through each one. Or not read the article, which is what I chose. Using Chrome
  • ...aaand after I posted that, the all button appeared :) i bit buggy, I guess it didn't think I was logged in.
  • You have to be signed in, I couldn't find it either
  • If you don't log in, you can't even see that ALL button. Well, it took me 05 minutes (no decimal) to figure it out. I demand my 05 minutes (no decimal) back. :|
  • i don't mind the list being the default... i'm just glad they have the all button now since they didn't before.
  • Totally agree, what the hell are you doing AndroidCentral!!! I thought the post was buggered at first, took me a few moments to realise there was a button to press to start to read the article!
  • all button wasn't there originally,
    Androidcentral was one of the last sites that didn't throw click bait titles, slideshows, and sponsored links everywhere for profit. not anymore it seems. But sadly, this is the way the internet works these days. Maybe offer an Android Central Premium for those who are willing to monetize directly.
  • It's all about page clicks and ad revenue. Just be glad AC gave us the "All" button. One site I visit (though no as often as I used to), makes you click through several pages before you even see the first page of real content. And no "All" button at all.
  • And that's really the answer to most of these complaints. One more click is a bit of a hassle, but that's really all it boils down to. If you're logged in, the button shows up. I agree the slideshow layout isn't ideal yet, but we've got our guys working on improving it.
  • Completely agree. And, it isn't even a slideshow (which I wouldn't mind). It's a brand new webpage, which refreshes and kicks me back to the top of my browser. The new design is horrible, and these slide shows are annoying as f***. Get your s*** in order or I'll be visiting this site less and less.
  • I'm not thrilled about this new format either, but I don't hate it... I can always press the "ALL" button and 'go back' to the old layout, after all. But I would have preferred if the slideshow was an embedded one, something that I can cycle through but doesn't refresh the entire page every single freakin' time.
  • Came here for this. Honestly the only worthy android website is Android Police. These link/click baits are not user friendly and are RSS feed incompatible.
  • Quit whining use the app Posted from my Nexus 7 2013 running Android L or Samsung galaxy S5
  • Wait...what? There's an "ALL" button??
  • Yeah, I'm not seeing it either. Where is this alleged "ALL" button?
  • It's to the right of the START HERE button
  • Also it only shows up if you are currently signed in.
  • Nothing in this world is free. If you like the site and want them to stay around, they have to make some money. Suck it up, and stop whining!
  • Trial Frontier is awesome but is very buggy. Haven't been able to load for a couple weeks now and support sucks.
  • From your post: "Agreed.... To whom it may concern... QUIT YOUR BITCHIN! Don't use this site or any other site if you don't like it."
  • Agree with others, slideshow button things is so annoying. I am sure the reason for less comment is only because people have seen those slide and button...and said....aaah....forget it. Need to redo changes to get more traffic that's all I can suggest.
  • One touch draw... ... ( 0ppo F5) ...
  • I've been playing piano tiles with my kids. They keep trying to beat the master but it always ends in terrible defeat Posted via Android Central App
  • Boom beach Posted via Android Central App
  • Nah... ಠ益ಠ
  • So, this is actually a tough situation I've been in over the last few months. Bad games get popular. Boom Beach is a fair example. Another is this Kim Kardashian one that's tearing up the charts. I got an e-mail about it before launch, and as you can imagine, I wasn't too interested in it, but clearly there's a lot of public interest in that sort of game. Do I write about it in that situation? Just a news post, or save it for the round-up, or ignore it altogether?
  • Ignore that shit! Pretty please! The last thing I want to see here is Kim fuckin Kardashian.
  • Gee, didn't you recently say "To whom it may concern... QUIT YOUR BITCHIN! Don't use this site or any other site if you don't like it."
    The door swings both ways.
  • Oh yeah, Kim Kardashian ain't making its way into the round-ups, but stuff like Boom Beach and Clash of Clans have made their way into the comments for other round-ups, and I'd put them in the same category of quality.
  • 1oo% b0tox... ... ( 0ppo F5) ...
  • I agree with those commenting about how horrible the new layout is, it's even worse on the phone - and this is suppose to be at site that understands mobility. Back to topic: The Walking Dead: Season 2 is the best game of this month
  • Walking Dead is for sure high quality. The episodic content I have trouble wholeheartedly recommending though... I tend to hold out until the full season is done before considering it a complete product.
  • Taht is a fair point. But TWD Season 2 did come out this month for android after a long wait. it's there in the play store and each episode is pretty awesome in them selves - so I'd consider it a complete product from launch with updates coming like any other game
  • Yeah, that's true. It's a grey area. In any case, worthy of the honorable mention at very least. Season 1 was fantastic. Hoping once Republique wraps up its season it'll launch on Android.
  • The Walking Dead 4 Lyfe!
  • I'm not sure if it came out in June or not, but I would have included Clarc in this list :)
  • No, it came out in April. Good game, though!
  • Wow! April! I need to take a vacation then haha I think I just 'lost' two months of my life :P
  • Like her in that there alias episode n5
  • Is that an iPad in the Blek video? Sacrilege!
  • Hah, yeah, it was the only video they had available. Figured it was worth a bit of sacrilege to get the idea across.
  • Blek looks like it would drive me insane......
  • I don't see any
  • Clark. Great puzzle. Borderlands style graphics Posted via Android Central App
  • Hi! Try to make your blog easier for your visitors to read. I could not get that ALL button if I would not come to comment section. Anyhow, the games in the list are far new for me. I would go for Blek as I love to <a href="/e?link=https2F%2Fwww.anrdoezrs.net2F1000482482Fdlg2FUUacUdUcU1035... play challenging android puzzle game</a>. Thanks for sharing the list here.
  • For those that cannot see the ALL button, it only appears when you log with your username and password. When it shows, it appears in the slideshow navigation bar.
    I logged to say goodbye to the site when I suddenly saw it.
  • Finding the ALL button is really screwing with my sense of gravity. It's like being sucked into an anomaly in a bizarre alternate universe . . .
  • New tiny game:
    https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F2F...
  • The best music ever in a mobile game. #yukongold
    https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F2F...
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  • very nice sharing
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