Good android game stuff

[Skybird]

I have checked several games for my new android tablet, stuff that would be worth to try out when being away from home and desktop PC for some time and wanting to kill some time, or do some quality gaming when nothing else there is to do. Actually, what I did not necessarily expect, there are are some quality games indeed. The videos below may represent the iOS or cellphone versions, but I know the games on Galaxy Note 10.1 and Android 4.1.2 and can confirm they look identical on that devioce and handle the same way, so, no differences where I do not link an Android video.

This is the stuff I found and very much liked so far:

Abalone:


Not the first computer adaptation I checked on PC and now Android, but it is the one I like best, for its looks, handling, and playing skill. The gamer allows alternative starting setups like the Belgian or Dutch daisies. It uses all the original rules from the boardgame. Abalone is a very great game, using simple, elegant rules, visual appearance that is as elegant, but merging both into a strategy game of surprising depth and again - you guess it already - elegance. It has become not for no reason one of the most successful boardgames in the past 20 years worldwide.

Arkeon:


Another French strategy game, which has an absorbing neon-look, simple rules and, like Abalone, combines both for a strategy game that is not as hardcore as Abalone, but replaces part of that with the surprises of sudden, unexpected position alteration via the use of special pieces. Pieces are used to "touch" the opponents heart-hex, which means victory, but of course opposing pieces will try the same in return while hindering the player to establish that touching contact, rules allow to "shoot" out pieces under certain conditions, while under different ones pieces just block each other. A very innovative game concept, and a visual presentation that is just made for computer screens and reminds me a little bit of TRON-like stuff. I am currently addicted to this game. Innovative, and nice.

Frozen Synapse


Not much must be said here, since the PC version is around since 2011. I just5 want to show that the game works on Android, with only small chnages in the interface to compensante for the lacking mouse menu controls. I have it opn PC as well now, and different from the difefrent screen sizes, the game plays much the same way. On a biog screen overview is better, of course, but the 10 inch screen for Android tablets nevertheless deliver a fully playable and usable version of it. And btw, this is a very good game, if you do not knbow it. Originally released by Matrix Games who still try to sell it at their maximum prices. They should check the markets occasionally.

Of course, there is chess, a computer without a chess software installed on it in my eyes is no computer but a pityful crippled item of less than half use to man and mankind. At least two professional programs are available for it which I both know by their authors since almost 20 years in PC chess programming and even table chess computer programming.

Stefan Mayer-Kahlen is the aiuthor of Shredder and won several world championships with his PC software, the app for Android is installing the latest version of the PC engine, which got me by surprise, being new to Android I expected chess engines to come in some kind of muted, reduced capabilities, but no, he insists that it is the core of the PC software, just the details around it are not comparing to the PC interface, there is no as extravagant engine calculation window, no elaborated analysis interface. The cool feature is the self-adapting leveling of the AI opponent (optional), after some matches already the computer will roughly match your skill level and will change his own in smaller and smaller increments, depending on results played. Very useful feature that I like very much. Freed from all chains, Shredder is a killer - you've been warned, they say it is the strongest chess application for Android, and I believe it when reading the names of engines available for Android. Computer can calculate in players time, and does not need much time to indeed set up a challenging fight - often I get answers by the machine as soon as I entered my move. Graphics are clear, various board graphcis and piec es sets are available. The only thing I do not like is that Shredder has no landscape display mode, you must play this in the book-format mode, which I do not like that much when holding the device in my hands and have it not resting on the table.

The other chess program is by Richard Lang, a 12 times word championship winner with the Psion chess and later Mephisto table chesscomnputers by Hegner&Glaser, who also has tremendous expereince with chess coding and is an old horse in the branch, although now no longer active in compouter chess any longer. His software heritage is called ChessGenius, it is older and as the odor or tradition around it, but it is a very capable engine. I had it running against Shredder on my tab, switichignb between both applications, and it held its ground against Shredder's powerful play indeed. Again, several board styles and pieces sets are available, it can be played in landscape mode, and in principle allows the same options as Shredder, the only thing it is missing is a self-adapting skill level for the AI.

I cannot say which one I favour, I have both and like both, and I would say if you seek chess applications for your tablet or cellphione, these two are the two top competitors you should take into account for Android, if checked the other programs available, and only Stockfish engine I know to evntually be a serious competitor for any of thesew two, with the other spoftware I found clearly trailing behind in chess competence, comored to Shredder and Genius, they also do not compare to them in the PC segment of chess programs. Actually, my hottest favourite is Hiacrs, but unfoprtnately, it is currently only available on iOS . I asked them whether they plan to have an Android version one day, but so far I got no reply. Hiarcs would be my choice, being one of ther two toughest and best engines on PC currently, and having a very long PC tradition, too. Actually, it's lineage is much older than the label of Shredder.

Finally, there is Backgammon, and Android features a neural network-based backgammon software named Backgammon NJ, that on expert level is rated as one of the toughest, best BG games in the world. It has simple, but nice looks that can be altered a bit, has very good handling in the playing interface (all action handles very naturally), and four difficulty levels. The top two levels are really tough with the second and truly killing with the first level. It features advanced statistics recording that also help to prove that the engine is not cheating with the dices (what it is often accused of, but the truth is that most human players simply are not en par with this programs playing competence). I read that experts compare this engine to GNU Backgammon for the PC. I must take their word for it, since I like Backgammon, but am only average (at best) and am a better chess player. On top level, I get slaughtered by what appears to me as magic sometimes. The engine obviously knows some theory stuff that I do not. And no, I am convinced for sure that it indeed does not cheat. If you want a serious Backgammon program, this is the one to go for.



I already mentioned Xtreme Soaring 3D in another thread, and with all limitations a flightsim must accept on a tablet, this one surprised me with solid physics, comparably good graphics, and a model of thermals and ridge winds that allow indeed the looking for and the using of thermals, ridge soaring technique and if I did not misperceive it something nthat could have been wave soaring. The handling must get used to a bit, since it is sensitive, but one can master that. So far there is two real world regions and three gliders to chose from, the gliders come with a basic set of instruments in the panel and all flaps and brakes the real gliders have by which the simulated ones got modelled. Amazing what they achieved here, I did not expect to see such an advanced flight sim on a tablet! The German store's customer feedback gives it 4.2 of 5 stars, that is much for such a niche product, I think.

http://xtremesoaring3d.com/

I am a total fan of Virtual Pool by Celeris, and Virtual Pool 4 on PC is as close as you can get to the world of pool without having a real table, super graphics and sensational well-done physics and handling. For Android, there is Virtual Pool Mobile, a bit older already, and basing on Virtual Pool 3, also an older game already. They did it well for tablets, very well indeed. The interfce is much different to that in VP4 or VP3, so is the handling, buit the physics engine works well enough to deliver a satisfying experience. There are some dozen opponents and seven rooms and tables, which unfortunately mjust be all unlocked in a career mode. I hate stuff that needs to be unlocked, I already hated that in VP3 for PC. Nevertheless, as I said, the physics do a very good job, making this Android pool title probably the by far best pool title amongst all competitors for Android. On my Galaxy Note 10, it works without any stutters, and completely fluid. It has much higher resolution than in this video.



And finally I would introduce Virtual Tennis Challenge, which actually is the best tennis game I ever played on Amiga and PC. The trick is to switch the controls to gamepad equivalent with buttons to press and forget that swing gesture control - then it handles like a dream and allows fair, challenging exchanges without the computer doing half of the work for you, with the diversity of strikes available that you demand from a tennis game, and no exaggerated and unrealistic arcade elements like you so often see in other tennis games (which ruins them). The game is very very well done, comes with a variety of different stadiums, a tournament mode, and a 2vs2 mode as well. It looks even bigger in a tablet, obviously, than like on the cellphone display here, for me all animations works totally fluid, no stuttering at all, nothing:



The price niveau of android apps still makes me grin widely.

[Skybird]

Marc Uniacke, author of Hiarcs, was so kind to reply to an email of mine, saying that there will be an Android version of Hiarcs, but that it is "months away", since currently he is too busy already as that he could prioritize the project.

Nice news. I will wait.

Also, Stefan Mayer-Kahlen, author or Shredder, replied to me, saying that in one of the coming updates to Shredder there will be a landscape mode for the interface (like already implemented for iOS). I assume there will be one or two more additions to the interface as well, classification of played openings, namely.

Add these two notes to the also already existing ChessGenius for Android, and chess is well on Android! Plus that there are many other, less superior but still competent chess applications for Android as well.

[soopaman2]

I got FF3 and 4 on my phone.

Not so good to most, but to an old school RPG pig like me, it is godly.

CSR racing is fun, I really dig Angry Birds Star wars too. Candy crush, freaking addicting. No matter how "unmanly" it is to play it.

[Skybird]

FF3/4, CSR, never heared of that. What is that?

Sim racing I tried, Real Racing 2. Positive surprise again. RR2 sees you paying onc eonly, and then no further ingame buying. Different to RR3, where you have to constantly invest more money during gameplay, that's why I favoured 2 over 3, and 2 still looks quite well. Real Racing probably is as realistic as sim racing gets on tablets.

I now found Settlers of Catan for Android, and Axis and Allies for Android. Have not played both enough to form an educated opinion on them. But both look and play good so far, the many reported issues especially for Catan I cannot confirm until here.

It's hell that these things are so cheap.

I invested also in map and astronomy apps.