Thanks to ever more powerful hardware, the tiny devices we carry around in our pockets have more resources than NASA used during the entire Apollo space program. Games designed to run on cutting-edge games consoles just 15 or 20 years ago, can now play on a mobile phone. Gone are the days of mobile games limited to black and white snakes eating tiny dots on a screen.
With summer on the horizon, people across the world are in the throes of preparing for their holidays, looking for a retreat from the rat race to warmer climates to relax under the sun, perhaps with a book to read, music to drown out the surroundings or a mobile game to get immersed. Thanks to the huge library of games in the Google Play Store, Android users will have plenty of options, including mobile poker apps, puzzles, modern shoot ‘em ups and retro arcade games all available to download and play. Here is a selection of some games you should play this summer.
PUBG Mobile
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, better known by its clumsy acronym PUGB, has been one of the most popular consoles and PC games of recent years. It is quite unique in its transition from traditional game to a mobile game, with its gameplay resembling that of the PC game quite closely. The redefined control is easier for players to collect and manage items.
For most modern games, a port to a mobile device usually requires the graphics to scale down significantly, but PUBG Mobile manages to provide some of the best mobile graphics ever seen so far in both first and third-person points of view. For those with less powerful devices, you can turn the graphics settings down like on most PC games to accommodate Android phones and tablets with fewer resources. Best of all, it’s free to download and play.
Holedown
Holedown is one of many puzzle games available for Android, but unlike most, it doesn’t continually nag you to buy extra lives, power-ups or some magic beans. It has a familiar, retro feeling to it, using physics to bounce balls off blocks with the aim of clearing the screen of these blocks to move to the next level. Each block has a number that shows the number of times you must hit for it to disappear, meaning players must strategically bounce the balls of each block to break through to another part of the screen.
Real Racing 3
Each of the main consoles that are on the market has its headline racing games. The PlayStation 4 has Gran Turismo, the Xbox One has Forza, and the Nintendo Switch has Mario Kart. While these games are not available for Android, Real Racing 3 is.
Featuring over 200 cars from real life, players can burn some rubber off realistic recreations of more than 45 racetracks that exist in the real world. Developed by Firemonkeys Studios and published by games powerhouse Electronic Arts, Real Racing 3 is a cross-platform racing simulator that contains some big-name manufacturers like Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti. As a sequel to the successful Real Racing and Real Racing 2, the third iteration is a freemium game that offers in-app purchases. It has received mixed reviews, but the racing simulation is still as good and will give you hours of enjoyment.
Wherever you spend your time this summer, these Android games will be sure to keep you entertained, whatever the weather.
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