Looking for some awesome new Android games to play? Well you’ve come to the right place! Welcome to a special Saturday edition of the SGD Friday Night Indie Game Round-Up, our weekly tribute to the best new indie games to make their way onto Android! Our dedicated editorial team has spent all week tirelessly scouring every nook and cranny of the net in order to bring you this comprehensive guide to the coolest new indie games available on Android. And after playing a ton of different titles and a few spirited debates, we’ve come up with a list of 25 awesome new indie Android games for you to check out below! And when we say awesome we mean awesome, every game on this list has been personally vetted and recommended by a top SGD staff member.
Be sure to vote for your favorite new indie Android game in the poll at the bottom of the page too. As always, the game with the most votes as of Tuesday morning will be declared our indie game of the week and will also be featured on our front page!
Acribeia from Nrjwolf
If you’re looking for a real challenge you’ve got to check out Acribeia. This game has a vertical Flappy Bird style to it that shares a control scheme with the arcade classic Lunar Lander. Tapping on either side of the screen will activate the corresponding booster on your rocket and you must activate them skillfully if you hope to avoid the infinite number of upcoming obstacles. Acribeia is a lot more difficult than you’d expect and is sure to challenge even the most hardcore gamers out there.
Acribeia (Playboard) | Acribeia (Play Store)
Bloom Run from Eligraphics
Bloom Run is an endless runner in which you must stay alive and destroy incoming enemies by matching their colour with the corresponding colour on your palette. The longer you stay alive the more you’ll be seeing an increase in the number of monsters and they’ll come in a larger variety of colours as well. If you have any hopes of setting a high score on the games global leaderboards you’ll need to stay completely focused and have cat-like reflexes! The developer promises content updates in the future which means Bloom Run is a game you’ll be kept busy with for a long time to come. Definitely check this one out.
Bloom Run (Playboard) | Bloom Run (Play Store)
Castle Catastrophe from Winterlight Games
Castle Catastrophe is a game about a small knight named Brend who has found himself in one heck of a situation. A wall of fire is chasing him down and it seems that as he runs the speed of the fire increases – and in turn the difficulty increases too! If the fire wasn’t enough of a threat Brend also faces a variety of deadly obstacles like spinning spike wheels, swinging chain balls, bouncing platforms, rolling boulders, flame jets, and a whole lot more! Oh Brend, you are one unlucky man! Can you give him a hand and help him to stay alive for at least a little bit longer?
Castle Catastrophe FREE (Playboard) | Castle Catastrophe FREE (Play Store)
Castle Catastrophe (Playboard) | Castle Catastrophe (Play Store)
Clamber from funlittlegames
While the majority of the endless genre is populated by either generic runners or Flappy Bird clones every now and then an innovative new game with its own unique spin comes along to shake things up. Well, it seems as if it’s that time has come again as a fantastic new felt based platformer by the name of Clamber has arrived on the scene with simple yet addicting gameplay that puts a twist on everything you know about climbing games. Created by indie developer FunLittleGames, Clamber combines inventive gameplay, charming graphics, and high replay value to become one of the most downloadable endless games in recent memory.
Clamber (Playboard) | Clamber (Play Store)
Conquest of Elysium 3 from Illwinter Game Design
From indie developer and Steam darling Illwinter Game Design, creator of the legendary Dominions series of games, comes a huge new fantasy RPG that feels like Might & Magic on steroids. Strategy and rogue-like fanatics will appreciate the absolutely incredible amount of depth in Conquest of Elysium 3. The sheer amount of things to do and nostalgically addicting gameplay means you’ll be playing Conquest of Elysium 3 for quite some time to come.
Conquest of Elysium 3 (Playboard) | Conquest of Elysium 3 (Play Store)
Draw Em! from Agrest Lab Corp.
Draw Em! is a stunning one-touch game that is about safely maneuvering around an infinite canvas while avoiding the paint drops that are trying to chase you down. The best way to stay alive: make enemy paint drops collide with one another! Each collision not only gives you a nice boost to your score but also splatters the canvas with a colourful paint splatter that looks absolutely stunning! Draw Em is a free game that you really need to check out!
Draw Em! (Playboard) | Draw Em! (Play Store)
Down In The Deep from Dancing Cat Development
From the creators of Dead Rushing HD and Crusaders comes a brand new rogue-like RPG called Down In The Deep that brings board game style gameplay to Android but with a suped up real time combat engine. It may not have the most impressive graphics but what it lacks in looks it more than makes up for in variety. There are a staggering amount of quests and dungeons to explore which coupled with deep character customization provide an enthralling experience.
Down In The Deep (roguelike) (Playboard) | Down In The Deep (roguelike) (Play Store)
FadeOut from Burning Sushi
FadeOut is a tilt-evasive score chaser that is all about weighing risk vs reward. Using either tilt or touch controls (tilt controls are recommended) you’ll build up your high score by focusing all of your attention on the game’s unique near-miss scoring mechanic. Evade the sliding bumper for as long as possible – just be sure that the risk is worth the reward! FadeOut features a seriously addictive style of gameplay, a stunning minimalistic art style, and one seriously kickass soundtrack! FadeOut is a total steal at it’s $1 asking price so make sure you download it today!
FadeOut (Playboard) | FadeOut (Play Store)
Game of Legions from Traptics
If you’ve ever been a fan of the Super Puzzle Fighter games you’re going to love Game of Legions. While it shares some basic similarities to Super Puzzle Fighter, Game of Legions offers much deeper puzzle based RPG gameplay that will keep you playing for hours at a time. It’s all thanks to Game of Legions’ highly polished match 3 combat, great presentation style, and tons of unlockable secrets.
Game of Legions (Playboard) | Game of Legions (Play Store)
Gravity Lab! from Mobile Snap
This hyper addicting physics puzzler sports excellent graphics, unique gameplay, and a hard yet fair level of challenge that come together to make Gravity Lab! feel like it was some kickass version of Angry Birds that crossed over from a parallel dimension. Players control a happy go lucky robot as he repeatedly smashes piles and piles of crates with his head in epic physics based style. With its wealth of levels and innovative gameplay Gravity Lab! is a must download!
Gravity Lab! (Playboard) | Gravity Lab! (Play Store)
iON Bond from Smiling Bag
iON Bond is a puzzle game that is all about bonding and colliding subatomic particles. The game takes place in a simulated vacuum where you’ll be forming bonds to create forces between these subatomic particles. Science was never my strong suit in school so the technical wording for iON Bond goes right over my head – but to sum iON Bond up in a non-sciency way: you’ll be solving the games puzzles by pushing and pulling positive and negative ions through tricky environments to ions of the corresponding colour. The game starts out easy enough but the difficulty quickly grows to the point that it’s sure to challenge even the best puzzle gamers out there.
iON Bond (Playboard) | iON Bond (Play Store)
Jump Man from Majom
Jump Man is a game that revolves around one man’s quest to jump higher than anyone has ever jumped before him. Jumping earns Jump Man some serious coinage that can be spent on new upgrades like a jumping potion, jetpacks, and even the ability to perform incredible stunts – all of which can be further upgraded with more coins! How high do you think you can jump? Find out today for free – there’s no ads or IAPs here!
Jump Man (Playboard) | Jump Man (Play Store)
Knock-Knock from Ice-Pick Lodge Studio
You only need to take one look at Knock-Knock to see its a horror game that’s absolutely oozing with style and visual flair. The premise is simple, players must survive a night in a haunted house that’s plagued with horrifying otherworldly occurrences, but the incredible artwork and surreal atmosphere will win you over immediately. As a lightning storm rages outside, rooms will flash with brief glimpses of indescribable horrors waiting to devour the player in the night, the darkness will leave you blind, and you’ll hear terrifying pounding on a door you’re about to open
Knock Knock (Playboard) | Knock Knock (Play Store)
Lollipop 3: Eggs of Doom from Moonbot Studios
This off the wall game smartly ties together intense multi-touch action, absurdly hilarious characters, and addicting game design in a way that feels patently fresh. In Lollipop 3 players must stop a wave of eggs from hitting the ground by grabbing hold of them with their fingers until they hatch. A simple concept to be sure, but things quickly spiral out of control thanks to an army of baddies and the mad dashes that ensue when you’re trying to carefully balance a mountain of eggs while grabbing a powerup. You’ll soon find yourself trying to beat the many challenges and scenarios that make up Lollipop 3′s game structure before you even know it.
Lollipop 3: Eggs of Doom (Playboard) | Lollipop 3: Eggs of Doom (Play Store)
Martian Caves from Youmble
Martian Caves is a truly bizarre game that every mobile gamer needs to check out. Get this: a monkey and a parrot are lost on Mars: a planet filled with dangerous aliens and carnivorous plants. This would be big trouble but thankfully these two friends have a powerful spacecraft that gives them a real fighting chance for survival. You’ll run, shoot, and explore Mars as you play through the game’s 40 single player campaign levels that comes across as a sort of Metroidvania/Jetpack Joyride/Angry Birds mash-up! How can you go wrong with that? Download Martian Caves from Google Play today for free!
Martian Caves (Playboard) | Martian Caves (Play Store)
Risen Dead from Midnite Red Ltd
Risen Dead is a fun little arcade game that casts players as a lone soldier against a never ending swarm of zombies on the hunt for brains. Although it’s heavy on the action, Risen Dead also has hints of survival horror due to a fight or flight gameplay style and constant lack of ammo. It’s a fairly barebones experience as far as shooters go but if you like slaughtering zombies you’ll get a decent bang for your buck.
Risen Dead (Playboard) | Risen Dead (Play Store)
Quantic Pinball from ShineResearch
Ah Pinball, the ubiquitous game machine referred to as an arcade cabinet long before the advent of video games taking root in coin op palaces the world over. There are tons of different pinball games out there but if you’re looking for something other than your average simulator, something truly off the wall that will make you see the genre in a whole new way, look no further than indie developer Shine Research’s new power up infused take on the subject Quantic Pinball. A hybrid of retro video games like Space Invaders and traditional pinball, Quantic Pinball will have you shooting down waves of enemies at the same time as you’re building up your combo by hitting score targets. It makes for an intense experience.
Quantic Pinball Lite (Playboard) | Quantic Pinball Lite (Play Store)
Quantic Pinball (Playboard) | Quantic Pinball (Play Store)
Romans In My Carpet! from Witching Hour Studios
Witching Hour have re-vamped their classic Ravenmark into a glorious and slightly surreal campaign: tiny Romans vs bedroom bugs. Romans! will be instantly familiar to fans of Ravenmark: Mercenaries, the tile-based isometric strategy game that wowed us last year, albeit with a few new tweaks. Your units now auto-face the enemy, for example, and the whole experience is generally more accessible to the unexperienced. Don’t get me wrong, because nothing has been dumbed down here – your strategies are what counts, and it’s just easier to implement them.
Check out a full review from our very own JC Richardson: Romans In My Carpet! Review
Romans In My Carpet! (Playboard) | Romans In My Carpet! (Play Store)
Skyling: Garden Defense from Mighty Studios
I wanted to describe Skyling Garden Defense in my own words for all of you but I honestly can’t do a better job than how the developer worded it. As per the description on Google Play “Skyling: Garden Defense is a 2D, isometric maze game that blends classic arcade-style game play with a lighthearted presentation filled with blooming plants, colorful monsters and sleeping cats“.
In this game you control a young Skyling named Bloom. It is up to you and Bloom to restore each of the games 20 gardens by touching every square on the level. Simple, right? Well, maybe… if it weren’t for all of those darned Blight Monsters that want nothing more than to destroy everything… including young Bloom! Lucky for you though these gardens are well equipped with switches, gates and elevators that you can use to avoid their filthy grasp.
Skyling: Garden Defense has been inspired by arcade classics like Pac-Man, Q*Bert and Crystal Castles – and it shows. That’s certainly not a bad thing at all as it makes for a simple and incredibly addicting maze-game that is sure to be fun for gamers of all ages. Definitely give this one a look!
Skyling: Garden Defense (Playboard) | Skyling: Garden Defense (Play Store)
Stick Ranger from DAN-BALL
Stick Ranger is without a doubt one of the most unique and entertaining games I have ever played. You are given control of a team of four stick men that are tasked with questing their way across a vast world filled with a huge variety of deadly enemies. Before you begin your quest you must pick the class type for of each of your stickmen from the eight different professions you are presented with. Pick from Archers, Mages, Gladiators, Gunners, Boxers, and more to make your ultimate team.
As you battle through the game world you’ll earn money, weapons, and other goodies while also earning XP that is used for upgrading your team members skills. Though the graphics in Stick ranger are far from being flashy it still exudes a unique and charming style that is unlike anything you’ve likely seen before. Stick Ranger is a free game that I really suggest all mobile gamers check out.
Stick Ranger (Playboard) | Stick Ranger (Play Store)
Super Mega Runners from Namicom
Super Mega Runners is an endless runner that is a fantastic throwback to retro games – primarily Super Mario Bros. You’ll run and jump your way through an infinite world while collecting coins, killing enemies, and avoiding pitfalls. Along the way you’ll encounter a plethora of references to classic games and movies that will surely put a big smile on the faces of NES era gamers. The gameplay is fun and the retro references are sure to keep you coming back to Super Mega Runners time and time again. Don’t miss out on it!
Super Mega Runners (Playboard) | Super Mega Runners (Play Store)
Tales of Honor from Evergreen Studios
Based around a sci-fi comic of the same name, and apparently also in production as a movie, Tales of Honor is actually a fairly typical space-opera which sees humans colonizing the far reaches of space and facing off against their enemies in ship vs ship combat. Everything is very neatly polished, with beautiful 3D modelling of the vast starships in question. The combat is cooldown-based, and you have quite an array of weapons to deal with the opposition, like lasers, missiles, nukes and so forth. Enemies are weak against particular weapons, so there’s a solid degree of strategy needed to time your attacks, your defences, and your loadout in order to beat the enemy.
Check out a full review from our very own JC Richardson: Tales of Honor Review
Tales of Honor (Playboard) | Tales of Honor (Play Store)
Tales of The Adventure Company from Slothwerks
When indie developer Slothwerks unleashed its retro RPG Adventuring Company on the world late last year it came as no surprise to anyone who’s played it that it went on to win several awards. Adventuring Company was a fantastic retro redux that did a great job of reinventing many of the RPG genre’s core staples. So when we heard about Slothwerks’ ambitious followup Tales Of The Adventure Company we immediately turned our heads to keep an eye on its progress. Well, the day has finally arrived and Tales Of The Adventure Company is out now on Google Play. And let me tell you this is one hell of a good sequel.
Tales of the Adventure Company (Playboard) | Tales of the Adventure Company (Play Store)
Tower Bruiser II from Smartties
Indie developer Smartties highly anticipated tower defense sequel Tower Bruiser II is here to test your tactical abilities. This great looking strategy game brings one of the most popular Warcraft 3 mods to Android in gorgeous fashion thanks to a proprietary engine built exclusively for this game. Essentially, it has players control a lone Warcraft style peasant as he builds a multitude of towers to keep the advancing hordes of monsters and goblins at bay.
Tower Bruiser II (Playboard) | Tower Bruiser II (Play Store)
Unstoppaball DX from Matthias Zarzecki
Unstoppaball DX is a Unity-Award-nominated physics-puzzler where you must navigate a fragile ball through a variety of dangerous environments. Along the way you’ll encounter deadly enemies and there are also plenty of hidden fragments to find too. Unstoppaball DX features fun motion controls, 36 different ball types, 30 levels, and a whole lot more! Unstoppaball DX is jam packed with content so if you’re looking for something that’ll keep you busy for a long time you really need to check this one out!
Unstoppaball DX (Playboard) | Unstoppaball DX (Play Store)
online poll by Opinion Stage
The Friday Night Indie Game Round-Up is brought to you by the combined Voltron-esque powers of SGD co-editors Craig Forshey and James Maxwell!