The Brickening

The Brickening is another Arkanoid style game. I view it as a "no frills" version of the Android game Galaxy Breakout because it's just a plain and simple breakout game with power-ups. There's no story... there's not even any "flvaor text" like Arkanoid had. You're just pounding away at bricks in level after level, but that's ok because this game has a trick or two of its own up its sleeve.

First the basics. There's a paddle that you control at the bottom of the screen. There are four kinds of bricks: red, yellow, green, and steel. The steel ones can't be destroyed, but the red, yellow, and green ones take 1, 2 and 3 hits to destroy and as you hit them they color degrade so you can keep track of how many hits are left. I'm a bit intrigued by the color order as in the USA generally red means stop, yellow means yield, and green means go so I'd have expected green to be one hit and so forth.

The game includes 100 levels and a level editor so that you can upload/download levels with other users. Hopefully that will take off, but I suspect that will need to be more of an author supported thing. The graphics are basic and the sound adequate. The two real nice things about this game, though, are how smooth it plays (I have not seen a game where the paddle tracks as close to my finger as well as it does here and given the importance of control in a game that's a pretty big deal) and that the author was clever enough to provide some space where I can place my finger for moving the paddle BELOW the play area. No longer am I blocking my view of the game with my giant hand.

The game also features a full bevy of power-ups: +3 balls, laser cannon, sticky paddle, barricade (a layer of bricks below you paddle to make that extra save), ...etc. I was particularly impressed when I got a +3 balls power-up followed by another +3 balls so I had 7 or so balls on the screen at once for about a tenth of a second. Let's just say it's hard to keep track of that many balls and that it was quite a rush.

This game is well worth a buck. There are plenty of levels and the game plays so smoothly that I really enjoyed it. I've never been too big on story modes in these kids of games anyway... they always seem a bit convoluted. This game is all about the action and takes a step back towards the genre's successful roots in the game Breakout while leaving in the goodness that is power-ups. 4/5 stars. There is also a demo version in the Android Market that is available now.

Air Hockey

Air Hockey isn't exactly the cleverest name for a game that I've seen, but I guess it makes it easy to figure out what this game is. It's air hockey on your Android and features one or two player action and not much more. Loading Air Hockey brings you to a screen... 'one player', 'bonus two player', or 'visit our web site'.

First I tried the one player mode. The way this works is that you start off with a basic ranking and as you play against the AI opponent you'll either gain or lose ranking until you reach a point where the AI is challenging. The graphics are basic and the audio sounds like a real air hockey table does (but don't think the music in the video below is actually in the real game). You hold down on your paddle with a finger and drag it around the screen swatting and blocking the puck. Early advancement is pretty easy and one nice thing about computer Air Hockey is that it enforces the rule that says you can't move your paddle over the middle line.

Next, my youngster was bored in a restaurant the other night so I broke out Air Hockey to play. The controls were horrible on her side. Her paddle would frequently stick around the middle line and it would take many seconds for it to become free again. I have to think this has something to do with the game or my Droid not handling multi-touch very well, but, interestingly enough, my paddle had no issues... it was just hers. Needless to say the thrill wore off all too quickly and she was soon playing Care Bears Memory Match by herself.

My bigger problem with Air Hockey isn't even Air Hockey's fault. It's the simple fact that playing this with two players is a pain on such a tiny screen. Even with one player it's less than thrilling. This is a game born for the upcoming Android tablets.

Conclusion? This review feels short because there's not much to Air Hockey. It's only a buck so it won't break the bank, but at the same time I just don't see coming back to it. There are many other Air Hockey games in the Android Market and I'd love to hear feedback if you've found one you think stands out. As for this one, I'd give it a 3/5.

Island Settlers

The Settlers of Catan may be the premier of the so called EuroGames to make it big in the USA. It's actually been around for 15 years, but in reality that's nothing compared to a classic like Monopoly. Still, Settlers brought something to the table that Monopoly didn't and that's a game that has much more strategy and less luck than other more American fare. My first experience with Settlers was after I had gotten a new game called Puerto Rico and I was sharing about this amazing, new board game with a friend at work. He likewise had a game to share about and that was Settlers. Eventually I was able to play it with his group, purchased a copy for myself, and since then I'm sure I've played it at least a hundred times. (And I'm also good friends with the 2008 Settlers of Catan World Champion.)

If you don't know anything of this game then here it is a nutshell. You and up to 3 competitors are on an island made of hexagons. Each hexagon sports one of five resource types on it with the exception of a single, dormant desert hex. One the vertices you place settlements and cities. On the edges you place roads. Each hex also has a number from 2-12 placed on it. On each turn a pair of dice is rolled and any hex assigned that number produces its resource type. If you have a settlement next to it you produce one of that type of good and if you have a city you produce two of that resource. These resources are used to buy more things: settlements, cities, cards, and roads. The game ends when a player reaches 10 points which comes from settlements, cities, having the longest road, the largest army (cards), and extra points (cards).

Island Settlers (you were wondering if I was actually going to talk about it, weren't you?) brings this game to Android and allows you to play with several AI opponents or in hot seat mode where you pass you phone to the active player. It also includes a few variants such as allowing you to change how many points it takes to win. The graphics are passable look great with today's update and the sound is rarely worth talking about when it comes to board game conversions. The controls work well as the game gives you an overview of the entire island and allows you to easily zoom in for more precise placements of roads and structures. It also cleanly points out available locations which I guess I don't like as much as part of the game should be about spotting good locations without help. Perhaps that should be an option.

The game claims basic AI. The game is right. The AI just isn't very good, at all. My first game finished with me easily winning and two opponents left with 2 points (and you start the game with 2 points so that equates to no progress) and the third opponents with 5. I'm a pretty good, but not great, Catan player. The XBox 360 version of Catan provides me with a challenge. This AI is nothing more than training wheels for learning how to play.

Still, the game is free and this isn't a bad way to learn. If you're going to play against a friend then go buy the real game (it's available at Target, now) after you've tried this and found out that you like it. Sure it'll set you back $40, but this game really is that good and just maybe it'll open you open you up to the massive world of games that exist outside of Target and WalMart. I'm sure the AI has to be on the short list for a future update and network play would be another means of addressing the lack of challenge. At least until the 'cease and desist' letter arrives and an official Catan game is released on Android. There was a Catan game in the Apple App Store until the 'real' Catan arrived so I'm fully expecting a repeat of that scenario. It's almost as if they waited to pull the clone so iPhone owners wouldn't be left without their Catan fix, though. 3.5/5 stars mainly because the AI provides little longevity for the solo experience.

Androminion

It was initially billed as 'Secret Game X'. We can't tell you anything other than "it's great!" they'd say. I got my first taste of the game later to be called Dominion at Gen Con in 2008. It featured a novel deck-building mechanic and I enjoyed the game that later became the giant hit that it was and still is today. Dominion now since added four expansions and many copycat games that all great, new ideas "inspire". Androminion brings this and two of its expansions to your Android phone. Ah, a good day to be an Android owner...

Dominion in a nutshell is played as follows: There are 3 basic types of cards... money cards that let you buy other cards, point cards the dilute your deck as they don't do anything until scoring at the game's end, and other cards that you play in order to do more or better things during your turn. You start with 7 copper cards which are worth 1 money unit and 3 point cards. You shuffle your deck and on every turn you draw 5 cards. Can't draw? Shuffle your discards and continue. Your first hand will therefore have some money and some points in it. Once again... points are worthless until the game is over when they become the only thing that matters. So you'll use your money to buy a card. On your turn you get 1 action and 1 buy. Other cards can give you more actions, money, and buys (among other things) so you might buy a card that gives you an extra action and 2 more coppers. Purchased cards go into your discard pile as does your current hand and you draw for the next turn. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. If you want more detail than that click on the title to go to Andromion's website and you will find links to the full rules.

Androminion isn't going to win any beauty contests. The screen is plain with available cards listed in rectangles along the top of the screen. It does include help and you can touch and hold on any of the cards to see what they do. Still, I would prefer to play the real card game not only for the social element, but also so I can quickly scan what my cards say. I guess advanced players have many of these cards memorized, but I do not. Androminion randomly chooses the set of cards you'll be playing with and forces a 3 player game upon you with two AI players. AI? Yes, this free game has AI that is actually pretty good. The rules seem to be solidly implemented and the touch interface of tapping on cards works and is done well enough to avoid any accidental plays. In other words, when choosing a card you have to select and then click select once the card is 'highlighted'.

Androminion has plenty of opportunity for improvement as all of the hard work in terms of getting all of those pesky rules functioning is done. It would be nice to be able to play with 2 or 4 players, network play, the ability to choose which cards I'm going to play with, and, I'm obligated to say, a UI upgrade with pretty cards. I don't know the legality of this game, but I see the publisher (Rio Grande Games) is given full credit. Is it possible they'd allow for the actual card graphics to be used?

This is a dream come true for Dominion fans. If you enjoy Dominion then this won't let you down. It's probably not going to replace human competition, but it's nice to be able to practice and try out new stuff against competent AI. Likewise, if you like turn based, strategy games you really ought to check this out. Finally, if you like this game then please buy the original paper version. This is actually a really good family game, too. I've provided a link above that offers Dominion from Amazon.com at a pretty good price with free shipping. And what is there to prevent you from trying this game out on your phone? Nothing as it's free!! 4.5/5 stars.

Flight Control coming soon for Android

We've seen several of the Apple App Store's high profile games make the leap to Android recently. I'm talking about titles such as Angry Birds and Doodle Jump. Now it appears that FireMint's Flight Control will be making the jump. There are countless clones of this game in the Android Market already, but I'd be all over the original assuming the price is right.

Click on the heading to see the proof...