Owners of Android-compatible phones like the HTC magic along with the T-Mobile G1 will be pleased as punch to find out that there are some excellent free games on the market just waiting to be downloaded from the Android Market. Here are a few to try – and some to prevent!
Mahjongg – A pretty faithful rendition of the Japanese pairs game. Sad to say, the touchscreen is the sole input device that can be used with this game, which pretty much rules out it unless you’ve very slender fingers to pick the microscopic images with.
Mem – This Simon-says match, where you have to press an icon as soon as you can after its counterpart is displayed, attributes some pretty zany sound effects, and it works well with the touchscreen. However, the long-term appeal is relatively limited.
Myspace War – A 2D shoot-em-up which uses the telephones mini-keypad for a control surface. Although the images are right and you suspect it may play a whole lot better on a notebook or a dedicated games console, the controls are too fiddly to make it worth the time necessary to download.
MisMisMatch – The purpose of this deceptively simple puzzle game is to press boxes, organized on a grid, with your finger, which aren’t currently part of a pair to turn them over so that they fit with an adjacent box, and may be taken out of play. There’s a valuable tutorial mode to guide you through the basics, and also a choice of problem settings.
Pac-Man by Namco – After the Space Invaders trend of the late 1970s, came Pac-Man, a yellow ball with eyes whose primary goal in life was to munch down traces of pills, organized inside a maze, also occasionally eat a few flashing ghosts once he had been full of the confidence that just oranges would offer him. This is an excellent rendition of all the original visuals, but neither the signature screen nor the monitor ball is suitable for playing it with.
Pop Popcorn – Use your finger as a digital heating component, to heat un-popped popcorn, arranged on a grid, till it pops, but make sure not to leave your finger on two large or surrounding popcorn will burn off. One of the better touchscreen games offered for your Android platform.
Santas War on Terror – This side-scrolling platform game includes the western worlds favorite generosity metaphor in a pitched battle against the terrorists. Although the name might raise a chuckle or two, the graphics are poor and St. Nick is ridiculously hard to control, which makes it one to avoid Android games.
TxtSpeed – In this game, words scroll across the display that you then have to type into the little keypad as quickly as possible. Great if you’re trying to get to grips with studying on a tiny QWERTY keypad, but a little bit boring nonetheless.
Online Game 