Games are an important aspect of any recreation enjoyed on an Android-powered device. There are a lot of genres of games that will leave you wanting more. Albeit, some of us have quite a few favorites, so, here they are! The best puzzle games for Android.
1. Candy Crush Saga
You know you expected to find this game on the list. With the amount of requests you receive from your friends on various social media networks, how can you not? Candy Crush Saga appeared on the Google Play Store a mere 3 years ago, and it is already topping the charts. You know there must be something special about this game when even your mom plays it for hours on end. Developed by King digital entertainment, this game is unbelievably popular for its candy-themed gameplay. Candy Crush Saga is as simple as you expect it to be, a 3-match game; sort of like the Bejeweled series for your desktop from a decade back. Normally, you play with 5 lives and the lives run out every time you lose. Once you hit zero, it takes about half-an-hour for a life to be revived (you can pay for them, too). This simple addition makes the game that much more interesting and makes you come back wanting more. But, this is not your usual match 3 game, oh no! You have different kinds of delicious candies, along with a variety of power-ups throughout the game that is vital for success. The utilization of a combination of these scrumptious power-ups will lead you to sweet, sweet, victory. (Pun totally intended) Simple, yet addictive. With a plethora of challenges which include clearing jelly filled levels, bringing candy ingredients to the bottom of the stage, and successfully pulling off a number of those mouth-watering power-up combinations; This game is sure to keep you glued to your smartphone’s screen. Also, with 400 levels and new ones added every 2 weeks, Candy Crush Saga is designed to impress. Free Version
2. Unblock Me
I’m pretty sure you must have played at least one variation of this game when you were younger. Unblock Me has a frustratingly simple end-goal. You must get your red block through the endpoint at the opposite side of your puzzle. But, how does that make it frustrating, you ask? Well, between your red block and the glorious end-point, there are numerous other blocks that obstruct your path unless you move them around. But, there’s a catch, though. You can only move the vertical shaped ones up and down and the horizontal ones to the left and right. I’ve been playing this game for a few days now, and all I can say is that it takes a whole different route than the other games on this list. The first stage took some time, but, I managed to get past it. Comparatively, the rest of the 400 levels are significantly more difficult. Yes, you heard me, this game packs 400 different stages, which makes little point for you to buy the paid version of the game. So, I’d probably say that this game can survive quite well on its own. There are 2 modes in this game; the challenge mode and the relax mode. Challenge mode records how many moves you make, and by the end of the level, scores you on how well you played off that stage. Relax mode is quite similar to challenge mode, but, it does not record how many moves you make, which, for me is a personal relief. You can feel quite dumb after a few levels, but, that’s all part of the game, I say. Unblock Me features a very simple concept that is quite hard to get through. Free Version
3. Best Fiends
When you start up this game, you’d probably think it was an offspring of a puzzler and an RPG. Placed around the fictional world of Minutia, you play on the side of the insects, who are at war with the slugs. With your handy collection of insects, you battle against the slugs in this 3-match hybrid of a puzzler and an RPG. Avid gamers might realize this to be similar with Candy Crush Saga, and this, by all means, is not a letdown. Created by the people who developed the iconic Angry Birds, and Where’s My Water? You’re bound to notice the high quality of this game through the polished graphics and the impressive gameplay. As you move forward, you level up your little squadron of creepy crawlers, which increases their firepower, and by using ‘meteor mites’, which you earn throughout the game by just playing levels or finishing off challenges. Gameplay is an impressive asset to this game. Each of your fiendish insects have a respective color, and crushing said amount of color-coded tiles will allow its corresponding ability to activate, in the form of bombs that blow up a row or column, and changing tiles in proximity to the same color, allowing longer chains. Your fiends can evolve as well. Nostalgic Pokémon fanboys will appreciate the addition as well. But, there is certainly a catch, though. This game still uses the recharge system, so long-term playing is slightly out of the question. But, all the same, this allows you not to feel fed up with the game in the distant future. There are different challenges in each stage waiting to be accomplished, however. You’ll either have to finish the stage in some moves or by decimating some slugs. It also adds a touch of strategic intellect, too, as you’ve to prepare your miniscule army before each battle. All in all, Best Fiends might just turn out to be the best puzzler out there. Free Version
4. Roll The Ball
Roll the ball is exactly what it sounds like. Similar to most of the games on this list, its objectives remain the same, but, the design is completely different from what you’ll usually expect. As I mentioned before, the aim of this game is quite unified with other games on this list. You have to lead a ball to its end-point, but, you handle fixing the passage it has to take. You move around slides containing various parts, and then you join all of them together to create a viable path. There are many elements to this puzzler, so, let’s go through it, one by one. Firstly, the interface. Personally, I’m a big fan of this game’s design factor. The wooden-metal material design is quite welcoming, and to me, it looks like a board game. The pieces themselves are different colors of wood, and it looks great. Secondly, the gameplay. Out of all the puzzle games I’ve tried out so far, some are exceptionally smooth; and this is one of them. When you start a stage, a timer counts down, and once you move around all the pieces to create a legit pathway, you can either speed up the ball’s movement or slow it down. The game’s pieces are dynamic, which means that you can move the pieces while the ball is in motion. This is a vital part of the game as you can move a game piece while the ball is still in it to instantly transport it to another piece. It also features particular pieces that can be spun around known as ‘spin blocks,’ which only adds to the creativeness of the game. The game also tracks how many moves you make, with a lower score for a higher amount of moves. If you’re exceptional in your gameplay, you get 3 stars, and it goes downward from there. Roll The Ball also features some difficulty modes, also known in-game as ‘sets.’ Currently, there are 5 sets, Beginner, Medium, Hard, Advanced, and Extreme. Free Version
5. Jigsaw Puzzles 100+ pieces
When you play this game, you’re instantly whizzed back to your childhood days with your siblings, sitting around a table, solving a giant jigsaw puzzle. Seriously, the amount of nostalgia this game gave me is unbelievable. You have 2 choices in this game. You can use one of the pre-accessible jigsaw puzzles, and you don’t need to pay or download anything to do that. Or you can use pictures from your very own collection, but, just make sure that they’re of high quality, or it would get quite hard to solve. This game also categorizes pictures (Abstract, Beach, Cats, Cities, Dogs, Paintings, Flowers, For Kids, Nature, Underwater), and that feature is quite useful. It also features 8 different modes of difficulty, which just increases the quantity and decreases the size progressively as you move further through the game. It also features 3 different jigsaw pieces, so not every piece looks the same. The game also features a rotation mode that allows you to rotate the pieces and fit them in for additional difficulty. This game also possesses a nifty little feature that allows you to save your game progress to the cloud, so when you accidentally delete the game or lose your data, you won’t lose your progress in the game. Free Version
6. Cut The Rope 2
Another sequel on this list, Cut The Rope 2, takes you with the adorable little protagonist, Om Nom, on his various misadventures. But, this time around, you’ve got friends. The Nommies, as they’re called, helps Om Nom on his quest to get the candy, and we’re the ones responsible for it. You use different objects throughout the game to help get the candy to Om Nom, and that’s how you finish the stage. Each Nommie has a special ability that you can make use of throughout the stage, but, you can only unlock each Nommie per section. The game’s pretty short, I suppose, but, who can blame you? The sight of Om Nom is enough for you to go back and finish up some more stages. Well, each section holds about only 20 levels, so, the sequel could’ve been longer. But, with the promise of DLCs, there is indeed something to look forward to. The game also packs in-app purchases as well, which might not be the best news for some users. This game does not change much from its predecessor, retaining the original qualities that gave it its popularity. But, that, in no way, means Cut The Rope 2 is a bland or obsolete puzzle game. With real life physics and tricky levels, it is sure to keep you thinking. Free Version
7. Where Is My Water 2
The sequel to the most iconic game Disney has ever made, Where’s My Water, was very hotly anticipated. Where’s My Water 2 improves upon a lot of errors in the original variant, and the biggest improvement is the fact that it’s a freebie. That’s right. Where’s My Water 2 is free, albeit, comes along with some hurdles too. For those who have never played or even heard of the title (although that’s very unlikely), The Where’s My Water series follow Swampy the Alligator as you help him dig through the sewers to supply him with water for a steaming hot bath. You collect ducks along the way to unlock subsequent levels and additional ones too. While you maneuver through the stages, you must use switches, avoid mixing the precious water with the green acid, and much, much more. This all changes, however, in the latest iteration of the game. The biggest changes are the variety of challenge modes. The different modes are addressed below: Allie and Cranky, merely additional characters in the original series, now appear as playable characters in this new counterpart. Be wary, though, as Cranky requires the Acid instead of the water. That’s all good. However, there are some particular shortcomings as In-app purchases have been added to the game. Plus, with Facebook pestering you to sign up after every level, you need a special level of patience to deal with it. After you pass through 30 of the puzzlers, you need to pay or ask friends through Facebook to move any further. Like many others on this list, the game features an energy bar, which restricts you playing long-term. All in all, a lot of improvements along with a lot of drawbacks as well. Free Version
8. Block Puzzle King
Block Puzzle King is that one game that shows its purpose when you’re taking the subway or the bus. It is excellent at wiling away the time when you’re waiting for something. The main objective of the game is quite simple. All you’re presented with is an empty shape, and you’ve to fill it with the correspondingly shaped, Tetris-like pieces. Pure nostalgia. The game is pretty straightforward, really. But, what makes this rather mundane game interesting is the number of game modes it has to offer. Out of all the best puzzle games mentioned in this list, Puzzle Block King features 6 game modes. Surprisingly, Block Puzzle King also supports Multiplayer, along with online rankings.I would also like to give an honorable mention to the game’s soundtrack. Quite catchy. Free Version
9. Flow Free Bridges
The sequel of the original game, Flow Free, was very warmly welcomed due to its addition. You guessed it; the game features a vital new element, the bridges. The basis of the original Flow Free was simple. The game is divided into grids, and you should use them to create pipes that will connect the different colored dots. The game is pretty minimalistic, so it does not feature high-polished visual elements, but, that does not stop the gameplay from being great. Flow Free: Bridges has a new vital gameplay element known as bridges, which you can use for one pipe to go above and another one to go below. For your information, the original game does not allow for the intersection of pipes. The game follows 2 main modes, which are Free Play and Time Trail. As you can probably guess, free play has no restrictions based on time, while time trail, on the other hand, has you racing the clock on stages. Flow Free possesses a plethora of packs to choose from, from starter packs to rainbow packs, and it also gives you the ability to purchase different packs. With almost more than a thousand levels, Flow Free: Bridges is very robust. Yes, it is clean and colorful, but it could’ve used a bit more visually appealing objects. Free Version
10. Train Yard Express
You’d probably think that this game is made for children because of the title. Well, boy are we wrong! The basis of this game is simple, get the colored trains to their correspondingly colored boxes. Simple, right? Sigh, only if it were so. The game has a gridline-like interface, and you can lay down a track on each square. But, Trainyard Express takes it to the next level. But, before we move onto the game, let’s take about the user interface. Trainyard Express’ user interface is, for lack of a better term, elegant. Its overall dark theme and the font makes it look classic. Sure, it could’ve gone for a more sophisticated, modern-looking user interface; But, this suits it the most. Now, onto the actual gameplay. We lay down tracks from one point in the game towards its correspondingly colored end-point, and here’s where it gets interesting. Trainyard Express has a ton of objects and mechanisms that makes the game a tad bit trickier and harder as you proceed further through the game. There are obstructions that prevent you from building anything, squares that re-paint a train that moves on it, and some blocks even split the trains up into their constituent colors. But, Trainyard Express doesn’t stop there. You can lay down tracks one on top of the other, and if you’ve got the timing right, can unify two trains into one, giving a whole other color. It is worthy to mention that each level has multiple solutions if you think hard enough. So, to make things easier, Trainyard Express has a welcome addition that’ll make this a whole lot convenient. You can actually post your solution online, and compare it with various other solutions posted by other users which possess varying degrees of difficulty. Trainyard Express has got a whole lot of rights over the wrongs, and that, I think, has made all the difference. Free Version
Conclusion:
Puzzlers are a unique genre of games that is sure to get your mind thinking unlike other genres like platformers or action-based games. Some of you may love it while others may not. Whatever the case, it is a genre of games that is worthwhile playing, and is beneficial as well. So, what are you waiting for?
