This month's top Android games are packed full of excitement, magic, madness and even despair, with a great selection of titles to choose from. Whether you're into fantasy magic, fantasy kingdoms or even fantasy driving, there's something for everyone to enjoy!
Turbo Dismount
Secret Exit
Free
Turbo Dismount is a curious driving game, in which the aim is to crash your car in the most gratuitous way possible!
Points are awarded for damage to your car, your surroundings and even to your driver, so you'll want to get creative with your crashing if you want to make the leaderboards. Hurl your car down busy roads and across high-speed intersections to cause as much chaos as you can, and try to get a high score before your vehicle is wrecked.
Before you start each level, you can choose a specific steering pattern that will either have you weaving across both lanes of traffic or pelting down the centre of the road. This steering pattern will play a huge role in the score you get at the end of the round, meaning it's quite important to tinker with if you want to get the most out of each level. You can also change other elements, like the car you're driving, the character you control and even your driving position – whether that's sat on your car bonnet, leaning through your windscreen or perched on the roof!
Turbo Dismount is more casual than other driving games, which tend to have you racing against other drivers or avoiding obstacles to reach the finish line first. It's good to have a break from the norm, though, and Turbo Dismount does a great job of it!
While each level is quite short, there's plenty of variation to enjoy them over and over again. If you're looking for a simple driving game to dip in and out of, give Turbo Dismount a try and see if you can beat our scores.
Wizard Swipe
niceplay games
Free
I'm a big fan of fantasy-style games full of wizards, magic and gold to upgrade your character – and there's certainly plenty of wizard-themed games out there to choose from. Wizard Swipe is one such fantasy game for Android that I've struggled to put down!
It differs from most other games of this genre in that your character is stationary throughout the entire game, defending a wall from an army of evil skeletons hell-bent on destruction. Your only way of protecting yourself, and the stone barrier you're guarding, is by flinging spells towards your enemy, swiping your finger across the screen in the direction of your foe.
You'll start off with a basic fireball spell, which can be held down for a more powerful charged attack, capable of down individuals or groups of skeletons in one go. You'll acquire more spells as you play through the game, and it won't be long before you can throw ice magic at enemies, freezing groups of skeletons in their tracks.
The more gold you earn, the better your spells and upgrades get. Soon your spells will travel through multiple enemies at once, blossoming into new and improved powers for you to enjoy – but be warned, your enemies will also get harder the further into the game you get, so you'll need every upgrade at your disposal to succeed!
Cthulhu Realms
White Wizard Games
Free
Deck-building games like Dominion, Star Realms and Ascension seem to be getting more popular each day, with board and card games enjoying a mainstream renaissance as more people opt for alternatives to video games. But what about those of use who enjoy both card games and video games?
Cthulhu Realms is one of quite a few games which blend these two genres, giving you all the fun of a deck-building game combined with the ease of playing against AI opponents when you have no friends to play with. (For me, that's quite frequently!)
In true Lovecraftian style, the aim of the game is to drive your opponent insane, by using cards that diminish their sanity, or boost your own in order to stave off madness for as long as possible.
You start each round with five cards featuring 'initiates', 'goons' and other followers of your cult, each with their own perks and abilities. Some cards will directly affect the sanity of the other players, while other cards may grant you conjuring power to acquire new cards, or boost the abilities of your cult members.
I enjoy playing Cthulhu Realms because it's easy to jump in and out of a game whenever you're in the mood for one, and there's a lot of enjoyment to be had when you get the perfect hand and use it to obliterate your enemies and claim victory!
While it may take some getting used to for players who aren't used to your standard deck-building games, it's simple enough that you won't need to pore over lengthy tutorials or instruction books to understand how to play and win.
The concept of winning by being the last sane player is a great one, and something which is quite common in eldritch horror games like Cthulhu Realms or Mansions of Madness. If you like card games but lack enough other players to get a good game going, check out Cthulhu Realms on the Play Store and see if you can maintain your sanity!
Reigns
Devolver Digital
£2.79
Another fantasy game for the list, Reigns is an insightful peek into the life of a king (and his many successors).
The concept is a simple one: you're the person in charge of running a kingdom and must try your hardest to keep your subjects, army, church and treasury happy for as long as possible.
You start the game as a newly appointed king, having a conversation with the king you're replacing. After realising that you may not be the 'good guy' you assumed you might be, your reign starts – and the problems start rolling in!
To resolve some of the crises you face, you'll have to make difficult yes-or-no decisions with uncertain outcomes. When you're faced with a plague, should you close the city gates and possibly lose money, or keep the gates open and treat your population, which may cause more citizens to perish?
You simply swipe left or right on the screen to pick a positive or negative answer to each problem – but be warned that what you think may be positive could in fact turn around and bite you later!
Indeed, nothing plays out exactly as you expect in this game. You might think you're investigating the disappearance of one of your subjects only to find yourself in the middle of a kidnapping attempt, or walking your dog to find that it's actually the devil in disguise! There are lots of choices to make – and when you slip up, it won't be long before you find yourself deposed or worse.
What I like most about Reigns is the wry humour – and there's certainly a lot of it to be found. Devolver have always managed to make me smile in their games, and Reigns is no different. Even when your king dies you'll find yourself smiling at the situation – whether it's because you ran into a river while blindfolded and drowned, or you got lost in the dungeons until your kingdom forgot about you and moved on!
There are so many interesting people and devastating choices to make that the game will last you a long time – and the longer you play, the more scenarios you'll unlock. If you enjoy simple games with lots of hidden depth, great humour and lots of achievements to discover, you'll certainly love Reigns.
That's it for this month's roundup of the best Android games – but if there's something you love that we've missed out, why not share it with our readers in the comments below? And for more great articles from our Agents straight to your inbox each month, get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter!