OUR DIFFERENCES
There are plenty of games available on Android and iOS. Every year brings a new crop of games. The challenge is to find a game which is challenging for an adult, at the same time compelling enough to go through. There is no need to mention killer games like Plants vs. Zombies, Fruit Ninja, or Candy Crush. There are games which are more cerebral, at the same time require an adept hand on the screen. There are instances where you wonder if you need a longer battery life, and ask yourself if you need an iPod battery replacement. That is how compelling these games can be, and you just cannot stop playing them.
The following are some of the most challenging games an adult should try out on Android and iOS.
1. Real Myst. This is the iconic game from the 1990s as it was migrated to the smartphone. Intelligently developed, it is a puzzle within a puzzle. The spirit of the original game has been preserved, and it now enjoys a new generation of fans and followers.
2. The Room Three. This is a game with very detailed graphics. A room based puzzler, you are allowed to search through your environment for clues on how to solve the different puzzles. The Room Three is much larger than its predecessors, making it more challenging.
3. Fallout Shelter. The game has a post-apocalyptic premise. How do you survive in a fallout shelter when the nuclear holocaust arrives. To make things more interesting, you have other characters in your shelter, and monsters outside. Gameplay is like a side scrolling, and this allows you to see what’s outside the shelter. Though that is not much help.
4. Wordbrain. A word based puzzle game. Like other letter and word building game, this one gets harder and harder as you advance in levels. There are clues in the words that you find. Simple to learn, but gets to be very challenging pretty fast.
5. Sim City Build It. Sim City always has an appeal for adults. There is always a variable you have to uncover and consider. For more than 25 years, Sim City has been an engrossing game, which has spawned a lot of derivatives. The gameplay has been updated, and the user interface just fits a mobile device. This is the right way to migrate a successful game from a PC to a mobile device.
6 Lara Croft Go. This is where the Lara Croft franchise meets Hitman Go. The mash-up is vaguely reminiscent of the traditional Lara Croft games. There are some challenging puzzles that need to be solved, which has made this less of a shooter than anything else. The first few generations of Lara Croft were not so dependent on her weapons, compared to the puzzle solving skills needed to move to the next level. As expected, the gameplay gets harder, the more you progress in the game.
7. Bad Piggies. This is a spin-off of Angry Birds, but with a twist. It is more of an engineering and physics problem, and you have to learn the rules along the way. You are given the task to construct a vehicle which will reach a certain goal. To get to the goal, it has to pass through certain hurdles. Considering these hurdles, you start off and create your vehicle. It is never as easy as it seems. Sometimes it is almost too easy, with the vehicle disintegrating on the way to the finish line.
8. Monument Valley. This is one game which would leave fans of M.C. Escher in awe. This is a puzzle game where the object is to lead the character Princess Ida through mazes, puzzles and optical illusions. It is surreal and fun at the same time. It can also be frustrating. The graphics is gloriously minimalist but can be captured with the use of filters. The graphics are great enough that you would want to use them as your desktop background.
9. Super Hexagon. The best asset about this game is that it is minimalist. Second is the score. It looks a lot easier than it does. The gameplay is deceptive, and it takes some time to master the moves. This is a shape-based avoidance game, and the shapes can be mesmerizing to watch, especially with the background music haunting your every move. The music does justice to the minimalist nature of the game.
10. Lifeline. This is a text-based game, which is more of a throwback to the 1980’s Zork and choose-your-own-adventure books. What makes this a compelling game is a story itself, as well as the writing. It starts out as a plea for help, and you end up in an adventure into the unknown. This is not just a text-based adventure game; it also has some time sensitivities thrown in. That’s the surprise for a lot of players. Choices have to be made, and there are consequences for these choices. The text-based style of play is very deceptive, as it seems that you can relax and take all day to do this. It never works out that way.
Games on Android and iOS differ slightly from one another. In much the same way that the gameplay is preserved between these two operating systems. It is exciting to note that most of the popular games have unique value propositions, high-interest value, and compelling stories which keep you moving forward to the next level. Addictive may be a strong word, but it works for most of these games that you would be asking yourself, where can I get my iPod fixed, even as you solve ever challenging puzzles.
