Best free Android games of 2016

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In our list of the best free Android games, we look at the some of the Play Store's most impressive free-to-play titles across a number of genres. The games are sorted by category to make it easy to find the type of games you're looking for. Head to the best free Android strategy games section to see our latest picks.

Best free Android strategy games
Subterfuge

Subterfuge is one of the best multiplayer gaming experiences you can get. It's challenging, it's nerve-wracking, and it's perfectly suited to smartphones.

Subterfuge is a strategy title where each game takes place over the course of a week. You are charged with taking control of the ocean using a fleet of submarines: the more outposts and factories you control, the more submarines you can generate, which means more firepower to seize further outposts. It's a familiar setup, but because the events take place in real time there is a constant threat that opponents could be sending submarines toward your bases even while you sleep.

It's a race to see which player can generate enough 'Neptunium' (one of the game's resources) first and, to succeed, your diplomacy skills and interactions with other players are as important as your tactical prowess. Don't miss it.

Clash Royale

Clash Royale comes from the creators of the ever-popular Clash of Clans, and it's sure to steal more hours from your life. It plays something like a cross between a MOBA and a tower-defense title, and it's a highly addictive concept.
In Clash Royale, you take part in one-on-one battles with other players from around the world. You must throw down troops to destroy three of your opponents towers before they do the same to you. However, these towers are only accessible via two lanes which your army must travel along.

The majority of Clash Royale's gameplay revolves around trying to use resources effectively. Each creature has their own unique strengths and weaknesses, so it's your job to pick the right guys for the job and make sure your opponent doesn't outmatch you.

Vainglory

This multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is as good to play as it is to look at, and while there are the inevitable in-app purchases, the core game is free to play. The game makes it across to Android after a successful run on iOS, and if there's a better developer name than Super Evil Megacorp, we'd love to know what it is.

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Best free Android FPS and third-person shooter games
Dead Effect 2

It may not be wholly original or game-changing, but Dead Effect 2 brings the polish and shine of console first player shooters to Android. Wander around a space station that's riddled with the undead and test your problem-solving skills as you try valiantly to survive.

What really makes this game worthy of inclusion on our list is the graphics. They are simply stunning. If your device is up to the challenge, there's no way you won't be impressed the visuals that Dead Effect 2 has on offer. The controls and mechanics can be customized, so be sure to check out the options for doing that if they feel a little lightweight or clumsy to you.

Dead Trigger 2

Following the success of their first game, MadFinger Games released Dead Trigger 2, which is so zombielicious you’ll be asking for more blood and guts after just a few minutes of playing. You must travel through various undead-infested areas of the world, killing as many zombies with your jam-packed artillery of weapons. It’s positively disgusting, and that’s why we love it.

Hopeless: The Dark Cave

Horror, comedy and cuteness combine to great effect in this shooter about a small group of incandescent blobs in the middle of a dark cave, trying to fight off an endless horde of dark-dwelling monstrosities.

There is no end to the game as such, you just collect coins to upgrade your weapons arsenal for the next go, and do your best to keep the cute little fellas alive. The game is not for the faint-hearted because watching the brave blobs get swallowed up one-by-one by the darkness can be heart-rending.

SHADOWGUN: DeadZone

SHADOWGUN is the best multi-player shooter on Android, and will push powerful Android devices to the limit because of its demanding graphics. There are several classic shooter modes, including Deathmatch, and the Battlefield-style Zone Control. There is also an easy-to-use multiplayer voice chat, to help you better coordinate your team – or yell insults at your enemy.

Best free Android puzzle games
Atomas

Give hydrogen the Midas touch with this captivating little puzzler. Simplicity is often best when it comes to puzzle games, and Atomas works on this very simple foundation. You start with some measly hydrogen, and use plus and minus atoms to turn it into helium, then lithium and so on, until you end up with some of those good old precious metals like silver and gold.

It's easy enough to start out with, but it will soon having you Googling the periodic table in a bid to learn where best to place your atoms to trigger the most satisfying chain reactions.

Angry Birds 2

After what seems like endless variations on the original, Roxio is back with a whole new iteration of Angry Birds. The game itself is free, but it's attracted some controversy over its approach to in-app purchases: while some reviews say the game is a hoot even in its free incarnation, others say that Roxio is more interested in making you pay than having you play. We'd love to know what you think.

Plants vs Zombies 2

Sequel to one of the most successful free-to-play games ever, EA’s Plants vs Zombies 2 retains the spirit of the original while adding more zombies, plants and power ups. This colorful tower defense game will suck up a lot of your time (and potentially money, if you want to make use of its in-app purchases), but you are guaranteed fun along the way.

Wire Defuser

Many puzzle games on Android are of the therapeutic variety; take your time solving a puzzle while everything in game patiently waits for you. You can forget about all that in Wire Defuser, a tense, time-limited puzzle game in which you must dispose of bombs before they blow.

There are more than 80 levels in the game, and once you've conquered it you can unlock a hardcore mode. It's well presented too, with the bomb dials and knobs looking like something straight out of 80s action movies.

ZigZag

Puzzle games that look like they belong on trendy design websites have been pretty commonplace since the fantastic Monument Valley, and ZigZag is the latest to jump on the bandwagon.

Despite its looks, ZigZag is more of a reflex-based game than a puzzler; you guide a ball along thin zig-zagging paths and have to time your taps right to stop it falling off the edge. It's a simple, great-looking game for those quick-fix sessions.

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Chronos - Oculus Rift's first great RPG

Chronos is an Oculus Rift exclusive that depends more on solid, traditional gameplay than experimenting with virtual reality to put new twists on an action RPG. To survive, you need to excel at patient, calculated combat with major consequences littered between multi-faceted, Zelda-style puzzles. And while it could comfortably exist without VR, there’s nothing quite like a front-row seat to a giant cyclops fight, and that new perspective gives Chronos another edge.

It’s not a unique formula – kill the guards, then kill the boss – but there are hours of wonderment in getting lost in the sprawling dungeons that all present their own intricate maze of locked doors, curious runes, and even inter-dimensional travel. Each of the uniquely designed labyrinths requires careful memorizing and retracing, and things that make no sense initially all end up being satisfying pieces of one giant puzzle. Chronos carefully pieces together its different dimensions, requiring items from one to be brought into the next, which provides a constant alluring mystery: in what bizarre dimension will I need to use that small bag with the nonsensical description? And for what purpose?

Where the clever puzzle-based dungeons are very Zelda-inspired, the combat has the sword-and-shield charm of Dark Souls. I approached almost every enemy encounter by watching and waiting for my time to strike, as enemy attack patterns are a worthwhile timing-based puzzle of their own. Dodging incoming attacks in a very precise window grants you an arcane damage boost that you’ll absolutely need, since even the most basic enemies can kill you in a few hits if you’re reckless. It gives the combat a rhythm that’s like a kind of addictive dance, and I couldn’t wait to improve at it.

Older and Wiser

And you have to improve at it, because if you don’t there are major consequences. It’s punishing in conventional ways, with infrequent spawn points and enemies that don’t stay dead, but the effects carry over into your next life. Each time you die in Chronos your character visibly ages by one year, which slowly alters your stats from a brute-force teen to an arcane-dependent adult. That adds an interesting forced evolution to the combat as you progress: you’re able to unlock a new skill every 10 years, so while dying and leaving the comfort of the stats you’ve intentionally built with every level-up is daunting, your capabilities increase to compensate in other ways.

                                

                                            Chronos - Oculus Rift's first great RPG

Most of the RPG elements are unfortunately slim, though. The only loot enemies drop is one of two components you need to level up your weapons, and the process is the same for every weapon. There’s a very small amount of those, too – the handful of weapons and shields you’ll stumble across do vary in speed and damage, but, for what might be the first time ever in an RPG, I ended the story with the exact same Iron Sword that I started with. The leveling system is equally lackluster, with separate XP-based level-ups allowing you to assign points to one of four attributes that never really seemed to make a difference. My stat-leveling choices were usually a shot in the dark, yet they always ended in success, which leads me to believe these decisions were never that important.

The Walls Have Eyes

A separate issue is the way you view the action. Your face is the camera, so you have great control over how you look around, but because your viewpoint is fixed for each room you enter (like in old-school Resident Evil) rather than the usual over-the-shoulder perspective, it can present some uncomfortable neck-craning as you try to focus on the object or enemy that demands your attention.

For the most part, though, Chronos uses the fixed camera creatively, rather than as a limitation. One of the most intense moments of dread I’ve felt playing any game was encountering statues that only move when they’re out of frame, and will kill you in one hit if they get too close. Through the Oculus Rift’s directional audio, you can hear the scraping of stone that signals their approach, but unless you physically look to the left or right to find them, there’s absolutely nothing you can do to stop that terrifying oncoming threat.

Outside of those mechanics, Chronos is benefitted by the inflated sense of scale of VR. I caught myself stopping to stare at the uniquely designed, awe-inspiring sights each different dimension offers – whether it was the impossibly large, Egyptian-looking statues or skyscraper-sized redwood trees that loom above your head. Chronos’ environmental variety and consistent art style would still be impressive outside of VR, but wearing the Oculus Rift really helps to make everything feel absolutely enormous compared to your tiny character (and the fixed cameras probably help here, too). Sometimes you’ll fight an enemy particularly close to the fixed point, and that never stops feeling unsettling in VR - it’s like you’re only an arm's length away from a murderous demon.

On the topic of murderous demons, Chronos’ story isn’t its strongest part, but it’s certainly not bad either. There’s a solid plot twist at the end that left me with some lingering questions, but it’s more of a respectable attempt that narrowly avoids taking itself too seriously without having the depth to back it up.

The Verdict

Chronos is a challenging, calculated adventure through intricate dungeons and relentless enemies that demand your best attention. Where it falls short as an RPG, Chronos redeems itself by offering beautiful environments and a sense of scale that probably can’t exist without virtual reality. It’d be worth playing regardless of the hardware it’s tied to, but the sense of presence the Oculus Rift allows you to have inside of Chronos’ varied dimensions is something I definitely recommend you feel for yourself.

Dark Souls 3 (III) and quick review

Dark Souls 3 is an interesting action role-playing video game published by Bandai Namco Entertainment for Microsoft Windows (PC), Xbox One, PS4 (PlayStation 4). It was released worldwide just few hours ago. Its previous entries, Dark Souls 1 and Dark Souls 2 received lots of positive reviews as well as common praise to the visuals and combat mechanics upon its release. This video game came out in Japan late last month (release date on March 24, 2016), where the PS4 version sold over 200,000 copies in its first two weeks of release. So there were lots of things that players expected in this latest series. And as this much-anticipated new game of Dark Souls III lands today, let’s see some first reviews and receptions.

First, let’s check out a quick plot recap on Dark Souls I and II: the action is set in the Kingdom of Lothric, where an undead warrior known as the Ashen One (that’s you) is applied to avert an oncoming apocalypse brought about by the endless conflict between Light and Dark. The only way to avert this event is with the destruction of the Lords of Cinder, previous heroes who have linked the First Flame across the ages.

Chloi Rad of IGN awarded Dark Souls 3 a 9.5 out of 10 and stating that “If Dark Souls 3 truly is the last in the series as we know it, then it’s a worthy send-off”.

Rich Stanton of Eurogamer also rated this game as "essential". He also added "Dark Souls 3 is a fabulous game" and was “a fitting conclusion” to the series.

Steven Strom of Ars Technica wrote that he thought the title still had the “smooth and impressive rendering of the series' signature style” and some of “the best boss fights in any Souls game”.

Erik Kain on Forbes.com also said that this game is wonderful, it does everything really well. It is also the best looking Souls game hands-down. He also added that Dark Souls 3 was built with detailed care and attention and all systems work flawlessly. The music is gorgeous throughout.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s get your hands on a harsh fight against enemies in Dark Souls 3