A Reprint of an Article I Have Published Elsewhere.

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5 Free Android Games That Stay Installed on My Phone


There are a lot of choices when it comes to games for your phone or tablet and finding a real gem you love can take time. Frankly, I am tired of Angry Birds and I didn't like Temple Run so I search way past what any distribution site recommends because I know there are games out there that are not uber popular but are addictive to play. Sadly when you get into the nether regions of Google Play, Amazon or BlackBerry App world, you find yourself wading through sewage mostly but I have found a few great games off the beaten path. The following games have not been uninstalled from my phone.
WordzUp!
This is literally the first game I ever played on an android phone. Designed like Boggle where you find words in a cube of jumbled letters. My wife loved that game so much that she would commandeer my phone every day when I got home from work. I had to buy her a tablet to stop it.
Robo Defense
Now I know this one is not unknown but I played and played and played this game. As far I have seen, this is the best tower defense game out there. It has power ups and achievements you can earn that make you want to play just one more game. I have the paid version of this one.
Bubble Pop
I use this one as a nice time killer. You barely have to think as the game play is almost automatic. Just match the color of the balls, but it does get harder when they add new colors. You may have seen this game in the kiosk modules at Red Robin.
Friction Mobile
So simple, and yet so addictive. It reminds me of a carnival game the way the gun moves back and forth and fires what seems to be an air hockey puck. When it drifts to a stop, it gets a number 3 on it and you fire subsequent pucks to lower the number until it disappears. The screen fills up quickly if you don't plan your shots.
Trap!
Do you remember the game Qix? Well, I do! You are essentially trying to steal screen real estate from the computer and when you have 75% of the screen, you have completed that level. I like the crisp sound effects in this game, the game play and the overall design.
FlaTank
Here is an unknown game that is extremely addictive. It's a retro style tank game designed like Tron and Combat. The free version only allows you to fire one bullet at a time but is still very fun. I upgraded to the pay version and I am glad I did. It is gratifying to cut through the enemies and stone walls pumping round after round into them. It only takes about 2 minutes to play a level so it's great when you are standing in line.

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