It’s time for our weekly roundup of the best new Android apps and games to have emerged on the Google Play store.
As ever, prices are correct at the time of writing, but may have changed by the time you read this. (Free + IAP) means in-app purchases are used within the app.
Want more apps? Browse previous Best Android Apps roundups on The Guardian. And if you’re looking for iOS apps, browse the archives of Best iPhone and iPad apps roundups instead.
APPS
MIX by Camera360 (Free)
This is a spin-off from the well-regarded Camera360 photography app: pitched as a “companion to Instagram”, it has lots more effects and filters to tweak your shots, with lots of scope to mix up your own settings (hence the title).
Grabble: The Fashion Finder (Free)
There have been plenty of apps promising to help you find clothes to buy, but few have made a lasting impact. Can Grabble buck the trend? It looks good: capable of browsing UK retailers including Top Shop, ASOS and Net-a-Porter, with a simple, accessible interface.
Fragment (£1.20)
More photography here, with a nifty (if somewhat novelty) app to turn your snaps into “prismatic art” then share them on various social networks. You choose frames, shapes and patterns, then use intuitive touchscreen controls to make a mini-masterpiece (or a mess).
WeTransfer (Free)
Online, WeTransfer is a simple way to share large files with friends. Its Android app is just as useful: you can upload up to 10GB of photos and videos, entering friends’ email addresses to send them a link to the files. Good for sharing after large communal events – weddings, for example.
Line Toss: Photo Sharing (Free)
Social network Line clearly didn’t consult a British slang expert when naming its new photo and video-sharing app. Still, if you are a Line user – and the numbers are growing outside its native Japan – it’s a neat way to share and sort your snaps and videos with friends.
Delvv: Your Personal News Feed (Free)
Isn’t that Facebook or Twitter? No, Delvv is one of a group of apps aggregating news stories for you to read, based on your interests. Advanced users can add in RSS subscriptions to tune their feed, but it’s accessible enough for anyone to use.
SpinMe Alarm Clock (Free + IAP)
I’ve not yet met the alarm clock capable of getting me out of bed without at least three bleary-eyed presses on the snooze button. SpinMe might be the cure for that bad habit: to turn the alarm off, you have to get up and spin around holding your phone. Fun, if punishing.
Wakie (Free)
It’s officially the week of Android alarm-clock apps. Wakie is an even stranger idea, but quite fun: you set an alarm, then get a phone call – for 60 seconds maximum – from another Wakie user at that time. And you can do the waking if you like too. Sounds creepy, but the community seems friendly.
Folr (Free + IAP)
Finally, Folr is the latest location-tracking app, designed to be used (with permission, obviously) to keep tabs on your nearest and dearest. Parents are likely to be its key audience, although the developer is angling for schools to use it too.
GAMES
Tiny Tower Vegas (Free + IAP)
The two previous Tiny Tower games – Tiny Tower and Star Wars: Tiny Death Star – were both brilliant. This one is pretty good too, at first glance: you build a pixelly hotel and casino, filling its floors with gambling, and then popping in to play yourself.
Madden NFL Mobile (Free + IAP)
EA’s American football franchise returns to Android for a new season, in its recently-adopted guise as a free-to-play game. Expect official players and teams, deep tactical depth, and (hopefully) less server issues as the game gets into the swing of things in the coming weeks.
Calculords (£1.76 + IAP)
This is one of the most inventive games on Android at the moment: a turn-based card-battling game with a twist: maths. You have to solve sums in order to deploy your troops in a series of battles. It’s addictive and clever.
Swing Copters (Free)
Yes, the sequel to Flappy Bird, from developer Dong Nguyen. This time, instead of flapping a bird horizontally while avoiding pipes, you’re zig-zagging a propeller-headed character upwards between platforms and swinging hammers. Manages the dubiously-impressive feat of being even more difficult and frustrating than its predecessor.
They Need To Be Fed 3 (£1.19)
The previous They Need To Be Fed games were fab, and this continues the trend: a beautifully-crafted platform adventure with a “360-degree” schtick that means you’re not restricted from going in one direction. Excellent stuff.
Ascension (Free + IAP)
Card-battlers are now ubiquitous on mobile devices, but Ascension was one of the first good ones back in 2011. It’s taken its time to come to Android, but is well worth a look if you’re a fan of the genre: collecting cards to form your deck then exploring its deep battle strategy.
Five Nights at Freddy’s (£1.81)
One of the scariest Android games you’ll play this week, here: a conversion of the equally spooky PC game. It sees you playing a security guard in a restaurant, keeping an eye on its animatronic animal mascots – with a murderous plotline bubbling in the background. Creepy, but very good with it.
Deep Under the Sky (£1.99)
A psychedelic feast for the eyeballs, here, with a game that’s a bit reminiscent of PlayStation classic Fl0w. You guide a jellyfish through 80 levels on the dark side of Venus – be quiet, space biology experts – enjoying the visuals as you go. A relaxing treat.
Mountain (£1 + IAP)
Mountain is very silly, but fun too: you create a giant mountain that hangs in space, then watch it get hit by the weather and various items of flying junk. Yes, that’s it. But in an age of timer-based freemium games, checking in on this is a breath of fresh (mountain) air.
Pac-Man Friends (Free + IAP)
If the thought of Pac-Man re-imagined in a freemium game borrowing its level structure from Candy Crush Saga bothers you, avoid this. But if not, you may wish to give Pac-Man’s latest mobile comeback a try: it’s a new spin on the traditional ghost-chasing pill-chomping action.
Fionna Fights - Adventure Time (£0.60)
Finally, the latest game based on the marvellous TV show Adventure Time, this time with Fionna, the female version of hero Finn in gender-swapped episodes. It’s a colourful, fun action beat-em-up.
Those are our picks, but what have you been enjoying on Android this week? Post your recommendations (or feedback on these) in the comments section.
• 40 best Android games of 2014 (so far)
