Max’s Pirate Planet, $2.99 on Android, iOS and Amazon Kindle
Looking for fun mobile games but don't want to pay the $2.99 to test them out? Let us shell out and tell you about the one's we're glad we paid for.
Max's Pirate Planet: $2.99 (Slant Six; Android, iOS, Kindle Fire)
I love virtual versions of board games because I never have to worry about losing dice or tokens. This game, designed by Vancouver's Slant Six Games for kids, has up to four players racing for treasure chests to recover four pieces of a map they need to begin the endgame.
The board is a globe and pirate players first tap on the screen to spin, then tap out a path towards the nearest treasure. The player characters have cute animations when they walk across land and sail over the sea. When you land on a chest you have to wrest in away from monsters by playing a mini-game. Fail to keep the sea monster tentacles off the boat, for example, and you don't get the prize.
You can duel other players for their pieces of the map, too. Those battles have you either firing cannonballs or fighting with swords, depending on where you're at on the globe. Once a player has collected four map pieces they take on Barnacle Bill himself, flicking cannonballs at him while he tries to hide behind piles of treasure.
It's simple and fun and you'll always have everything you need to play in the palm of your hand.
Ridiculous Fishing: A Tale of Redemption: $2.99 (Vlambeer, iOS)
At first blush Ridiculous Fishing may seem goofy, but the enjoyable game proves to be strangely compelling.
You play as Billy, a polygon-shaped fisherman. You tap to cast the fishing line and tilt your device to guide the hook deep into the ocean. Once you've dropped your line as far as it can go, you try and hook as many fish as you can as you reel it back. When the fish hit the surface the fly into the air, and Billy pulls out his gun to shoot them (which you'll do by tapping on the screen).
Bigger fish require more bullets, as do the crustaceans with the hard shells. You'll find yourself motivated to land more species of fish and to shoot as many as you can because for each kill you get cash. Then you'll be able to upgrade your equipment, getting a longer line, chainsaw lures, and bazookas for shooting fish. Even a nice hat to keep the sun off Billy's 8-bit head.
Your play sessions won't be longer than a couple of minutes at a time, but you'll find yourself coming back to Ridiculous Fishing to see what exotic sea creature you can slaughter next.
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