Welcome back to another installment of the Weekend Games Corner. Once more we at TechNorms have gone bravely into the breach and returned alive with some entertaining apps for Android, iOS, and Flash. It was a sacrifice, but we played a good deal of games in order to find a few good ones. Quite frankly, it’s the sort of sacrifice we could really get used to. No, don’t jump up to thank us.
Stupid jokes aside, we did find a couple cool games for this week. No matter what platform you’re rocking, there is a clever (and usually free) app that can provide a weekend’s worth of entertainment. Trust us, the Google Play Store and App Store are packed full of quality games. Ditto for internet’s overwhelming collection of Flash games. Here are three that caught our eye this week.
Unicorn Dash (Android)
Unicorn Dash is more or less a direct copy of Adult Swim’s famous app Robot Unicorn Attack. You play as a unicorn that dashes through dangerous and difficult terrain in an attempt to go the farthest possible distance over three runs… just like RUA.
The gameplay is pretty simple. Left button jumps, right button boosts. Jumping is the most common activity, as the unicorn has to run across some very strange terrain. The addition of double jumping will prevent the majority of falling-related deaths.
The boost button is for obstacles. Occasionally the unicorn will run into a barrier that can only be broken by boosting through it. The constant alternating of boost and jumping is the center of Unicorn Dash.
The game does start pretty slowly, but things slowly get more complex as you progress more. For one thing, the unicorn sure speeds up. The terrain also starts changing up as well, just to make sure that you’re paying attention.
Robot Unicorn Attack is a pretty fun game, and Unicorn Dash is a good copy of it. A well-done ripoff of a fun game works for us. Unicorn Dash is free.
Download Unicorn Dash
8bit Ninja (iOS)
8bit Ninja is nothing too complicated, but comes off the better for it. Sometimes simple really is better, and 8bit Ninja certainly is simple. Tap on the sides of the screen to move back and forth as a pixelated ninja who looks plucked straight from the golden age of the NES.
By moving back and forth, you dodge inexplicably elastic pieces of fruit that bounce across the screen. Make a wrong move and a fruity death awaits. Getting crushed by a gigantic watermelon is a fairly lame way to go.
Thrown into the mix are copious amounts of collectible coins. Grab enough of these beauties and you can buy a new and improved upgrade. The upgrade system makes life a little easier for a ninja trying to dodge the melony death raining down from above.
Upgrades include stuff like bonus money or spinning saw blades that hack apart the fruit and give you more money. 8bit Ninja is such a materialistic game. Still, it’s good to be materialistic when the alternative is death by fruit.
Like almost all decent free games these days, 8bit Ninja operates on system of micropayments. There are two currencies in the game, coins and gems. Coins are plentiful. In any given round you might grab 50-60 of them.
However, gems are far rarer. They show up randomly once in a while in game, but not often. Gems can be purchased with coins (1,000 coins per gem) or with a small payment of real money. The gems are only used to unlock new levels, so they’re not really essential. In that sense the micropayments don’t hurt anyone.
8bit Ninja is simple fun that we enjoyed. It’s mindlessly entertaining, and we appreciate that.
Download 8bit Ninja
Mega Miner (Flash)
Mega Miner is one of the more complete Flash games we’ve seen. It is remarkably fun and full-featured to boot. We’d love to see this as an Android or iPhone app. Seriously, this thing even comes with three different save slots.
Mega Miner is an economics and simulation game. You control a tiny Dig Dug-esque mining vehicle that burrows itself in the ground to harvest resources. Resources net you income, which can be spent on more fuel and upgrades for the miner.
It’s a pretty addictive game. We loved the constant resource/upgrade curve. Trying to create the ultimate mining vehicle is a game in and of itself, without even looking at all the other parts of Mega Miner.
The game is a lot of fun by itself, but what really tops it off is the mission system. Mega Miner keeps a string of attainable goals as a constant source of things to do to keep you playing. It’s simple and it sure as hell works.
All in all, Mega Miner is a whole lot of fun. We recommend this game, no question.
Play Mega Miner
There they are – the games to check out this weekend. Which of these games do you like? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
