So I finally got one o dem new fangled Nexus 7's after fooling around with it for a bit in an Office Max. Pretty slick little device, and it's super responsive to input, which was my big problem with the original-generation Kindle Fire, which had pretty laggy performance.

So far I'm mostly just intending to use it for some bedtime browsing and Netflix, but I figure that since I can actually probably play some games on it, I'd ask for some references for good Android games. I worked my way through all the Angry Birds games, of course, but I'm not really up on much beyond that - I bought some Final Fantasy game for like 20 bucks for my phone that I never played, so maybe I'll give that a whirl. But since this thing can apparently actually run some 3D stuff, anyone have any recommendations along those lines?

Edit: Thanks for all the recommendations! I'll update the blog when I get a chance to try some of this stuff out.

Super Hexagon will change your life.

Also, The Room.

• Bad Piggies
• Rayman Jungle Run
• Kingdom Rush
• Battleheart
• Nimble Quest

I love to play Monopoly on mine. I don't know why.

Rymdkapsel looks great on a high dpi screen and is a very unique experience if you haven't seen it on PlayStation Mobile or iOS. Riptide GP2 and Need for Speed Most Wanted are good to show off the 3D graphics capabilities.

now find a way to mount a ps3/360 controller to it like these guys:

(which they admit they stole from reddit)

There's also this: http://buy.thegameklip.com/ - PS3 controller only though.

Unfortunately there don't seem to be any hard shell cases for the 2013 nexus 7 yet, so i'm waiting on that.

On games:

I've been having a lot of fun with vice city, though the touch controls are a bit wonkey. Have yet to really try a controller yet, mounted or not. I have a ton of games from the humble bundles, so if you've done those it could be a start.

Man, I can't wait to leave the Kindle Fire ghetto some day, that thing is shitty even with 4.2.

Also, Sword and Sworcery(this is a must own) and McPixel.

EMULATION!!! Favorite part of my Nexus7 is emulating GB-GBA on it and running Snes games when I'm hanging with friends. You can easily pair PS3 controlers with the device via an otg(?) cable. Other than I just use it to read feeds browse the web and ya know stream.

My biggest complaint about android as an ecosystem is the majority of apps are blown up phone apps, which some look ok on due to the size, but actual tablet UI on the iPad and that kind of functionality is GREAT. So it's a bummer when it isn't there.

Plex so you can stream shit from your PC to your Nexus. It might be obsolete with chromecast soon enough though, I'm not sure.

Don't really have much in the way of 3D games specifically, but:

• Cook, Serve, Delicious
• Jetpack Joyride
• Flick Golf
• Super Stickman Golf 2
• McPixel

Sell it for an iPad.

...And Bastion if that's on there. I played through most of Bastion on 360 but, for some reason, I'm finding it easier to play on iPad. Made me question whether they gave you more life or something... not sure.

Rayman Jungle Run is excellent as well.

Pick up Knights of Pen & Paper!!

http://www.giantbomb.com/knights-of-pen-and-paper/3030-41017/

Great time sink!! Well worth the couple bucks it costs!!!

The Room as well. I see that on the post above mine. I wish they would update this already as I want to play more levels.

I guess the GTA III & vice city? Max Payne Mobile

:Edit:

Rayman Jungle Run

• The Room for 3D awesomeness and brain usage.
• Might and Magic Clash of Heroes. It's an update of the DS version, but it is still great.
• Spaceward Ho! for a good quick Space 4X game
• Rebuild which is a cool Zombie Apocalypse turn based strategy game
• Elder Sign which is an awesome small-game adaptation of the Arkham Horror board game.
• Zen Pinball HD on a touch device, especially a tablet, is probably the best way to experience the game. Also 3D hotness. Tables are about $2-3 a pop.

Ive enjoyed the following games on there:

- Riptide GP (kind of a cross between Wave Race and Hydro Thunder, by the guys who did the new Hydro Thunder on 360)

- Dizzy (Old style puzzle adventure, started out on the spectrum and amstrad all those years ago)

- Broken Sword (great HD version of the PS1 classic)

- Raiden Legacy (classic vertical shootem ups)

- Pinball Arcade (best pinball sim out there)

- Chu Chu Rocket (dreamcast classic works even better with touch screen controls)

- All the Sonics (Sonic 1 hd, Sonic 4 and Sonic CD)

- Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City (probably needs a controller to be fun though)

- Metal Slug 1, 2, 3 and X

- Samurai Showdown II

There are a bunch more but those are the games i have really enjoyed on my own nexus 7 and they work incredibly well. Honorable mentions also go to Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi and Need For Speed Hot Pursuit (currently the best looking tablet game).

Rymdkapsel and The Room.

Then, if you're like me, download Doggcatcher and add all the Giant Bomb video feeds so you never miss a new piece of content.

I got one too! :D It's great!

I'd recommend, in no particular order, but bolded my absolute favorites:

• A Ride Into the Mountains
• 10,000,000
• Super Hexagon
• Anomaly Korea
• Hundreds
• Dropchord
• Battle Cats(I'm sure you can set aside your dog-love for this fun strategy game! :D)

I hear they make good door stoppers

Radian Games has been porting all of their stuff to Android lately, worth checking out. Slydris is my favorite though.

10,000,000, Hundreds, The Room, and rymdkapsel have all been fantastic experiences so far.

Playing 10,000,000 and Dropchord right now.

Rayman, Pulse, Spaceteam, ChuChu Rocket, Jetpack Joyride, Solitaire.

Oh, and Jewels (the first, by MHGames). It's insane how much I've played. I'm watching Game Informer fight Mike Tyson while playing Jewels right now. I'll listen to a podcast, I'll sit by the pool, I'll lay in bed. It's useful in most any situation!

Rayman jungle run, get a controller dongle thing, hook up a 360 controller and get gta 3, vice city and max payne.

Walking Dead Assault, Super Hexagon, Punch Quest, Scribblenauts, Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, Emulators, Tiny Thief, Frozen Synapse, Combo Crew, Cook Serve Delicious, Rayman Jungle Run, Riptide GP2, Osmos HD, Superbrothers, Puzzles and Dragons, Dead Space, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Epoch, Game Dev Story, Vice City, Nova 3, NBA Jam, Magicka, Toy Story Smash It, Sonic CD, Stickman Golf 2, The Room, Temple Run 2, World of Goo, Zookeeper...

If that somehow isn't enough for you, I can name a bunch more.

Rayman Jungle Run is the business.

• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Smash Bros.
• Star Fox
• Dragon Warrior
• Super Mario: Lost Levels
• Super Metroid
• The Legend of Zelda

Pinball Arcade all day.

• 10000000
• Battleheart
• Beat Hazard Ultra
• Chrono Trigger
• GameDev Story
• Hundreds
• Kingdom Rush
• Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
• Might and Magic Clash of Heroes
• MegaCity
• Nimble Quest
• Pinball Arcade
• Pixel Defenders Puzzle
• rymdkapsel

Those are the games I've curently got installed atm not including PSX (FPse) and GBA (VGBA) emulated games.

If you want a video player I highly recommend MX Player Pro, if you want to be able to download YouTube videos to your phone then get TubeMate (not on app store, just google it). Zedge is a good app if you want custom ringtones/notification tones and don't want to edit them yourself. For a file explorer pick up ES File Explorer and if you want to customise how your phone looks (changing icon themes etc) check out Apex Launcher.

BATTLE CATS! It's the first free game that doesn't feel like a complete rip off from what I have played. It does have an energy system that you need to let recharge each day, but I have yet to want to play the game enough in one day to really run empty on it.

I hear they have pornography on the internet now.

The Room is incredible.

Sword and Sworcery.

The first Kingdom Rush is on Android and is super rad.

Comixology app is great.

Kindle app is great.

Flipbook might be one of the best looking apps I've seen in a long time.

Emulation. If you have a controller solution. Super Mario World is damn near unplayable with a touch screen but having access to all those games (if you own a copy already....totally) is pretty rad and there's some great emulators.

One thing, always keep a look out for humble bundle android deals. Getting 4-5 android games for $1 or more is nice. So download the app and sign up to the mailing list to be updated when a new one launches.

Games I'd recommend:

1. Rayman Jungle Run-fantastic
2. The room
3. Amazing Alex
4. Jetpack Joyride
5. Where's my water

Other apps

Mx Player Pro is good for playing videos.

In my humble opinion, avoid any free-to-play, pay-to-win games like the plague. On the off chance you happen to like one, you're fucked.

I never spent actual zeni on any F2P games on my iOS device, but I did lose so much fucking time. I got to about 200 stories in Tiny Tower, and had that sudden realization of, "What the fuck am I doing?!" The same thing happened while playing Pocket Planes (ironically, the same developer). Seeing so many great games being recommended, I suggest getting all of them instead of the ones I mentioned, or Clash of Clans, or any of that bullshit - it's just not worth it; your time is worth more than that shit. And yes, some people will argue that if you enjoy it, then it technically is worth it, but you could be enjoying much better things during that time.

@rorie: Your best bet would probably be to sell it and get an iPad instead Rorie, you know, a quality product.

@rorie: Find a way to stick an iPad into the box and then step on it.

I got a Nexus 4 in June and smashed the screen five weeks later.

Throw it in the air!

And maybe catch it!

Send Me to Heaven

Thanks for all the recommendations, guys! I'll start playing around with some of this stuff this weekend and see what I like.

My Android tablet makes a fantastic dust collector. When I did use it, I loaded SCUMMVM on it and played some good Lucasarts adventure games.

I have a question about the nexus 7. If I wanted to get directions to some place, but am not connected to wifi, could I load up the directions and save it to the nexus while Im driving and not connected to the internet?