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Android users have a wealth of options when it comes to the selection of apps, entertainment, games and different Android-based devices available to them. From kid friendly kart racing to tag team tomb raiding, here are eight games worth playing during your next get together with friends and family.
These games play especially well on NVIDIA’s SHIELD Android TV which delivers some of the best entertainment and multi-player gameplay that Android has to offer. You’ll want to make sure you have an extra SHIELD controller or two handy before you invite people over!
The list is split into two parts:
- GeForce NOW Games – available to stream with a GeForce NOW membership
- Play Store Games – purchase per title
Here we go…
LEGO Jurassic World
LEGO Jurassic World is a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek look at key events from all four Jurassic Park movies featuring family-friendly puzzle platforming gameplay, 100 unlockable characters, more than 20 dinosaurs and the ability to create your own hybrid dinos. Like all the LEGO games based on other popular franchises, LEGO Jurassic World’s easy to play cooperative two-player mode provides the perfect way for family members and friends to game together.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
This game is a unique take on kart racing that provides an entertaining experience in four-player split-screen mode. Each player’s vehicle has the ability to transform from a car to a boat to a plane. This is because the track terrain is constantly changing requiring players to transform and adapt their style of play. With 20 well-known SEGA characters, dozens of courses and several different gameplay modes there’s a heap of racing fun to be had in Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed.
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Got a beef with one of your best buddies? There’s only one way to sort it out: Go head-to-head in the definitive edition of Street Fighter IV. The Ultra version of the game features six new playable characters bringing the roster to a total of 44. The gameplay has been rebalanced and there’s an Edition Select feature, which enables players to choose different versions of characters from past games in the Street Fighter series along with their relevant abilities.
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Lara Croft’s resurgent popularity is down to the exceptional quality of her most recent adventures and Guardian of Light is no exception. It sees Lara and her Mayan companion Totec trying to defeat Xolotl the Keeper of the Darkness after he is accidentally released from his mirror prison. Viewed from a fixed perspective, this game offers the same blend of exploration, puzzle solving and platforming that is the hallmark of the Tomb Raider series but this time you can play cooperatively. For example, Lara can use Totec’s shield as a makeshift platform while Totec can use Lara’s rope as a tightrope. Classic Tomb Raiding with a twist.
Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings ($9.99)
Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings ditches the tiresome stats-heavy approach of other baseball games to concentrate on the action and thrills of America’s favorite game. It’s a colorful, cartoony event that captures the essence of baseball without taking it all too seriously. Best of all up to four players can get involved in a variety of gameplay modes including head-to-head, 2v1, 2v2 and four-player co-op against an AI opponent.
Stikbold! ($9.99)
Stikbold! is a colorful take on the game of dodgeball. The first thing you notice is the striking visual style, which is a combination of blocky Minecraft characters, animated visuals and all washed over with a funky 70s vibe. The setup is akin to a twin-stick shooter in that you use the left stick to move and the right to directionally launch the ball (or a whole range of other objects) at your opponents. On top of having to dodge attacks from the opposing team you also encounter bosses, such as a giant whale which you have to defeat by shoving dynamite into its mouth. It’s a brilliant party game for up to four players.
Chariot ($7.49)
Chariot is a truly unique and utterly charming cooperative platforming puzzle game for two players. In the game, a princess has to fulfill her late father’s dying wish by pushing his wheeled coffin to its final resting place while gathering up as much treasure as possible along the way. It features realistic physics so as the chariot moves up and down slopes or hangs from platforms its weight and momentum affects the players in a realistic way. In two-player mode, both the princess and her friend work together to transport the coffin over the game’s many obstacles making for an extremely satisfying couch co-op experience.
Clash ($5.31)
Indie studio Fennec Fox Entertainment has created this simple yet satisfying four-player arena battle game. Each player selects a character of their choice and proceeds to duke it out in the game’s 2D arenas. Each character has two moves—a shield block and a dash attack—and the result is a fast-paced process of leaping and dashing up and down the screen and repeatedly bouncing your opponents into submission… or vice versa. In short, it’s simple, belly-laugh inducing couch gaming.
What are your favorite multi-player games and devices for Android? Let us know in the comments!
About the Author
Andy has been writing professionally for 25 years beginning his career on a magazine for the now practically antique Commodore 64 before going on to write for, edit and launch a number of games titles. More recently, as a freelance copy writer he has been making words on subjects as diverse as weddings, cross-stitching, home improvements, accountancy, architecture and chimney sweeps. Video games remain his favorite topic to write about, though.
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