Favorites on a Bigger Screen
Many games are based on games that first hit phones or computers, but now have improved or enlarged graphics that take advantage of your tablet’s larger display. The mechanics for the games remain the same, but many of them force a vertical orientation. Some games are simply variations of games that have been computer favorites for a while.
Match-Three Games
The basic match-three puzzle game has been around for a while, and you can find many variations for Android tablets. The rules are simple: match three or more colors in a row by exchanging two adjacent pieces. The matched colors will disappear, and new items will fall in to replace them. One typical example shown to the left is Jewels from MHGames.
This is one of many variations on the Russian computer game, Shariki. The game is more familiar to American players in the jewel-matching variation called Bejeweled. PopCap introduced the popular Bejeweled game for desktop computers before the age of phone apps. Electronic Arts offers an official Android version of Bejeweled, but it’s not available for tablets at the time of writing.
There are other variations on Shariki involving bubbles or other shapes that also rely on the match-three mechanics.
NOTE: Beware of games that haven’t been updated for tablets. If a game only displays a small rectangle on your large screen, it hasn’t been optimized for tablets. Search for the app to see if there are two versions. Typically, the tablet version will be called the HD version after the high definition screen; however, just because you don’t see HD in the name doesn’t mean the app isn’t optimized for tablets. Ice Cream Sandwich makes it easier to create tablet optimized apps.
Angry Birds
Angry Birds launched on iOS devices in 2009 as a paid app, and it became a huge hit. Rovio later made the game a free, ad-sponsored download, partially because of inconsistencies with the Android Market and paid apps; however, the company has gone on to introduce multiple variations of Angry Birds on just about every small and large computing and mobile platform available. There’s even an Angry Birds board game, as well as a line of stuffed animals. There have been more than 350 million downloads so far.
If you’ve never played this highly addictive game, it’s easy to start. You’ve got a slingshot, some angry birds, a pile of things stacked, and some happy green pigs. Hurl the angry birds at the stacked objects to knock them over and “pop” the pigs (see Figure 22–1).
Figure 22–1. Angry Birds by Rovio