9 ms·

Honest Android Games

230 points by shawndumas 13y ago

steinnes 13y ago
Nice! In light of how many fake ad-infested copies of every new game there seem to appear on Google Play, something like this was bound to pop up. I'm not sure I would exclude games which contain IPA's. Selling vanity items or accelerators -- as long as the normal game experience isn't crippled -- should not brand the game as "dishonest". Never the less, great effort, I'll definitely use the site :-)
blister 13y ago
Nice. I'd like to see this for Apple Store too. Obvious features that are needed: Categorization Sortability (price, category, price+category, rating, etc) Keep improving. Nice first pass.
- egb 13y ago
  A short list by someone, with the same intent as this android list: http://www.initialsgames.com/winners/ http://www.initialsgames.com/winners/
- gcb0 13y ago
  it has category in tags. also has paid and free tags... i don't really thing that sorting between 0.99 and 2.50 would impact much my chance of buying a game. it mostly boils down to: 1. will i install this in a device I am comfortable inputing my credit card? if so, 0.99 or 9.99 makes no difference if it is a good game. Is this device from work/family/etc? than it must be free.
  - idle_processor 13y ago
    The site's organization scheme has poor discoverability. Having the categories buried inside of a list element, instead of hierarchically closer to the root, is unusual and confusing. (Yes, many blog posts have tags at the end, but many blogging platforms also have major categories/tags in a sidebar.) Having the some of the most useful tags (platformer, puzzle, rhythm, etc.) highly visible before the listing would go a long way towards improving usability of the site. All of that said, I am a big fan of the site's concept.
ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
Plague Inc. should be up there.
- Lockyy 13y ago
  Aren't there 3 or 4 scenarios that you need to pay for access to?
  - ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
    Optional. Not necessary for the main game.
ge0rg 13y ago
It is interesting how most of the games look like ports of old PC games (not a critique, just noticing). I suppose this underscores the sad state into which the "modern" game developer studios have maneuvered themselves.
- scottfr 13y ago
  This may just be a function of the blogger's particular interest.
- _pmf_ 13y ago
  The sad thing is that while I spend about 1000 a year on non-mobile gaming and 300 a year on mobile-gaming (DS), the phone/tablet market gets exactly 0 of this because either everything really sucks or I am just unable to find anything that does not cause me to uninstall the game in disgust after playing it for 3 minutes. And it's pretty unnecessary; I would be happy with something like HoMM2 or a successor to Master of Magic, which would fit the tablet form factor and user experience perfectly.
  - mildtrepidation 13y ago
    ...HoMM2... I'm actually surprised I figured this one out (unless it's not Heroes of Might and Magic 2)... a lot of the younger people here probably wouldn't. Might be one of those titles to write all the way out and possibly send some interested parties on an internet quest for further information. :)
    - JDShu 13y ago
      HoMM is not a dead franchise - 6 was released in 2012, though perhaps not with the same kind of cultural impact as the first 3 (or 4 depending on who you ask) games since the studio change.
      - TheLoneWolfling 13y ago
        I've played most of them, and the only one I still play is HoMM III (Complete). It's more enjoyable, somehow. Don't know why. Though the world generation sometimes had... issues.
zenocon 13y ago
great idea, looks nice; consider adding a faceted search, or just general category filtering.
cocoflunchy 13y ago
What about great games that have completely optional IAP? I'm currently playing through Bad Piggies (by Rovio), and the IAPs are only there to make the levels easier (which defeats the whole purpose of the game IMO, but nobody is forcing you). I'm OK with other people paying if they want to get to the end faster, as it has no impact on my way of playing.
- streptomycin 13y ago
  That still gives game makers perverse incentives. They'll profit more if they make their levels too hard and too annoying. No matter how much they claim to do the right thing, there's no real way to prove it either way, and the presence of the perverse incentive ensures that most game makers in that situation will do the wrong thing. So no, that would defeat the point of this. If perverse incentives are not removed, they will pervert things.
  - daeken 13y ago
    I've been heavily playing Counterstrike: Global Offensive lately, and I've found that it has truly honest, unbiased IAP. You can buy skins for weapons that make them look cooler, and high-end skins will also add StatTrak, which let's you see how many kills you managed with a given weapon. That's it. You can get the same items via play, but there's a thriving real-money market around them, with items ranging from cents to hundreds of dollars. IAP isn't the enemy; shitty games that exist solely to make money are the enemy.
    - kevingadd 13y ago
      Valve has been the canonical example of 'honest' IAP for a while; sadly they're starting to enter scum territory. Their recent Snow Globe promotion leveraged a lot of evil psychological trickery and misleading information to simultaneously maximize how much money people were spending while minimizing the value they got out of it. It's no surprise that as soon as the promotion was over they expunged all traces of it from their website...
radley 13y ago
Not sure why this is a Tumblog, it should have a proper site. There's probably high demand for discovering reputable games and apps. Most Android sites are becoming bloated with old, outdated apps and info, including the Play Store.
- JangoSteve 13y ago
  Maybe it's just an MVP to validate interest before building a proper site.
  - mildtrepidation 13y ago
    MVP's make sense for products that require a lot of effort to build. An MVP for a blog is just horrifyingly lazy.
rexf 13y ago
Nice concept. Also the website's format enables easy window shopping of many games, which is great for discoverability
egb 13y ago
Why would a free game with ads (and no IAP) not be "honest"? Doesn't sound right to me...
- Mithaldu 13y ago
  Because those are often made in such a way that during normal gameplay you will accidentally tap on the ads.
- w1ntermute 13y ago
  Here you go, the paid games only: http://honestandroidgames.com/tagged/paid http://honestandroidgames.com/tagged/paid
- JangoSteve 13y ago
  It completely depends on the way the ads are implemented. Some games have deceptive ads that trick you into clicking them, and some could best be described as "naggy". Personally, even with honestly-implemented ads, I'd prefer to have the option of purchasing an ad-free version. Though I wouldn't call apps without such option "dishonest". So, I agree with you that ad-supported games can indeed by honest. If you're going to have a site named honestandroidgames.com, it seems unfair to disregard all ad-supported games. That being said, I think this site is great!
  - oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
    Moreover, the ads themselves may not be honest (e.g. they might make claims of products that are untrue, misleading, etc.), and the game developer may not be in a position to verify whether they are or not. Especially if they're just 'randomly' delivered from an ad network.
- espinchi 13y ago
  The article linked from this HN discussion (in the main page at the moment) answers your question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7161901 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7161901. After reading that, I totally get why you'd call these games "honest".
- 13y ago
jjsz 13y ago
Compulsive, QbQbQb, and LYNE are some of the best minimalist games with calming soundtracks.
- aye 13y ago
  Compulsive looks nice, but it has ads.
  - a3n 13y ago
    <ahem> I've been playing it for the last two hours. The ads don't bother me at all. Apparently.
- throwaway2048 13y ago
  Spacechem is also really great
kennywinker 13y ago
Love it. An iOS version pls?
gcb0 13y ago
For once on HN, the same front page describing the problem has a post with the solution :) also, beware of Ingress, it is just a miner for your data/social network. Missing from the list, Ur-Quan Masters!
- bla2 13y ago
  How does ingress mine my social network? It doesn't ask for any logins and doesn't have any social connections in-game as far as I can tell.
  - espinchi 13y ago
    Just checked, and it has permission to read your contacts. That's nasty!
    - darren_ 13y ago
      I can't guarantee it's not for anything else but the innocuous reason I can think of for this is the 'recruit agents' invite system (ingress was initially invite-only). I think it's opened up now, but hopefully they can drop that when/if they ditch the whole recruit agents thing (no idea if they plan to do that).
    - abrahamsen 13y ago
      That means Google (the makers of Ingress) will get access to the list of contacts I have stored in Google Contacts. I believe I can live with that :-)
moultano 13y ago
Missing my personal favorite: Waking Mars. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tigerstylegames.wakingmars https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tigerstyle...
hrjet 13y ago
I would like to see a similar site for kids' apps/games. If tricky ads and IAP are bad, they are doubly bad when kids play into such tactics. Also, these sites need to have a panel of people that rate the apps/games. A single reviewer is going to bring in bias and staleness.
aye 13y ago
This is a really important site -- it's like http://darkpatterns.org/ http://darkpatterns.org/ for the Android gaming world. Many thanks to the authors.
lobotryas 13y ago
What about games that offer additional (similar) content for a fee? Seems like it'll be hard to draw a line without excluding some otherwise great games. Example: Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer on IOS. It's a card game similar to Dominion. You get a large deck to start off, but can buy additional decks (which offer new game mechanics) for a fee.
- gurkendoktor 13y ago
  I think consumable IAPs are the real problem, and that's a pretty clear definition. If an IAP unlocks something forever, I don't see the issue.
watwut 13y ago
I'm not sure whether this qualifies, but I'm a huge fan: * free demo with IAP: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.jecklandin.stickman https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.jecklandin.... * full version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zalivka.animation https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zalivka.an... You can create cartoons with that. I could imagine more polish on that, but it is still better then anything else I found.
zbowling 13y ago
Nice. Also Osmos and Ridiculous Fishing were both powered by Apportable (YC 2011) to get them on Android.
- _random_ 13y ago
  Business-oriented developers like familiar languages.
s3th 13y ago
Does anyone know of an alternative for iOS games?
Skoofoo 13y ago
The games that were in the Humble Android Bundles seem to all fit the criteria and tend to be wortwhile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundles
krmbzds 13y ago
This was needed.

230 points by shawndumas 13y ago

Nice! In light of how many fake ad-infested copies of every new game there seem to appear on Google Play, something like this was bound to pop up. I'm not sure I would exclude games which contain IPA's. Selling vanity items or accelerators -- as long as the normal game experience isn't crippled -- should not brand the game as "dishonest". Never the less, great effort, I'll definitely use the site :-)

blister 13y ago

Nice. I'd like to see this for Apple Store too. Obvious features that are needed: Categorization Sortability (price, category, price+category, rating, etc) Keep improving. Nice first pass.

egb 13y ago
A short list by someone, with the same intent as this android list: http://www.initialsgames.com/winners/ http://www.initialsgames.com/winners/
gcb0 13y ago
it has category in tags. also has paid and free tags... i don't really thing that sorting between 0.99 and 2.50 would impact much my chance of buying a game. it mostly boils down to: 1. will i install this in a device I am comfortable inputing my credit card? if so, 0.99 or 9.99 makes no difference if it is a good game. Is this device from work/family/etc? than it must be free.
- idle_processor 13y ago
  The site's organization scheme has poor discoverability. Having the categories buried inside of a list element, instead of hierarchically closer to the root, is unusual and confusing. (Yes, many blog posts have tags at the end, but many blogging platforms also have major categories/tags in a sidebar.) Having the some of the most useful tags (platformer, puzzle, rhythm, etc.) highly visible before the listing would go a long way towards improving usability of the site. All of that said, I am a big fan of the site's concept.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

Plague Inc. should be up there.

Lockyy 13y ago
Aren't there 3 or 4 scenarios that you need to pay for access to?
- ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
  Optional. Not necessary for the main game.

ge0rg 13y ago

It is interesting how most of the games look like ports of old PC games (not a critique, just noticing). I suppose this underscores the sad state into which the "modern" game developer studios have maneuvered themselves.

scottfr 13y ago
This may just be a function of the blogger's particular interest.
_pmf_ 13y ago
The sad thing is that while I spend about 1000 a year on non-mobile gaming and 300 a year on mobile-gaming (DS), the phone/tablet market gets exactly 0 of this because either everything really sucks or I am just unable to find anything that does not cause me to uninstall the game in disgust after playing it for 3 minutes. And it's pretty unnecessary; I would be happy with something like HoMM2 or a successor to Master of Magic, which would fit the tablet form factor and user experience perfectly.
- mildtrepidation 13y ago
  ...HoMM2... I'm actually surprised I figured this one out (unless it's not Heroes of Might and Magic 2)... a lot of the younger people here probably wouldn't. Might be one of those titles to write all the way out and possibly send some interested parties on an internet quest for further information. :)
  - JDShu 13y ago
    HoMM is not a dead franchise - 6 was released in 2012, though perhaps not with the same kind of cultural impact as the first 3 (or 4 depending on who you ask) games since the studio change.
    - TheLoneWolfling 13y ago
      I've played most of them, and the only one I still play is HoMM III (Complete). It's more enjoyable, somehow. Don't know why. Though the world generation sometimes had... issues.

zenocon 13y ago

great idea, looks nice; consider adding a faceted search, or just general category filtering.

cocoflunchy 13y ago

What about great games that have completely optional IAP? I'm currently playing through Bad Piggies (by Rovio), and the IAPs are only there to make the levels easier (which defeats the whole purpose of the game IMO, but nobody is forcing you). I'm OK with other people paying if they want to get to the end faster, as it has no impact on my way of playing.

streptomycin 13y ago
That still gives game makers perverse incentives. They'll profit more if they make their levels too hard and too annoying. No matter how much they claim to do the right thing, there's no real way to prove it either way, and the presence of the perverse incentive ensures that most game makers in that situation will do the wrong thing. So no, that would defeat the point of this. If perverse incentives are not removed, they will pervert things.
- daeken 13y ago
  I've been heavily playing Counterstrike: Global Offensive lately, and I've found that it has truly honest, unbiased IAP. You can buy skins for weapons that make them look cooler, and high-end skins will also add StatTrak, which let's you see how many kills you managed with a given weapon. That's it. You can get the same items via play, but there's a thriving real-money market around them, with items ranging from cents to hundreds of dollars. IAP isn't the enemy; shitty games that exist solely to make money are the enemy.
  - kevingadd 13y ago
    Valve has been the canonical example of 'honest' IAP for a while; sadly they're starting to enter scum territory. Their recent Snow Globe promotion leveraged a lot of evil psychological trickery and misleading information to simultaneously maximize how much money people were spending while minimizing the value they got out of it. It's no surprise that as soon as the promotion was over they expunged all traces of it from their website...

radley 13y ago

Not sure why this is a Tumblog, it should have a proper site. There's probably high demand for discovering reputable games and apps. Most Android sites are becoming bloated with old, outdated apps and info, including the Play Store.

JangoSteve 13y ago
Maybe it's just an MVP to validate interest before building a proper site.
- mildtrepidation 13y ago
  MVP's make sense for products that require a lot of effort to build. An MVP for a blog is just horrifyingly lazy.

rexf 13y ago

Nice concept. Also the website's format enables easy window shopping of many games, which is great for discoverability

egb 13y ago

Why would a free game with ads (and no IAP) not be "honest"? Doesn't sound right to me...

Mithaldu 13y ago
Because those are often made in such a way that during normal gameplay you will accidentally tap on the ads.
w1ntermute 13y ago
Here you go, the paid games only: http://honestandroidgames.com/tagged/paid http://honestandroidgames.com/tagged/paid
JangoSteve 13y ago
It completely depends on the way the ads are implemented. Some games have deceptive ads that trick you into clicking them, and some could best be described as "naggy". Personally, even with honestly-implemented ads, I'd prefer to have the option of purchasing an ad-free version. Though I wouldn't call apps without such option "dishonest". So, I agree with you that ad-supported games can indeed by honest. If you're going to have a site named honestandroidgames.com, it seems unfair to disregard all ad-supported games. That being said, I think this site is great!
- oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
  Moreover, the ads themselves may not be honest (e.g. they might make claims of products that are untrue, misleading, etc.), and the game developer may not be in a position to verify whether they are or not. Especially if they're just 'randomly' delivered from an ad network.
espinchi 13y ago
The article linked from this HN discussion (in the main page at the moment) answers your question: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7161901 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7161901. After reading that, I totally get why you'd call these games "honest".
13y ago

jjsz 13y ago

Compulsive, QbQbQb, and LYNE are some of the best minimalist games with calming soundtracks.

aye 13y ago
Compulsive looks nice, but it has ads.
- a3n 13y ago
  <ahem> I've been playing it for the last two hours. The ads don't bother me at all. Apparently.
throwaway2048 13y ago
Spacechem is also really great

kennywinker 13y ago

Love it. An iOS version pls?

gcb0 13y ago

For once on HN, the same front page describing the problem has a post with the solution :) also, beware of Ingress, it is just a miner for your data/social network. Missing from the list, Ur-Quan Masters!

bla2 13y ago
How does ingress mine my social network? It doesn't ask for any logins and doesn't have any social connections in-game as far as I can tell.
- espinchi 13y ago
  Just checked, and it has permission to read your contacts. That's nasty!
  - darren_ 13y ago
    I can't guarantee it's not for anything else but the innocuous reason I can think of for this is the 'recruit agents' invite system (ingress was initially invite-only). I think it's opened up now, but hopefully they can drop that when/if they ditch the whole recruit agents thing (no idea if they plan to do that).
  - abrahamsen 13y ago
    That means Google (the makers of Ingress) will get access to the list of contacts I have stored in Google Contacts. I believe I can live with that :-)

moultano 13y ago

Missing my personal favorite: Waking Mars. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tigerstylegames.wakingmars https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tigerstyle...

hrjet 13y ago

I would like to see a similar site for kids' apps/games. If tricky ads and IAP are bad, they are doubly bad when kids play into such tactics. Also, these sites need to have a panel of people that rate the apps/games. A single reviewer is going to bring in bias and staleness.

aye 13y ago

This is a really important site -- it's like http://darkpatterns.org/ http://darkpatterns.org/ for the Android gaming world. Many thanks to the authors.

lobotryas 13y ago

What about games that offer additional (similar) content for a fee? Seems like it'll be hard to draw a line without excluding some otherwise great games. Example: Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer on IOS. It's a card game similar to Dominion. You get a large deck to start off, but can buy additional decks (which offer new game mechanics) for a fee.

gurkendoktor 13y ago
I think consumable IAPs are the real problem, and that's a pretty clear definition. If an IAP unlocks something forever, I don't see the issue.

watwut 13y ago

I'm not sure whether this qualifies, but I'm a huge fan: * free demo with IAP: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.jecklandin.stickman https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.jecklandin.... * full version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zalivka.animation https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zalivka.an... You can create cartoons with that. I could imagine more polish on that, but it is still better then anything else I found.

zbowling 13y ago

Nice. Also Osmos and Ridiculous Fishing were both powered by Apportable (YC 2011) to get them on Android.

_random_ 13y ago
Business-oriented developers like familiar languages.

s3th 13y ago

Does anyone know of an alternative for iOS games?

Skoofoo 13y ago

The games that were in the Humble Android Bundles seem to all fit the criteria and tend to be wortwhile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundles https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Humble_Bundles

krmbzds 13y ago

This was needed.