What are the best games for Android?  With the current version of the Market, it can often be difficult to find them.  The only option you have is to sort by popularity.  This is a problem because the games are ranked by downloads and not active installs.  The other issue with sorting by popularity is that the stats are compiled for all time.  This prevents newer titles from receiving the attention they deserve.

In an effort to further the advancement of games on the Android platform, we will begin to publish weekly Top 10 lists.  Instead of ranking games by number of downloads, we will list them in order of active installs.  This should provide a better picture of what’s hot and highlight new games each week as they hit the Market.

Since this is the first week, the format is likely to change.  Currently, we will be posting the title, ranking, price, previous ranking, developer, and reviews if we have one posted.  If there is additional information(dev Twitter links?) you guys would like to see, let me know.  Post any other suggestions or criticism in the comments below.

So without further delay, here is our first edition of the Top 10 Paid Android games for the week ending May 17, 2009.

Rank Previous Game Price Developer Review
1 1 Jewellust $2.95 Smartpix Games Video
2 2 Abduction! World Attack $2.00 Phil Symonds Coming Soon
3 3 Retro Defense $4.99 Larva Labs Yes
4 4 Baseball Superstars 2009 $5.95 GAMEVIL Inc. Coming Soon
5 5 Air Hockey $1.00 JJCgames Coming Soon
6 7(+1) Kidd GBC $2.00 TeraGadgets Yes
7 6(-1) Midnight Pool 2 $1.99 Gameloft Coming Soon
8 8 Guitar Hero World Tour $4.99 Hands-On Mobile Coming Soon
9 (…) Aevum Obscurum $4.99 Noble Master Games Yes
10 9(-1) Battle For Mars $4.99 Larva Labs Yes

Summary

Compared to last week, there has not been a lot of movement.  I’ve never tracked these from week to week so I can’t say if that is the norm.  When there are no new major releases, I guess there is not much reason to go out and buy a new game.

I think the thing that the top games have in common is a high replay factor and updates.  I’ve seen a lot of games that had potential, but never received an update after version 1.0.  The Market is designed in order to allow developers to easily push out new versions of their games which either fix bugs or add new features.  If you develop a reputation of great support and regular updates, then your customer base will stick around when you release your next title.

While I’m on the topic of games, I must say how disappointed I am with the Market.  I could devote another entire post to all the things that are wrong with it.  We know Google is busy working on other things, but I think the Market needs to receive a higher priority.  The independent developers are what will drive the platform and they need more support from Google.  When browsing for a new game, customers want to see videos, images, and a longer description than 350 characters.  If you want people to fork over their money, you must offer more than a Twitter length promo.

I’m sad to see Buka drop off the list.  It was one of the best designed games I have come across.  There are a few flaws, but they could be addressed with a simple update.  I wonder if I could draw enough attention to the game in order to make it crawl up the list.  If you are a game developer with a great product you are looking to market, we want to help you.

I may just design my own games app that locates the best games….

All Market data is taken from aTrackDog.  Think of it as the Nielsen Ratings but for Android.  For more information on how aTrackDog works, see our previous article.  If you would like to participate, install aTrackDog and “vote” for your favorite game.

p.s. if you would like to contribute a review for any of the top 10 games, we would glady post it

Be sure to install and use aTrackDog to help with ratings.

Be sure to install and use aTrackDog to help with ratings.

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