The Android operating system is considered to be the main competitor to the iOS system that Apple Inc. has developed for their smartphones. And, while the iOS is limited solely to the phones and tablets that Apple makes, Android is available for a wide range of smartphone brands, be it Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, Sony or any other. Of course, one of the things that we look for in smartphones is to provide us with hours of fun, since sometimes our phone is the only thing that can help us pass the time. So, when you are waiting in a long line, have a few minutes to spare or you are just waiting for your beloved to arrive, here are my suggestions to pass the time with some quality games for your Android device.

NOTE: The games that I will be writing about are tested on my Samsung Galaxy GT-S7500, using Android 2.3 as the OS. While it is not the best of the Android smartphones, it supports many of the options that, for example, Galaxy S3 has.

1. Fruit Ninja

This is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Android games. This game has been around for a few years now, almost ever since the inception of the whole Android thing and the first thing that I’ve done when I have obtained a smartphone is installing this game. It is a great game to pass the time.

The object of the game is simple: slice all the fruits that jump out on your screen by using your fingers. Each fruit you slice is worth one point. The goal is to get the highest score, so that you can rub it in the nose of your friends. However, once you get to know the game a little better, you see that you have the option of slicing multiple fruits at once, thus gaining a combo. Chain a few combos together, and you get bonus points.  Bonus points are very important if you are to achieve the high score.

The game is available in three modes: the classic mode (where you go as far as you can get by slicing fruit, while avoiding the bombs that come up often), the arcade mode (where you have one minute to slice all the fruit that comes up, again while avoiding the bombs, but now you have three types of bananas which, when sliced, provide you with some superpowers) and the Zen mode (where you have  90 seconds to slice all the fruit that you can, without any other distractions). Each mode has its own high score.

All in all, the game is very fun and will provide you with many hours of fruit-slicing enjoyment.

2. Shellrazer

This game has accidentally caught my attention. Its genre is tower defense, but it is probably like no other tower defense you have ever seen, and this is exactly what caught my attention.

The gist of the game is as follows: you are a tribe of Orcs who are riding on the back of a turtle in order to fight masses of Goblins. The turtle’s great love (a female turtle) has been captured by the Goblins and you are fighting your way towards it. The Orcs fight by building a tower on the back of the turtle which moves (slowly) forward. The tower has three levels and, ultimately, you are free to choose from 15 different weapons to put on each of these three levels. Your weapons of choice will depend on the level that you need to beat. Also, you need to beat certain levels in order to unlock more weapons. My favorites were the heavy machine gun and the dragon.

There is only one mode to this game, and, while it is not very versatile, it will provide you with a ton of great tower-defense experience. The simple fact that it is a turtle that fights Goblins was enough to get my attention. Try it out, you will not be mistaken.

3. Subway Surfers

This is another one of those run-all-you-can games. Recently, the Android market has seen an expansion of such games, because they can last forever and provide you with lots of time-killing fun. If I’d have to put it in a specific genre, I would say that it is an arcade game.

The point of the game is that you need to collect as many points as you can by running through the streets and subways (hence the name “Subway Surfers”) of many cities around the world. The game has a beautifully done environment which resembles the graphics of Sony Playstation 1, which is a lot, if you consider the capabilities of such a small device as an Android smartphone. You move the player left and right by swiping your finger accordingly. Moving the player is essential, because that way, you dodge the incoming trains and keep the player running. Also, there are other obstacles, such as hurdles, bushes and similar stuff. These are dodged by swiping your finger up and down in order to either jump over or roll beneath these obstacles. As I said, the point is to run as far as you can, because that is the way in which you collect coins. Another thing to do is to collect coins scattered all over the tracks. These coins can later be used to unlock new characters, upgrade power-ups or purchase one-time items that will help you run further.

Now that I mentioned power-ups, I have to explain. All over the track you can pick up 4 various power-ups. These last for a short period of time and give you a temporary boost. You can pick up a jet-pack (vividly colored), super sneakers (which enable you to jump higher), coin magnet (picks up all the coins near you) and 2X multiplier (doubles the amount of points that you get). Using these power-ups carefully will bring you many points.

All in all, the game is very fun. If you wish, there are upgrades that are constantly put up by the developer, which sometimes change the whole environment of the game (right now, the game is situated in Tokyo, but before that I got to play in Sydney, Rome, New York and a few other places). This basically gives you a new game every time you update it. If that is not enough, there are missions that you can complete, which makes this game actually have a purpose.

4. Hyper Jump

I only got to play the ‘Lite’ version of this game, since the full version is paid for, but, I’ve come to realize that you can have the full time experience even with the free version. Since, obviously, I like arcade games so much, this is one more that falls under that category. Also, it is another one of those ‘grab-as-many-points-as-you-can’ kinds of games, just like Subway Surfers. However, the difference here is that the goal is to jump as far as possible, instead of running as far as you can.

The main way in which you gain altitude in this game is by collecting coins which are located all over the screen. You guide a little creature (which can resemble an owl, a mini-cyclops, or some other cute creature) to these coins by tilting your phone. Each time you collect a coin, you jump a little higher and that is the whole philosophy. If you feel that this is not interesting enough, then there are a few power-ups that you can collect, which will help propel your little character higher. When you reach higher altitudes, you will also encounter a few enemies that you need to jump around, and also, an anchor which, when picked up, drags you down and slows your ascension.

This game has provided me with hours of fun, especially when I started competing with my friends in who will get the higher score. I even made my friends download it on their phones so that we could compete simultaneously. And, while this game has no options to purchase anything with the coins that you collect (they serve only for points), repeating the same process of jumping over and over again will not tire or bore you, since you will always strive to achieve the highest score. I once played one game for half an hour and could not stop until I fell down.

5. Jetpack Joyride

Finally, we come to the last game on our list. It is another arcade game, of course. You could have noticed that I am quite an arcade game fan by now. I have seen my friend play this game on his smartphone and I realized immediately that I have to download it, as well.

In this game, you are a little guy that carries a jetpack on his back. Your mission is to go through a lab as far as you can, just by using your jetpack and avoiding obstacles. This is one of those ‘one button’ games. The only thing that you can do is to press the screen when you wish to activate your jetpack and you hold the button for as long you wish your jetpack to be activated, and that’s it. Along the way, you will encounter various obstacles which you have to avoid in order to progress in the game. If it seems easy at first, you should wait until you reach 1000 meters. Then the game speeds up and you will be advancing much faster. It requires quick reflexes. If this is not enough for you, then you have the option of fulfilling various missions which are very fun and creative. For example, you will be asked to ‘High-five 10 scientists’ or to ‘Turn off 15 lights’. These missions are created to help you feel like you have achieved something in the game and, also, to give you coins, which you can then spend to purchase various upgrades, skins and similar interesting stuff. You can also collect these coins in the game, which will really force you to play the game even more. It forced me to play it, because I always wanted to unlock cool new stuff.

The game itself is very humorous, from the start-up screen, which shows funny messages while loading, to the various power-ups that you can use in the game. Aside from the jetpack, you can also pick up a motorbike or a fire-breathing dragon.

I have to say the same thing about this game that I had to say for the rest of these. I spent a lot of time with it and played my way to unlock all the things that can be unlocked. Even then, I still enjoyed playing this game, because it is very interesting.

So, to conclude this list, all I have to say is that these games have not been sorted in any particular way and that you should definitely not miss out on any of them, as they are free and it will cost you nothing to have endless fun. No matter whether you love Android games, you need to kill time or you want something to compete with your friends in, these games are definitely something that you should try. I hope that you will have as nice a time with them as I have.