For us in the world of Android we might not see or hear about some of the fun games over on that otherplatform, but occasionally they have some hugely popular games that haven’t quite made their way to Android yet. Take Temple Run for example. It’s been the top iOS game for a few months and has seen over 20 million downloads. I’m happy to report it will be landing on Android next month.

Temple Run is free but still currently the top grossing app on that other platform and has over 7 million players daily that are using in-app purchases or just playing for the sheer fun of it. With Android being the number one smartphone in the world this is a huge market that surely will love this game. It was originally $0.99 cents at launch but the in-app purchases have taken over. Most games like Angry Birds and many others have launched for free on Android and we expect the same to happen here.

With Temple Run you basically play an explorer running through the temples and being constantly chased by things like scary monkeys or other animals. It was designed with smartphones in mind and can be played with just one hand if needed — so this wont feel like a console port while playing and enjoying it. The entire story on how this team of a husband and wife made one of the biggest iOS games as of late, and that it will be landing on Android next month to rule our world is at the source below.

[via TechCrunch]

Android gaming is growing by leaps and bounds, due in no small part to the prevalent use of free games supplemented with advertising. Mobile application/advertising platform Tapjoy knows this: that’s why they set up a  fund for aspiring developers, helping them publish their apps to both Tapjoy’s directory and the Android Market. The company announced that to date, they’ve helped publish a whopping 130 Android games. To be fair, the hits are few and far between, but that’s par for the course with indie developers.

If you haven’t heard of Tapjoy themselves, you’ve almost certainly heard of a few of their affiliated titles. The Android port of Duke Nukem 3D, Gun Bros, Santa’s Village and more all use funds and services from Tapjoy. In addition to initial funding, the company provides platform sorting tools, marketing advice and a spot in their proprietary app market. The company also publishes a handful of games under its own label. Then they sell advertising in the (mostly free) games, matching vendors with the target audience for each title to maximize revenue.

The fund was initially set up with $5,000,000 to split between worthy applicants, and Tapjoy is still accepting applications. Developers, if you’d like to be a part of the Android fund, head over to www.tapjoy.com/androidfund to apply. And in the interest of informing ambitious devs, I’ll add that the company offers its services for iOS and Windows Phone 7 as well.

Source: Android Community

Recall, if you will, the glorious top-down shooters of yesteryear, like 1942. (If you can’t recall, stop reading this – it’s past your bedtime, kid.) Now shift the perspective by 90 degrees and add a considerable amount of crazy, and you get Gray Fin Studios’ MiniSquadron. It’s a charming, addictive little game, and our App of the Week, considering that we’ll need lots of airport distractions on the way to CES 2012.

The game is deceptively simple: steer your plane with your left thumb and shoot with the right. Each level consists of 12 waves of flying enemies, everything from ducks to flying saucers, in increasingly difficult circumstances. Rudimentary physics rule both your plane and your foes: fly too high and you’ll stall, but get aligned again and you’ll be flying right. Turn upside down sharply, and you’ll perform an automatic Immelmann, ready to go guns blazing at an enemy behind you.

And oh, there are so many guns. Depending upon which plane in your squadron you choose, you get a single, double or triple cannon, homing missiles, cluster bombs, dropping bombs, and (whoop!) lasers. Each of the 50+ unlockable planes gets a unique combination of armor, speed and weapon, and with so many to collect you’ll want to try out a different one on each of the eight levels. Power-ups like speed, health, 1ups, and a gigantic screen-filling beam ocassionally drop into play, but you’ll need to be quick to get them before your enemies do.

The whole game is wrapped in charmingly simple animation, sound effects and tinkly interpretations of classical music. It’s perfect for a quick play in line, and addictive enough to stick with you through the higher levels, which can get quite challenging. The main game is $2.99 on the Android Market, with a sequel,MiniSquadron Special Edition, at the same price. To get a taste of the gameplay, you can try MiniSquadron Lite for free.