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This month’s mobile must-downloads
1 Firefox Preview
£free / Android
It seems barely a month passes
without the Firefox folks nuking
one Android browser then foisting
a new one on us. If you’ve the
stomach for more, Firefox Preview
is fast, powerful and private.
4 Groovepad
£free (IAPs) / Android
Bearing more than a passing
resemblance to Novation Launchpad
on iOS, this beat-maker lets you
UNCH UNCH UNCH into the wee
small hours. Tap pads. Drop beats.
Dream of superstardom.
7 ChessFinity
£free / Android, iOS
You might be of the opinion that
chess games go on forever. Here,
though, it’s the board that does.
You swap between pieces, aiming
to get as far as possible before
they’re all given a thorough kicking.
2 GIFwrapped
£free / iOS
In the future, all communication will
be by emoji and gif. Prepare for the
latter by using this major update
to GIFwrapped, and sort yourself
a collection of classics. Or just
guffaw at funny cats.5 MelodyVR
£free (IAPs) / Android, iOS
This one’s been around for a while,
but has now unleashed concerts
that you can download and gawp
at in VR. Be right there on stage,
without a burly bouncer hurling
you into the bins.8 Total Party Kill
£free / Android, iOS
Single-screen platform puzzlers
litter the mobile world. But only
this one has you off members of
your party (eg: making a ladder by
impaling someone on a wall) then
do a happy jig on reaching the exit.3 Pixaloop
£free (IAPs) / Android
Don’t let Harry Potter and chums
have all the fun – get Pixaloop to
animate your still images. Use a
finger to mask areas, draw animation
paths, say your favourite magic word
(if you want to) and you’re there.6 Sprint RPG
£free / iOS
With its chunky monochrome
corridors of death, there’s a
Monster Maze vibe here. But
it plays out at speed, forcing you
to whack enemies and stomp
ahead before your life bar depletes.9 Le go Towe r
£free / Android, iOS
With its pixel art and modular nature,
Tiny Tower always felt Lego-ish.
This remake goes the whole hog,
having you construct towers from
virtual plastic bricks and shepherd
minifigs about the place.MINIT
£4.19 / Android
£4.99 / iOS
Subverting a
genre can make
the old seem
fresh. In Minit,
the all-important
twist is that
you only have
a minute to win
it. But this isn’t
a fraught arcade
test – instead,
it resembles
a retro RPG.
As you dart
about a tiled
landscape, the
chunky visuals
screaming
‘GAME BOY!’ at
your retinas, you
can’t help but
notice the clock
ticking down
from 60. When
it reaches zero,
you’re dead. The
usual ambling
about is replaced
by focused
path-finding,
and frantically
completing
missions before
you expire. You
gradually chip
away at the
larger quest, but
this will happen
in bite-sized
goes on the bus
rather than
marathon
sessions before
the telly.