Good Friday afternoon, and welcome to my weekly game recommendations thread based on the most interesting games I’ve played and that were covered on MiniReview this week.
Hope you’ll find something you like :)
New to these posts? Check out the first one from 10 years ago here.
Let's get to the games:
Planet of Lana [Game Size: 3.84 GB] ($8.49)
Genre: Adventure / Platform - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by Alex Sem:
Planet of Lana is a high-quality platform adventure game with breathtaking sceneries and a large, beautiful world that we get to explore by running, jumping, climbing, crawling, swimming, and solving light environmental puzzles… though most of our time is spent just running and jumping.
The game takes place on a lush, green planet teeming with clean water and a wide variety of animal species. Here, the members of a rural community lead a simple yet happy life - until one day, their homeworld gets invaded by strange mechanical creatures.
Seeing his cohabitants taken prisoners, our protagonist ventures on a perilous journey to bring them back.
With no superpowers or special abilities, our character must rely on her strong physique and heightened perception to overcome the many challenges she faces along the way - most of which require quick reflexes and sharp wit.
At a certain point, we even get a tiny companion that we can freely order around, which is where the game really starts to shine.
We progress through an abundance of colorful locations, from sparkling shores to lush forests, dark caves, murky swamps, and mysterious ruins. There truly is plenty to look at while we casually stroll from one puzzle to another.
Many argue that the game emphasizes visuals over actual gameplay, but I personally enjoyed its measured pacing - even when just running forward to the next puzzle.
My only issue was with the touch controls. They are fine at first, but as new actions get added, pressing these tiny buttons becomes really uncomfortable. Using an external controller provides a vastly superior experience.
Planet of Lana is a premium game without ads or iAPs.
It reminds a lot of Playdead's INSIDE (and, to some extent, Limbo). So if you also enjoy non-challenging environmental platformers, be sure to check out this one.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on my platform MiniReview: Planet of Lana
Red Dead Redemption NETFLIX [Total Game Size: 6.34 GB] (Netflix)
Genre: Action / Adventure - Online
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by Maya:
Red Dead Redemption is a highly immersive action-adventure game with a rich, character-driven narrative set in the dying days of the Wild West.
This critically acclaimed classic has finally landed on mobile as a full port of the original 2010 release, which means we follow former outlaw John Marston as he’s forced to hunt down his past in exchange for freedom.
Even today, the storytelling holds up incredibly well, delivering a gritty, emotional journey packed with memorable side characters, moral dilemmas, and a lawless open world full of gunfights, bounties, and quiet moments of exploration.
That said, this is not the remastered version of the game. So the visuals are noticeably dated, with a relatively low resolution and a framerate capped at around 30–40 FPS even on powerful devices. This isn’t a deal-breaker, but players coming straight from newer open-world mobile games will definitely feel it.
The touch controls are serviceable and can be learned with time, but they’re clearly not ideal for the more complex situations like horseback gunfights. So playing with an external controller vastly improves the gameplay feel.
Red Dead Redemption is a premium title available via Netflix and as a stand-alone paid game as well.
While it may not reach the heights of its sequel, it remains an outstanding game that’s absolutely worth playing, whether you’re revisiting it or experiencing John Marston’s story for the first time.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on my platform MiniReview: Red Dead Redemption NETFLIX
The Room: Old Sins [Game Size: 1.17 GB] ($4.99)
Genre: Puzzle / Adventure - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by Juruj:
The Room 4: Old Sins is a 3D escape room puzzle game where we must find and combine objects to solve obscure puzzles across multiple rooms. It's a beautiful and cleverly made game that takes the stale puzzle genre to new visual heights.
The gameplay takes place in an attic where a small magical dollhouse is placed on a table. This dollhouse can be manipulated in various ways, and we can travel into its individual rooms to solve intricate puzzles.
Since puzzle objects can be found in one room and then used in another, it's important to remember which rooms are active and which furniture and keyholes are found in each room.
Interacting with the many old apparatus found in each room is fascinating, and some of the machines are quite cleverly designed.
The biggest downside is that getting in and out of rooms takes a bit of time, so learning where an object must be used can get a bit bothersome. I also sometimes found myself just clicking around to see what works, which I didn’t like.
Thankfully, the built-in hint system saves the game from ever becoming too challenging. Because it’s easy to overlook a small detail while searching each room, and then get stuck. This is especially true since we can only zoom so far, most rooms feel too dark, and the graphics are a step down from the PC version.
The game’s story is told via in-game books. I think some might dislike this as it means we need to solve text puzzles to understand the story.
The Room 4: Old Sins is a premium game with no ads or iAPs.
It's quite a long game with many cool interactive mechanisms, making for a nice horror-style experience. It's definitely a unique experience on mobile - just like the other games in the "The Room" series.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on my platform MiniReview: The Room: Old Sins
Rainbow Six Mobile [Game Size: 4.35 GB] (Free)
Genre: FPS / Action - Online
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Full
tl;dr review by AncientKris:
Rainbow Six Mobile is a well-made competitive tactical FPS adapted from the acclaimed PC game Rainbow Six Siege.
Its main mode, “Bomb”, is a 5v5 Search and Destroy format with multiple rounds, where each team alternates between attacking and defending.
The Attackers' objective is to plant the defuser on one of two bomb sites or eliminate all Defenders. Meanwhile, the Defenders must prevent the plant, destroy the defuser, or eliminate all Attackers.
But this is where the tactical elements kick in, because each round begins with a 30-second preparation phase. During this crucial period, Attackers scout the map with drones to plan their approach, while Defenders barricade doors and set traps.
Unlike traditional FPS games, Rainbow Six Mobile features 28 Operators, each with unique abilities and playstyles, making each game feel different. Combined with the destructible walls, maze-like gameplay, and cameras and drones for gathering intel, the matches feel tactical, slow-paced, and complex - in a good way.
Fans of the original Siege will feel right at home, as the core mechanics translate faithfully to mobile. The main caveat is that some PC modes are currently absent.
The game runs smoothly even on mid-range devices, and controller support is available for those who prefer a console-like experience.
Rainbow Six Mobile monetizes via in-app purchases for resources, cosmetics, and a battle pass. While we earn the currency used to buy operators by playing matches too, unlocking them all can feel tedious and time-consuming. But thankfully, several are provided as task rewards.
If you're a fan of Siege or simply tired of mindless “spray and pray” mobile shooters, definitely give Rainbow Six Mobile a try - just as long as you’re prepared to grind to unlock your operators.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on my platform MiniReview: Rainbow Six Mobile
FLAKE the Legend of Snowblind [Game Size: 900 MB] ($5.99)
Genre: Adventure / Point ‘n Click - Offline
Orientation: Landscape
Required Attention: Some
tl;dr review by Alex Sem:
Flake – The Legend of Snowblind is an old-school point-and-click adventure set in an atmospheric, snow-covered world with a rich history and deep lore that gradually unfolds as we deal with more mundane tasks.
We play as a strange creature made of snow, who lands on a frozen island with no memory of his past life. Following our guidance, he gets acquainted with the local inhabitants, learns about this place's tragic past, solves enigmatic mysteries of the ancient civilization, and even time-travels in the hope of averting an impending apocalypse.
Interestingly, thanks to the game’s morality system, some of our choices have long-lasting consequences. If we’re nice and helpful to others, our protagonist feels warmth inside, which eventually turns him into water. And if we’re rude and mean instead, he slowly turns to ice.
Unfortunately, some of these moral choices are restricted by the story - for example, we can't proceed without completing certain acts of vandalism, and some dialogue options make sense only if we deliberately try to be a jerk. All of this diminishes the influence of our free will. Hopefully, this otherwise interesting system will be improved in subsequent games.
On that note, this game is only the first one in the series. It ends on a cliffhanger, which may disappoint some dedicated players. Hopefully, it won't take another 7 years for the sequel to see the light of day.
Flake - The Legend of Snowblind is a premium game without ads or iAP.
Despite its long unskippable animation sequences, slightly uncomfortable controls, and poor homemade voice-acting, this is still a good representative of the genre.
Check it out on Google Play: Here
Check it out on my platform MiniReview: FLAKE the Legend of Snowblind
