The best new Android games for January 2024

Mobile gaming is ever-improving, and many new Android games are always available. Whether you’re a casual gamer, want something with a bit more meat on its bones, or want to really challenge your new smartphone, there’s usually a game coming out to suit everyone’s taste. In particular, gaming over the holiday season is usually a great way to wind down after the year that passed or contemplate your plans for the year ahead. On that note, let’s look at the best new Android games for January 2024.

Goat Simulator 3

• Price: $12.99
• Developer: Coffee Stain Publishing
• Genre: Action / Sandbox

After launching on PC and consoles in November 2022, Goat Simulator 3 is finally available on Android a year later. Its name is a cheeky reference to its four-player co-op mode despite being the direct sequel to the original title. As expected, the game’s focus on wacky physics and sandbox elements remains the gameplay highlights.

A few bugs, including an odd progress-saving issue, are plaguing some users. It’s also astronomically expensive compared to most mobile games. But if you’re looking for a mindless way to get through the long holiday nights, look no encourage.

Hitman: Blood Money Reprisal

• Price: $14.99
• Developer: Feral Interactive
• Genre: Action / Strategy

Can you believe that Blood Money is a decade-and-a-half-old game? First launched in 2006, Blood Money is one of the beloved entrants to the franchise, with Reprisal bringing some welcome polish to the encounter. You can expect more of the gameplay traits that make Agent 47 an enjoyable proxy, from a focus on stealth to a wealth of ways to execute your targets. More importantly, this remake performs wonderfully across various devices — something most ports aren’t known for.

The game’s not cheap, but it’s a classic and is well-deserving of your time this holiday season.

Death’s Door

• Price: Free to play, but requires Netflix subscription
• Developer: Netflix
• Genre: Action / Adventure

Thanks to Netflix, another PC and console port comes to the small screen. In Death’s Door, you play as a soul-reaping crow who smacks monsters with a red lightsabre and tractor-beam bow. Various levels and monster designs make progress through the world a genuinely tense and satisfying encounter.

The animation is charming, even with notable performance and gameplay issues. However, as it’s tucked under Netflix’s Android gaming wing, the title is free to play, provided you have a Netflix subscription.

Refind Self

• Price: $3.99
• Developed: PLAYISM
• Genre: RPG

I admire the idea of using a personality evaluate as the framework for an RPG, and Refind Self does this really well. The charming ochre and hazel-tinted title tasks the player with handling in-game situations as they would in real life. At the end of the title, it’ll give you a personality type, or at least what it thinks your personality is based on your gameplay decisions. The title is playable in over an hour, but considering how it’s constructed, you could replay it to reach various personality types.

Black Clover M

• Price: Free with in-app purchases
• Developer: Gamepub
• Genre: RPG

Black Clover M is a gorgeous mobile game. Visuals are smooth and engrossing, while there’s a deep combat system with a decent learning curve. In terms of the story, the game follows the life of Asta, a magical born who hopes to become the latest iteration of the Wizard King — a mythical being revered for saving the world from a demon.

Despite its positives, you might find a few issues with its grindy progression system, while others have noted several game-breaking bugs. However, I expect these to be quashed in the future.

Bid Wars 3: Auction Tycoon

• Price: Free with in-app purchases
  
• Developer: By Aliens
• Genre: Strategy

Finally, if you ever want to become an auction guru finding massive wealth in the apparent mess of storage lockers, this game is for you. Bid Wars 3 allows you to bid on and sell items you find inside lockers, aiming to make as much cash as possible. You can even restore items to buff their value. It’s oddly cathartic, even if the game has many menus and menu items. Nevertheless, this game does scratch an itch and makes for an excellent time-waster when you don’t feel admire playing more absorbing titles.