Android Two-Player Games

• Bluetooth Apps, NFC, Android Beam, S Beam

Bowmaster Archery Target Range by ChromegekkO (free) - After trying a number of archery apps, this one is my favorite. Select a distance to the target and the number of players (1 to 4), then tap "Start." Tap the screen if you want to skip the animation which shows where the target is. Place your left thumb near the center of the screen to see and position the bow, then use your right thumb or finger to pull back the string. Release one of your thumbs or fingers to shoot the arrow. This game is trickier and more realistic than the other archery apps I've tried.

Darts Match by Motionlab Interactive (free) - A nice darts game, which is better than any of the other darts games that I've tried. To play against another person, tap the "Local" button, then select a game and an opponent. To throw a dart, swipe your finger upward and then lift your finger off of the screen. The distance that you swiped, and the speed that you swiped, and the direction that you swiped, will determine where the dart lands. This is the best method of simulating the act of throwing a dart on a phone, compared to all of the other darts apps in the Google Play store (Pro Darts 2014 uses the same method of throwing a dart, but I find that it's too easy to hit what I'm aiming for, and it doesn't have the Cricket game). Therefore, this game is more fun than the other darts apps. I find that it works best if I place my finger on what I'm trying to hit (e.g. the triple 20), then quickly swipe upward about half an inch, then release.

Dice Shaker 3D Free by Pallosalama (free) - This isn't a game, but it provides some dice when you need them (up to six 6-sided dice). To roll the dice, shake the phone or tap the "vibrating phone" icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. Tapping a die will move it to the top of screen and "freeze" it so you can roll the remaining dice.

Dominoes by Carl Hopf (free) - A dominoes app which allows you to play the Draw, Block, and Muggins domino games. Assuming that you're Player 1, your dominoes are in the top left corner of the screen (plus they're displayed at the bottom of the screen), and your opponent's dominoes are in the top right corner of the screen. To play a domino, drag it from the bottom of the screen into the playing area, and your legal moves will be highlighted. Drag the domino into a highlighted area and lift your finger off of the screen, then you'll see the domino sliding from the top left corner into the position that you selected. If you can't play a domino then tap the circular icon at the bottom right corner of the screen (just above your displayed dominoes) to draw a new domino. Use pinch-to-zoom for zooming in or out, and slide your finger to move the playing area. To play with two or more human players, tap the "Singleplayer" button on the main menu and then tap the "Versus Bot" button to change it to "Local Players."

Doublemill 2 Nine men's morris by +1 Labs (free) - A nice version of the ancient Nine Men's Morris game, better than the other Nine Men's Morris apps that I've tried. Tap "Freeplay" and select the type of opponent to play against (novice up to grandmaster). Both players start the game with 9 stones, and on each turn you tap an intersection on the game board to place a stone there. After you've placed all 9 of your stones onto the game board, on each turn you drag one of your stones to an adjacent empty spot. If you make a "mill" (3 stones in a row) then the 3 stones will flash and you can tap one of your opponent's stones to remove it from the game board.

Five In A Row by Libor Svejda (free) - This game is more challenging and more fun than the basic tic tac toe (or naughts and crosses) game because the game board is huge and the first person to make five in a row wins. After trying numerous five-in-a-row apps, this one is my favorite. Slide your finger to scroll the game board. At the top of the screen, tap the icon on the far left to create an online nickname (this doesn't seem to do anything on my phone). In the center at the top of the screen, the number of games won by you and your opponent are displayed. The two "magnifying glass" icons will zoom in or out. In the Setup menu you can change the game board to be the standard tic tac toe type of board or the Gomoku / Gobang type of board. To play with two human players, tap the "Opponent" pull-down in the Setup menu and then tap "Human on the same machine."

Glow Hockey 2 by Natenai Ariyatrakool (free). A nice air hockey game. To play with two human players, tap "2 Players."

Gravity Wins by ANDLABS (free) - This is a Connect Four game with a twist. After several moves, the game board will rotate clockwise, and all of the pieces currently on the board will be pulled by gravity to a new position. Tap any column to place a piece in that column.

Hangman by Ricardo Manuel Alves (free) - This is a better Hangman app than the others I've tried. In the one-player game you can tell the program to select a random word from a number of categories (sports, animals, fruits, singers, etc.). To play with two human players, tap the "1 Vs 1" button, select a Normal or Hardcore game type, then Player 2 enters a word for Player 1 to try to guess.

Orbital FREE by bitforge Ltd. (free) - Tap anywhere on the screen to fire an orb from the cannon. When the orb stops moving, it will grow as large as it can until it hits something. The number inside an orb indicates how many times you must hit it (with another orb) in order to remove it from the screen. If an orb moves toward your cannon and crosses the "death line" above your cannon then the game is over. The goal is to remove as many orbs from the screen as possible. To play against a human opponent, tap the second icon at the bottom of the initial screen.

Pool Break 3D Billiard Snooker by Kinetic Bytes (free) - This is the best pool app that I've tried. Before you can break, or after a foul, the white cue ball will have 4 arrows pointing from it so you can slide it to any position behind the faint green line. Slide your finger around the screen to tilt and rotate the pool table in order to line up your shot, then slide the cue stick away from the cue ball (the farther the stick is from the cue ball, the harder it will hit the ball). Tap the "Shoot" icon at the bottom right corner of the screen to shoot, or slide the cue stick towards the cue ball to shoot. The "magnifying glass" icon at the bottom left corner of the screen allows you to zoom in and out if your phone doesn't have pinch-to-zoom capability. The "up-arrow" icon displays several icons which allow you to adjust the screen brightness and colors. The "eyeball" icon puts you in "free view" mode, which lets you tilt and rotate the pool table without affecting the position of the cue stick. The "hand" icon puts you in "pan" mode, which doesn't seem to do anything on my phone. At the bottom right corner of the screen, the "cue stick" icon allows you to lift the heavier end of the cue stick higher or lower off of the table. The "cue ball" icon lets you change where the cue stick will hit the cue ball (to put a spin on the ball, for example). To play with two human players, use the "Pass-n-Play (or Solo)" option.

Shijin Reversi by Mange-Cailloux Games (free) - A nice Reversi/Othello game with a couple of interesting twists. You can play a standard two-person Reversi game against a computer or human opponent, but you can also play a three-person or four-person game against computer or human opponents. Another twist is that instead of the winner being the person who has the most pieces at the end of the game, you can play in "Reverse" mode so that the winner is the person who has the fewest pieces at the end of the game. To play, tap the "Play" button. Select human or computer players by tapping the middle button (which looks like a person's head or a computer screen) for each player. Change the color of the pieces by tapping the first button for each player. Add or subtract players by tapping the "-" or "+" buttons. Change the game mode (Classic or Reverse) by tapping the "Current Mode" button. Start the game by tapping the "Play" button. When it's your turn to play, your valid moves will be displayed (this feature can be disabled in the Options menu). To make a move, tap a valid square, then tap the square again. If you don't have a valid move then your turn will be skipped. Tap the "gears" icon at the top of the screen to open the Options menu. Tap the "question mark" icon to get a hint.

Spit ! Speed ! Card Game Free by 2-Person Studio (free) - This is the "Spit" or "Speed" card game. After the cards are dealt, you can arrange your piles of cards by dragging a card on top of another card which has the same value (e.g. drag a 3 on top of another 3, and drag a Q on top of another Q). Tap a face-down card to turn it over. When all of your face-up cards are unique, you're ready to play. The computer will place its hand on its face-down stack of cards when it's ready to play. Tap your corresponding face-down stack, and then one card from each stack will be placed into the play area. If the value of one of your face-up cards is one higher or one lower than a card in the play area then quickly drag your card onto that card in the play area. After you drag a card onto the play area, it will usually reveal a face-down card under it. Tap the face-down card to turn it over, and arrange your piles of cards by dragging a card on top of another card which has the same value. After you drag a card onto the play area, it might leave you with an empty stack. You can drag any card onto the empty stack. When the computer can't make a play, it will place its hand onto its face-down stack. When you can't make a play, tap your corresponding face-down stack. The goal is to get rid of all of your cards before your opponent does. In the Settings menu you can adjust the speed so the computer doesn't play too fast or slow. To play with two human players, tap "New Game" and then tap "Normal - Duo."

Uno Free by Gameloft (free) - This is the Uno card game. When it's your turn to play, tap your cards to see all of the cards, then drag one of your cards onto the discard stack. If you can't play a card, tap the face-down stack to get a new card. When you have two cards left and you can play one of them, the "UNO" button will appear so you can tap it to declare Uno before playing your next-to-last card. To play with two or more human players, tap "Multiplayer," then choose "Online Multiplayer" to play against someone over the Internet, or choose "One Device Multiplayer" to play against someone else where both of you are using your phone. After tapping "One Device Multiplayer," tap each player's color to change it to "Player" (i.e. human player) or "Off" (i.e. no player) or "CPU" (i.e. the computer will play this position).

Words With Friends by Zynga (free) - This is the game of Scrabble which you play against someone over the Internet. To start a new game, tap the "plus sign" icon at the top right side of the screen. You can choose an opponent from your phone contacts or your Facebook contacts, or you can let the game choose a random opponent for you, or you can play against someone by passing the phone back and forth. Double-tap the game board to zoom in/out, or use pinch-to-zoom.

• February 09, 2016 - Added Darts Match.
• June 29, 2014 - Added Gravity Wins.
• March 27, 2014 - Added Bowmaster, Doublemill 2, and Orbital.
• March 08, 2013 - Added Dice Shaker 3D, Dominoes, Five In A Row, and Shijin Reversi.
• January 17, 2013 - New page.