I know this article might come late to you in Europe, but we still have some day light here in the States. In honor of today I wanted to share some of my favorite mobile Skateboard games for Android. So let's get into it.

5. Transworld Endless Skater - Free

When you think endless skater you think Temple Run type game with side view skateboarding where when you mess up three times it's game over. Nope not with this game. This game is see how far you can get in 60 seconds, while trying to achieve three different challenges after another.

The game has pro skaters you can unlock to be like Danny Way, Ryan Decenzo, Lyn-Z Pastrana, and Christian Hosoi just to name a few. Which was one of the reasons why I downloaded the game besides it being free.

The only issus I have is the game is timed this does not seem to be really endless, along with a four point controls this is why I'm putting it at number 5.

4. Epic Skater - Free

Epic Skater looked like a fun kids skateboard game. Though after downloading it I found out how much fun and challenging this true endless skater game is.

The game is just collecting coins while maneuvering through different levels with long rails and huge gaps. Epic Skater has been one of the skateboard games I play daily. Though I have gone through 4 phones in a year I still love getting back to where I left off after every time I reinstall this game.

The controls are super simple and I hope this game helps get kids excited even with the crazy gaps and some unrealistic Tony Hawk Pro Skater type lines you can do. This is a great casual skateboard game that you will find playing over and over again.

3. Skate Lines - Free

Skate Lines is another endless skater game that I found last year that I just fell in love with. This is one of my favorite skateboard games ever made next to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 and Skate 3. The game never left beta. It got so popular that developer Agens just put it out publicly with promise for a full game that is now called Skate City. Which is being co created by Alto's Adventure developer Snowman.

The controls are simple. Though being in the beta stage could use some work. I really loved the chill instrumental soundtrack that went with the three levels you can play. This is the most zen skate game you'll ever play. That is why it's my top three skateboard games. This is the game you play after skating all day and are relaxing after a great session.

Even though the game is beta and Skate City has no release date yet. This game is better then 95% of the skateboard games you'll find on Google Play.

2. Skater - $5

I saw a meme that said "Fidget Spinners are fingerboards for posers". For most skaters that is fact. Fingerboards were the first fidget spinners for skaters with ADD and pre-diagnosed autism. So when smartphones first came out there was a fingerboard game called Touch Grind. That game was fun for maybe 5 minutes. I was pissed I paid money for it. As much as I love fingerboards I hate fingerboard games.

Till one day I watched this video from Revive Skateboard owner Andrew Schrock about a skateboard game his company was in called Skater. I was turned off by it being a fingerboard game though I thought I'd try it out when I found it on sale for $.99.

I was really surprised to see how much I liked this game. I just like how you earn stars to unlock boards, shoes and real location. That was a selling point for me was real locations like you'd have in Tony Hawk games. Unlike other fingerboard games you had fake spots that you had to pay for. They have some great compete decks as well from Toy Machine, Baker, Deathwish, Foundation, Zero, and DGK.

This is one of the first games I saw skaters making YouTube videos playing a mobile skate game. The tactility controls are smooth just like EA's Skate games are. Though it may cost you a Starbucks or a pint it's well money spent. Don't feel fooled by other fingerboard type games Skater is the only one you need.

1. Skate Party 3 ft Greg Lutzka - $2

Skate Party 3 is the third skateboard game from Ratrod Studios featuring pro skateboarder Greg Lutzka. Skate Party is the only mobile skate game that plays like Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4, which is one of my favorites out of the series of Tony Hawk games. It had the best real locations, pro skaters, secret skaters, and special moves.

I got just as excited about playing Skate Party 3 as I did playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4. To me it's Ratrod's best game yet. It's still playable even a year after it was launched. It has a online vs mode just like Skate 3. It really is the closest console clone to a skateboard game that I've played. From touchscreen Tony Hawk style type controls, to console reimagined graphics, as well as Skate 3 and Tony Hawk type challenges.

This is the best skateboard game made so far. I have not played a mobile skateboard since Skate Party that captures my favorite video game series Tony Hawk Pro Skater. Activision was working on a mobile Tony Hawk game, but then scrapped the game and started making Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5. Though late year after Skate Party 3 came out I was not mad about it anymore. If you love Tony Hawk Pro Skater or Skate this is the game you've been looking for.

Here are a few honorable mentions:

1. Alto's Adventure - Free

Alto's Adventure is a fun endless snowboard game. It's one of the most popular casual games ever. It was even Apple used it as an example for their keynote at this year's WWDC.

2. Halfpipe Hero - Free

Halfpipe Hero is just a fun casual endless halfpipe game that I've found very fun to play to kill some time.

3. Skate City - Unreleased

Like I said earlier Skate City is a game that is being developed by Agens and Snowman. Even though the game is not released this looks like it could be the next best skateboard game ever. Even pro skater Jonny Giger has said that it could be the Tony Hawk Killer.

I linked Skate City's Instagram above. That is where they posted most of the game play videos.

This app will allow you to be the overseer over your very own custom vault. You can manage the Vault Dwellers to keep them in high spirits and send them out to scavenge for supplies. You can also breed them and defend your vault from internal and external threats like, radroach attacks, vault malfunctions, and raider attacks. You can collect special lunch boxes to win prizes and items to supply your vault. This app is FREE to download and there is no "freemium" elements. The only thing you'd need to sink your money into is the special lunchboxes to get a little extra supplies every once in a while. 

Once again this is free to play and download, and available now on iOS. The Android release is sadly a bit late, but hopefully they release it soon. 

Though my question was why would I want to download these games where I'm being charged $2 to take off ads and have some free type of cloud storage? For me I have not found the answer seeing there is such a thing as classic console emulators and free ROMs of the same classic games in this series along with better touch screen controls. Though big companies like Nintendo have been getting their games pulled from very popular ROM sites such as Emuparadise, but I have still be able to find Genesis ROMs.

Rob doesn't an emulator app and ROMs take up more space on my phone then the games in the Forever series? Well reader I'm glad you asked that question. I downloaded Altered Beast and Comix Zone, both of those games took up 91.24 MB of memory on my Nexbit Robin. After curiosity killed the cat, I have downloaded the Cool Genesis ft emulator from the Google Play store and 16 games, all over that only took up just over 33MB of memory. That is just under a third of memory I am saving.

Emulators and ROMs maybe the bad boys of free gaming, they save space and are for the most part ad free. I have not had a 24 second ad pop up to save my game, so I think emulators and ROMs are the best way to play these nostalgic classic games.

Last month Starbreeze AB: an independent creator, publisher and distributor of high quality entertainment products; announced their agreement with 505 Games to acquire the full rights to the PAYDAY-franchise. The consideration for the acquisition amounts to 10.9 million B-shares in Starbreeze, equivalent to 30 MUSD.

Along with creating new DLC for PAYDAY 2, Starbreeze partnered up with CMUNE (UberStrike) to create a mobile PvP multiplayer game set in the Payday universe. This 2-8 player game let's you for the first time choose whose side you want to be on, the heisters or cops. Challenging your enemies in iconic locations from the bank to the Golden Grin Casino.

If you where at E3 for the past few days you may have passed by booth #F5A and have had the chance to play OVERKILL's new PAYDAY 2 DLC; The Biker Packs, along with the PAYDAY: Crime Wars demo. Please comment below seeing I was not there unfortunately, so I have no review of the demo Expo goers had a chance to play. Though I do know it will be out on both iOS and Android devices with a release date TBD.

I am very excited that this game is coming out. Like many mobile gamers, I have been waiting a long time to see PAYDAY crossover from a PC to a mobile platform. I hope I can get my hands on it soon, maybe even test drive what looks like to be a very will thought out crossover.

2017 brings us the long anticipated follow up to 2014’s Modern Combat 5: Blackout with Modern Combat Versus. MCVS still has big open battle area's, though the game is just one mode, Zone Control. Each game you're paired with different plays of different ranks though you are in the same league.

Leagues are separated into six different elements: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald, and Diamond. You reach the next league by collecting trophy points from winning multiplayer matches. You're also demoted from a league by losing multiplayer matches, in turn you lose trophy points.

Though all this is nothing new with free mobile PVP. Creates to level up your players XP with some coins thrown in, unlocking new characters, leveling them up to match the ones you started with, you know the deal. Though besides the typical PVP format, MCVS has become a daily game I will play, and stream for people to watch me as what I have coined #ZoneControlorDie.

I don't know how long the hype train will be, seeing the game seems to be in a alpha stage. I have already seen a lot of frustrated players in the MCVS Facebook Community and in the reviews on Google Play. The game has gone from a 3.9 rating to a 3.5 rating just in the first week of it's release. Compared to the game's predecessor's rating of 4.3. We will just have to see how many people jump off the MCVS train like a hobo when they see they're about to come to the next hot town that is Shadowgun Legends.

While looking for new games on Google Play I came across the Early Access category. What I found was a little PvP/strategy game called Titan Brawl. The game comes from Omnidrone, a video game development company that was established by ex-Digital Chocolate colleagues, and later formed by developers from other companies (like King, Gameloft, Playfish, Social Point and Wooga). Omnidrone's first endeavor was a real-time strategy mobile game for iOS called Dwarfs and Dragons.

With most MOBA games, there are big areas that are hard too keep up with, and characters that have too many abilities to keeps track of. I am not very good at MOBA games like League of Legends, or Vainglory, yet I find myself feeling like a MOBA veteran playing Titan Brawl which was Omnidrone's vision for the game; that anyone who plays the game, from a casual mobile gamer to the most hardcore MOBA PC gamer will feel challenged and a winner at the same time. Even if you lose, you'll still want to play the game until you have gotten your team to the level you want them to be at to challenge the next top dog.

"We did not want to simply build a MOBA that is playable on mobile, we wanted a MOBA that is carefully crafted for mobile devices. We want to prove that you do not need a gaming PC to compete in eSports and your phone is just enough."- Omnidrone.

Titan Brawl is a real-time PvP game with intense 4-minute matches and awesome collectable heroes that blends action and strategy to test your combat skills to the limit. In the game you assemble a team of four comprising of intergalactic brawlers; from ex-military mercs to ancient gods. Tanks, healers, damage dealers... And one titular Titan. They have one mission - protect their Totem and destroy enemies’ one which are flanked by two towers. Opposing territories are connected with two lanes, where most of the brawling happens. You play the game by deploying your troops and using power-ups.

In the short time I have played the game it has become one of my new favorite games to live stream on Mobcrush. If you ever played a MOBA game and felt like a total noob that could never master the genre, Titan Brawl is the game that will give you your confidence back.

Features Include:

• Real-time games, with real players;
• Quick paced, 4 minute long matches;
• Easily connect with friends;
• Awesome heroes to collect;
• Co-op with friends.

One game that I have not been able to stop playing is Gunjack 2: End of Shift. It's a sequel to the critically acclaimed and best-selling VR shooter Gunjack. It originally was a game that was made for the Oculus in 2015, though now you can get the game for every major VR headset besides Daydream.

The game takes place in what is called the EVE Universe, where you are a turret gunner in the dangerous Outer Ring of New Eden. Though you don't fight for power or for money, you fight just to see another day protecting the Kubera and it's precious cargo.

The reason why I like Gunjack 2 over other VR shooter games I've played is that the game takes advantage of the full capability of Daydream's controller by using the track pad swipe technology to select your load outs. Along with understanding that it's better to not have the option of using "where you look is how you aim." The controls are very fluid and works perfectly for this type of game.

This game is stunning. For a mobile game I think this is one of the best VR experience I've had so far this year. The game makes you feel what it's like to be a turret gunner in this EVE Universe. It uses the 180° game play to its full advantage. You would think all VR shooters would be the same. Though you are sadly mistaken.

Besides a really fun and we'll thought out campaign mode. I have found myself playing the game solely on the games replay factor of daily and weekly challenges. Every day there are three new challenges based on difficulty from easy to hard. I frequently play all three, though the easy challenge at level 13 was the same agonizing hardship you faced on level 2 hard, where you had no load out, you had to kill to keep your health from automatically dropping, and one unshielded hit means you're dead. The challenges are a great way to level up quickly, along with unlocking cool guns and other load outs.

I think the fine folks over at CCP Games did a great job of being their EVE Universe to life with Gunjack 2. You may have passed this game up thinking that no mobile game is worth $12. Well I think I've gotten my $12 worth with just the daily and weekly challenges alone.

Here we are the end of 2017. With mobile games, there are way too many games. There are so many games I can't play them all. Unlike PC or console games there are double or triple amount of games put out for phones and tablets, and a lot of them are casual games that I don't want to play, or they are fake games. If you have read any of my articles you know I like to play games that are platformer crossovers.

So I wanted to talk about some of my favorite games of the year that can scratch that gaming itch when you don't have your favorite gaming setup at hand.

Over the summer I got the Daydream Headset and I had the opportunity to play a handful of really cool games. One of those games was a PC port of the best horror game made, Layers of Fear. The Daydream version of Layers of Fear: Solitude utilized the controller to its fullest. It also had some of the best graphics of a mobile VR game that comes close to its original version.

Though the most innovative Daydream game I played was Untethered. Which was made by Numinous Games who created That Dragon, Cancer. You play as a radio DJ were you have to read as well as record the weather, news, and emergency broadcast announcements. I've only had the chance to play the first episode though it's the first game where I had to speak a script to move the story along. I know it sounds tedious, but it was very immersive, along with being a lot of fun.

There were a few games with that I thought could be fun for the whole family. The first is Along Together, a game where the protagonist goes on an adventure to find their lost dog. With the help of their new imaginary friend (controlled by you) you travel around town though obstacle course type levels that reminded me of classic Nickelodeon shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Guts. For what the game is and it being a imaginative follow up from Turbo Button’s Floor Plan, I think it was a great step in the right direction for the studio.

Even with it's great story, great graphics, along with some fun game play, it just didn't hold up to what I thought was its rival, Lola & the Giant. The game made me think of a VR follow up to 2012’s Papo & Yo (which is on sale right now on Steam). I really like how you have to use two characters to complete tasks. It's also cool that you can have a friend use their smartphone or tablet to help in a local Co-op mode. There is a lot more use with the controls in Lola & the Giant over Along Together, that made the game more of a challenge.

I'm not much for casual games, let alone golf games, but Ok Golf was a great surprise that I found myself playing it over and over again. Especially when they would add a new 9 holes to conquer. This game has a lot going for it in a very simple game. With three different game modes, along with secret courses, this game was a fan favorite all over the globe. If you want to know more about the game read my review right here.

Last year we saw the birth of a great Counter-Strike mobile game called Critical Ops. Then we got a few games doing their take on mobile versions of console and PC powerhouses like Destiny and OverWatch. This year we got Gameloft's Modern Combat Versus which was just ported to Steam this month. If you were lucky enough to get into the beta for MADFinger's long awaited Shadowgun Legends, you know how fun it is with it's Destiny type of game play. Though just like honest game trailers said in their end-of-the-year video, every game is slowly becoming a Destiny FPS RPG.

Though with the popularity of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds on PC and now XBox One X, mobile clones were popping up left and right. The top 3 were all made by an Asian gaming company called NetEase Games. I honestly don't know why they made 3 when they just needed to make one, and the one that I like the most is Rules of Survival. They had the best layout for touch screen controls, graphics, and map. Even though it's not the real thing, it's still fun to play.

There were a lot of great indie games that came out this year. Stranger Things: The Game, Death Road to Canada, Monument Valley II, and Morphite. The latter two are probably the two most beautiful looking games I have seen this year. Monument Valley II shows us why we fell in love with 3D puzzle games all over again, while Morphite is a stylized low poly FPS game that reminds fans of classic games like Metroid Prime, and Turok.

Along with being one of the best multi-platform games of the year, Morphite is the only game I played this year that is on all 3 home consoles, iOS, Android, Windows and Mac. The only way you can't play the game is if you're running Linux on your PC. Though it's strange that you can't seeing that PlayStation is Linux based. Right now the game is on sale over at Steam.

For the past few years streaming mobile games from your smartphone or tablet have become just as popular as streaming on PC or consoles. I have streamed with all of the best best apps: Live.Me, Omlet Arcade, YouTube Gaming, and Mobcrush. In my opinion I believe Mobcrush is the best app to stream from your mobile device. They just added a feature where you can stream to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch simultaneously. Before that, the only app you were able to do that from was Omlet Arcade. Though Mobcrush is the only app between the two that saves your stream on their app.

There are a lot of talented people making and putting out this immersive playable art. Though the studio putting out some of the best new games and old ports for mobile goes to Noodlecake Studios. I'm not a casual gamer and they had me downloading 80% or more of their games over any other casual studio this year.

Well there you have it, my year end review. I'd like to end this article by thanking you, the reader, for reading my articles over the last 12 months. I'd also like to thank the following people who were kind enough to give me content to write about: Ryan at Noodlecake, Josh at CrescentMoon, Amy at Numinous, Johnathan at Aspyr, Holden at Turbo Button, Nicolas at Playdigious, Josh at Climax, and George at CCP. Last but not least, thanks to Novogamer for letting me have a voice in this gaming community.

I've had the pleasure of playing some of the best games the indie gaming world had given us over the last few years. Edmund McMillen’s The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth + and The End is Nigh is what I started out with. Then I moved to Human: Fall Flat.

Human: Fall Flat is a rag doll, real world physics puzzle adventure simulator that lets you play any way you want; as long as you can do a leap of faith at the end of every level. It has been a lot of frustration with a overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Climbing walls, breaking glass with a 2x4, using a catapult to launch you over a castle fortress. With an E rating it's a great game to play with family and friends. Though it may seem straightforward; the games does have its challenges that a younger player may find very difficult.

I think this is a great game for a science class that is learning about the laws of physics and motion. With the way the joy-con controls are set up; local Co-op mode would be an interesting way for students to learn teamwork, along with scientific theories being tested in a fun and very safe (to the students) environment. I don't know if anyone has seen the educational value of the Switch yet though I believe with more games like this, and what Nintendo is do with the Labo series; I hope to see the console in more STEM classes around the world.

The one thing that is lacking in the game is being able to customize your controller layout. It seems to be the biggest downfall for a lot of the Switch games I have played over the last few months. I hope there is enough demand for this feature seeing it could easily be available with a small software update. Other then that I find this game a mix of frustration and fun. I look forward to what No Brake Games has up their sleeve next. I hope helps merge the gap between videogames, and education even more.

The game was this minimalist 3D game that looked like Hitman GO, a strategy game Square-Enix put out a few years back. It was the simple indie look that made me want to play OK Golf.

The game is very simple to play. Swipe back, move your finger to direct where you want your ball to go, then release. Even though that sounds super simple, these courses are accurately real life layouts of actual golf courses around the world.

From the lake country of Georgia

To the desert landscape of Arizona

To the Zen gardens of Japan

To the islands of Hawaii

And the beach fronts of Miami.

These courses are very challenging. It took me multiple tries on many of them to get a birdie first try. Getting under par (birdie or eagle) gave me a full three stars. Even though I was screaming at my phone every time I missed the hole, I still did not want to stop playing the game like I do with some games after being frustrated by my failure.

The game has three single player modes per course. The first is Free Play. Free Play let's you practice each course as many times as you want. After finishing Free Play the course is opened to Championship and Timed Mode. Championship is a regular scored golf game. So the more you practice in Free Play the better you are in Championship mode.

I have not played every mode or have gotten to try the multiplayer feature yet. Though it looks like like it can be fun playing friends all over the world, as long as they have the game and are running off the same OS. You can even do pass and play if you're looking to have some fun at the bar with your friends.

Overall this is one of the best casual games of the year. Definitely worth the $3. Don't wait till it's on sale or in a humble bundle. Get this game not the overpriced coffee you don't need.