Games aren’t a top feature of any smartwatch, but there’s something about that little screen sitting idly on our arm that still makes us want to play with it, and there are plenty of games you can pick up right now should you want to kill a bit of time with your wearable.
We’ve rounded up our pick of smartwatch games, mostly clones of familiar titles, for Apple Watch, Android Wear, Samsung and Pebble smartwatches. The best bit? A lot of them are free, or really cheap.
Warning: Your smartwatch battery will drop like it’s hot when playing many of these, especially the more addicting titles.
Lifeline 1 & 2 (Apple Watch, Android Wear)
Read/seen The Martian? The premise of Lifeline is a little similar, with a stranded astronaut named Taylor who’s crash landed on an alien planet. It’s up to you to communicate with the mysterious Taylor and help them to stay alive. It’s a bit like having a Tamagotchi, but the relationship you spark up with Taylor feels meaningful, and each decision you make could be disastrous to their survival – or be the thing that brings them back alive.
The story, written by Fables: The Wolf Among Us writer Dave Justus, plays out in real time and Lifeline 2 has a story that’s twice as long as the original, about a woman named Arika’s quest to avenge her parents. There’s also Lifeline: Silent Night to try.
$1.99, iTunes, Google Play
Infinity Loop (Android Wear)
Addicting and frustrating in equal measure, Infinity Loop is one of the most simple titles on our list, but it definitely deserves to be tried. Simply tap the screen to the different pieces and form different intricate patterns; once completed, you’ll be given another to solve.
Free, Google Play
Fruit Ninja (Samsung Gear S2, S3
If you’ve never heard of Fruit Ninja then, well, frankly, where have you been? The premise is simple: cut the fruit with your finger, but don’t hit the bombs. It does a great job of shrinking to both the Gear S2 and Gear S3 screen for some addictive, fruity swiping action.
Free, Samsung Gear app store
Trivia Crack (Apple Watch)
Boot up Trivia Crack and prove yourself against players around the world in a battle of knowledge. Take on opponents in questions from six different categories and snag all the characters to win. And with watchOS 3, you can now start the game without your iPhone – bonus!
Free, Apple Watch
Fitcat (Pebble)
A favorite on Pebble devices, Fitcat is both an activity tracker and a virtual cat that you take care of. Being active will also have your little cat mirror the moves which generates income that you can use in-game.
Free, Pebble app store
Blocks (Pebble)
It’s essentially the classic Arkanoid on your smartwatch – who’s to argue with that? Use the side buttons to move your paddle across the screen, collecting power-ups and weapons as you blast away the blocks above.
Free, Pebble app store
Papercraft (Android Wear)
A new twist on the classic Asteroids, Papercraft has you blasting down baddies… who are made of paper. There are leaderboards to compete in funky music to bop along to. A great game for a quick session when you’ve got five minutes to kill.
Free, Google Play
Bubble Bash 3 (Samsung Gear S2)
The Gear S2 makes full use of the rotating bezel for its games. Bubble Bash 3 is one that we’ve enjoyed lately, and just like other bubble bursting games, you must shoot, stack and burst like-colored orbs to get points.
Free, Samsung Gear app store
Pixel Miner (Pebble)
Pebble Time and Pebble 2 owners should check out the color version of Pixel Miner, one of the most popular Pebble games, by developer Will Luton. Your digger digs pixels (and sometimes treasure) for you which earns you currency which you can then use to pay for upgrades so he digs faster. Simple but so, so fun. And damn addictive, too.
Free, Pebble app store
Tilt (Android Wear)
Not exactly one to play on the go, Tilt for Android Wear by 13 App Design gets bonus points for being an imaginative mash up of AR and smartwatches. So you open up the app on your phone, point the camera at your watch and then tilt your watch to control the game onscreen on your phone. It’s a simple enough game of rolling a sphere to pick up boxes without falling through the gaps in the circular platform.
Free, Google Play
Runeblade (Apple Watch)
A fantasy RPG for the Apple Watch, Runeblade is one of the most comprehensive Watch titles around. The game’s even better these days, after it was overhauls for watchOS 3, but the basic idea is the same: navigate a dangerous world filled with creatures to fight, spells to acquire and artifacts to stumble upon.
This was the poster child for Apple Watch gaming when the wearable arrived, and still today it’s considered one of the best.
Free, iTunes
Letterpad (Apple Watch)
Letterpad, the word game from Tiny Tower devs Nimblebit, has you searching words relating to a topic from the nine letters shown on screen. You get 200 to start with, and you can even create and share your own puzzles with friends too.
Free, iTunes
Tamigotchi Classic (Apple Watch)
Yep. Devs really are looking to the past to find games that work on a smartwatch and Bandai Namco has launched Apple Watch support for the Japanese virtual pet game you thought you’d put behind you.
Check on your Tamigotchi’s status and health meter, get alerts and take care of it directly from the Watch with a menu of its needs including meals, snacks, toilet and light.
$0.99, iTunes
2048 Wear (Android Wear, Pebble)
Keeping it nice and simple is this 2048 clone for Android Wear and Pebble from the popular smartphone puzzler. Swipe the tiles in the grid to move the same numbers next to each other to double their value. The only annoyance here is that longpressing on your smartwatch screen exits the game and we found ourselves doing this quite a bit by accident. Double tap to see your current score.
Free, Google Play, Pebble app store
Rolling Hams (Samsung Gear S3)
Twist the Gear’s bezel to navigate through a series of increasingly challenging labyrinths. The levels are vibrant, the gameplay will keep you hooked, and it’s a great showcase of what the Gear S3 can do which rivals cannot.
Free, Samsung Gear app store
Orbtime (Pebble)
Ever play Drop7? Orbtime is another clone, this time of the falling block meets Sudoku game. The orbs drop down and if the number of orbs in that row or column matches the number inside, the whole row/column clears. In a nice bonus, Orbtime includes orbs that show the actual time. Groovy.
Free, Pebble app store
Rules (Apple Watch)
Rules! gives you a daily mini-game challenge, which is all about memorising rules and tapping relevant cards. Easy! Only it isn’t, because several rounds in, you’ll be juggling a bunch of rules in your head (“Tap ascending”; “Reds if you see green”; “No animals”), which must be dealt with in reverse order, all the while knowing that a single incorrect tap ends your game.
£2.99, iTunes
SOURCE:https://www.wareable.com/smartwatches/best-smartwatch-games
