Tech review: Google editors' picks for top 2020 games
Bullet Echo, one of the winners in Google's most competitive games category, is a new spin on a straightforward action-shooter game. Credit: Newsday/ZeptoLab
The just-ended year was anything but fun and games, but fun and games were especially hot as people looked for entertainment as they spent more time at home. Here are 2020’s best games as selected by Google Play’s Android app store. (All games here are also available for iOS devices.) Next week: The best games of 2020 according to Apple’s App Store.
Genshin Impact
(iOS, Android; free)
This remarkable achievement in mobile games lets you explore a strange world to solve the mystery of where it is and how you got there. The visuals are stunning and the gameplay is clever and always entertaining. In naming it Best Game of 2020, Google Play editors said "Genshin Impact blew us away with its sheer scale and ambition."
Bullet Echo
(iOS, Android; free)
For its other best games in 2020, Google picked five winners in several categories. Bullet Echo, one of the winners in the most competitive games category, is a straightforward action-shooter game in which you team with friends on various missions. Other most competitive games winners: Brawlhalla; Gwent: The Witcher Card Game; Legends of Runeterra; The Seven Deadly Sins: Grand Cross.
Gris
(iOS, Android; $1.99)
Year after year, independent developers provide some of the best and most innovative games, and 2020 might have been the best year yet. Gris, one of the Best Indie Games winners, weaves a story of heartbreak and redemption. Named one of Apple’s best games of 2019, Gris finally came out in Android in 2020. Other Best Indie Games winners: Cookies Must Die; inbento; Maze Machina; Sky: Children of the Light.
Genshin Impact. This remarkable achievement in mobile games lets you explore a strange world to solve the mystery of where it is and how you got there. The visuals are stunning and the gameplay is clever and always entertaining. In naming it Best Game of 2020, Google Play editors said "Genshin Impact blew us away with its sheer scale and ambition."........bzAPPS210103 Credit: Newsday/miHoYo
SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off
(iOS, Android; free)
The best pick up & play category honored fast and easy time-killers that Google Play editors said had "quick-start style, pleasing challenges and approachable design." SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off, one of the five winners, features the denizens of Bikini Bottom in a frenetic cooking game. Other best pick up & play games winners: Disney Frozen Adventures; DreamWorks Trolls Pop; EverMerge; Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells.
TikTok’s big 2020
TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2020, according to research firm App Annie. The social media phenomenon, despite being the target of the Trump administration’s ire, supplanted perennial No. 1 Facebook in the top spot. App Annie said app and game downloads hit 130 billion in 2020, a new record. Use of business apps spiked 200 percent as work from home became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.
— PETER KING
Vaccine scam targets Medicare users
Con artists claiming to be from Medicare are calling, texting or emailing people saying they can pay to get early access to coronavirus vaccines – and then ask the senior for their credit card or Medicare information. Medicare covers the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost to beneficiaries and warns that “if anyone asks you to share your Medicare number or pay for access to the vaccine, you can bet it’s a scam.”
— PETER KING
New spot for Spot
South Korean automaker Hyundai is taking over Boston Dynamics, the company known for viral videos featuring quirky robots. Hyundai said the $1.1 billion deal will enhance its plan for autonomous vehicles and “smart factories.” Boston Dynamics has pioneered the field of agile robots inspired by animals. Videos of the company’s robotic dog, Spot, have gone viral, stoking admiration — and terror — across the internet.
— WASHINGTON POST
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
