During the final weeks of the year, we’re bombarded with holiday-themed music, movies, books, television specials. If mobile games are your recreational media of choice, you don’t have to be left out of the holiday spirit.
Many of the games featured within have been updated to incorporate holiday graphics or added content, while others are permanent festive creations that only seem relevant for a few short weeks each year. atever the case, these Android offerings can help you capture the seasonal spirit.
Sega’s mobile-exclusive spin on the arcade classic has been dressed up for the season, with the colorful Bay City now draped in falling white powder. And that’s not all: You can hire Santa to drive your cab, plus the taxis can be customized with antlers, wrapped gifts, other holiday trinkets.
City Rush shakes up the traditional Crazy Taxi formula by implementing swipe tap-based controls, which are used for dodging traffic, turning, braking at your passengers’ destinations. Still, it’s a fun, free experience that evokes the original’s raucous spirit, now is a great time to check it out thanks to the holiday sheen.
Crazy Taxi: City Rush (Free)
The first Angry Birds spinoff remains a reliable holiday fixture four years later, as Seasons has been updated with yet another pack of winter levels. This year’s episode, On Finn Ice, refers to creator Rovio’s Finnish heritage is peppered with facts about the region as you fling birds into snow-covered, pig-housing structures.
ong the way, you’ll spot Santa hats on friends foes alike, as well as trimmed trees stacks of presents. And all of the old episodes are still included, which means more than 100 winter stages amongst the bunch. Obnoxious video banner ads don’t disappear even when you pay for access to all levels, however, so prepare for a little frustration amidst the fun.
Angry Birds Seasons (Free)
Santa Rockstar may not be much more than a tmas-themed mobile take on Guitar Hero, but good luck finding a better game sporting that particular combination. It may not be original, but Santa Rockstar is actually quite fun, delivering heavy metal renditions of holiday classics that you can tap along to on the touch screen.
As the notes to tracks like “ngle Bells” “Silent Night” scroll down the screen, you’ll tap in unison to the music, all while Santa his crew rock out in the background. th multiple difficulty options a solid selection of songs, there’s plenty here to enjoy, as well.
Santa Rockstar (Free)
EA keeps supporting its immensely popular cartoon-based city simulation, so it’s little surprise that The Simpsons: Tapped Out features quite a bit of fresh holiday content. You’ll notice immediately that Springfield is covered in snow the trees are decked out in colored lights, but there’s more to discover here.
The tmas update is a full-fledged event that adds daily tasks to complete for Santa, which earns you presents, plus there’s a fair bit of optional premium content to purchase—like Santa’s Village or King nter his cave locale. If you’re deep into Tapped Out, you’ll find plenty more to dig into this holiday season.
The Simpsons: Tapped Out (Free)
Subway Surfers is one of the better behind-the-back running games on Android, putting you in the shoes of a mischievous kid evading capture from guards. You’ll dodge oncoming trains by switching tracks, as well as leap from roof to roof on moving train cars— if you play in the next few weeks, you’ll do so with a fresh holiday theme.
th the latest update, Subway Surfers shifts the action to ndon—but all you really need to know is that the tracks are lined with garls, snowmen, lights, there are tmas tree icons to collect. Oh, Santa is the one chasing you now, along with a dog wearing reindeer antlers… for some reason.
Subway Surfers (Free)
Among the many Android games based on the smash Cartoon Network series, Adventure e: Card rs is easily the most accomplished of the pack, delivering an entertaining collectible card game experience inspired by a popular episode. It’s hearty well designed, now it has some holiday spirit, to boot.
From the amazing holiday sweaters that ke Finn wear in the splash screen art to the gifts, wreath, eggnog bottle seen from the table, Card rs adds some nice visual touches. But there are more tangible additions, too: special cards, a holiday-themed loot chest, even an Adventure Calendar that gives you daily gifts for playing.
Adventure e: Card rs ($4)
The Cut the Rope series is one of the best on mobile, delivering smart physics-based puzzles to solve with careful swipes taps. Holiday Gift is a bite-sized freebie that delivers a small taste of the series with some holiday cheer, not to mention a play mechanic inspired by the season.
In Holiday Gift, many of the stages focus on stocking-based teleporters, which you’ll use to get the cy to the little green alien creature, Om Nom. Guiding the cy into his mouth is rarely too difficult, but collecting all three stars along the way can be a real challenge. And if you like Holiday Gift, you’ll find a few core Cut the Rope games on ay.
Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift (Free)
Skyline Skaters is a really solid endless runner that’s similar in style ( name) to Subway Surfers, but it shifts the action to a side-scrolling perspective for rooftop skating action. It’s also one of the most impressively overhauled games on this list, as the holiday additions are both extremely attractive pretty significant.
First off, the cartoonish rooftops are fully decked out with tmas trees, gifts, cy cane poles, snow. But the update also adds a playable reindeer character, new holiday skateboards to unlock, even collectible coin patterns in the shape of familiar holiday items when you get flung into the air for Super Skate Mode.
Skyline Skaters (Free)
As with Adventure e: Card rs, Cartoon Network’s Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake has been updated for the holiday season, it’s an even more substantial update that actually adds a fair bit of new gameplay to the adventure.
This adorable original affair spotlights a young boy’s quest to recover his stolen dessert, it’s both hugely attractive amusingly written, although the touch controls are awkward. The update adds someone named Codger the Elf, who appears in the world sends you out into several new levels to recover his presents. Complete the tasks you’ll earn a sweet new costume for cake-seeking hero, Niko.
Santa has been transformed into an infant for whatever reason, it’s up to you to get him back into tmas-fulfilling shape by playing games plying him with snacks. ird, right? That’s the premise of My Santa, a cute but slight game in which you’ll interact with the tiny holiday hero until he’s back to his jolly adult self.
There isn’t much to it, really. You’ll feed him various foods, customize his appearance surroundings, play a variety of simple mini-games—like a Fruit Ninja knockoff, or flinging snowballs at a target. The more you play, the more Santa grows, naturally, although you can spend real money to speed things along.
My Santa 🙂 (Free)
