Kindle Fire Tablet

I don't know how many of you have these things, but if you do, it would be cool to discuss and suggest apps and games, especially considering so many of them are free.

Here are a couple of my favorite "actually free" games:

Alto's Adventure, to me, is fucking incredible. It's an endless runner snowboarding game that's artistically beautify and very relaxing. I got into it when my wife was in the hospital with all those seizures and it REALLY helped me get through it. And then, it becomes challenging -VERY fucking challenging. In fact, I think the final challenge of 250,000 trick points is goddamn near impossible. But yeah, I can't recommend this one enough. I've spent hundreds of hours playing it.

Another is Monument Valley. This game is fucking unreal. You guide a character through gorgeous, mind bending MC Escher -style levels. It's insanely clever and the art and music are just awesome; I've never seen anything like it.
The only downsides are that, for one, I wish it was longer, and sometimes it feels more like an interactive work of art than a game.
And the sequel, Monument Valley 2, recently became available for free as well.

So is anyone else interested in talking about games and apps for this device?

I have one of these, but I don't use any games on it cause I never got into playing games on tablets or phones and whatnot. I mostly just use it for reading books and watching netflix in bed. However, your post has made me curious to check these out. The MC Escher one sounds really cool.

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Originally Posted by Mantra

I have one of these, but I don't use any games on it cause I never got into playing games on tablets or phones and whatnot. I mostly just use it for reading books and watching netflix in bed. However, your post has made me curious to check these out. The MC Escher one sounds really cool.

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It really is. It's mind bending and beautiful

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Originally Posted by elevenism

It really is. It's mind bending and beautiful

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Yeah, actually I've been playing both of these games based on your recommendations. At first I wasn't crazy about Alto's Adventure, but it has grown on me. I'm not usually into these endless runner type games, but there's a level of artfullness in this game that I think makes.it better than the others I've seen. Plus, it kinda reminds of playing Tony Hawk when I was a kid I'm currently stuck trying to get past the level where you have to do two triple backflips.

Monument Valley is exactly like you described. Some of the puzzles are so creative. I was thinking about how to describe this game and others like it, and I think I would call this whole style/genre "ambient video games." Obviously it's a puzzle game, but the puzzles aren't that hard, which is actually part of what I like about it. It's engaging, and yet simple enough to keep things chill. The music and the art style and the whole abstract quality that it has is like straight up meditation for me. I've been playing through one chapter a night for the last week or so when I go to bed, and it helps me wind down. Can't thank you enough for recommending thus one.

That's fucking great @Mantra .

Re:alto, the interesting thing about that game is that it starts out being insanely relaxing but then the challenges get harder and harder.
But it's cool because if you keep after it, you get better and better at it.

I'm STILL stuck on the final achievement though. It's fucking ABSURD. The last thing is 'score 250,000 trick points. " I swear to god it's like a fucking joke. I've been stuck on it for a couple of YEARS. I'm on the leader board every day that I play it but it drives me nuts that I can't finish it. I also have like the #46 top combo score of ALL TIME on that game but still can't beat it, which makes me think that maybe it's a little too hard at the end.
But seriously, don't give up on any of the other achievements. They are all doable. One day I will get this last one, damnit.

Monument Valley, dear god, isn't it just fucking gorgeous? I'm with you as far as it being hard to explain. It's just so fucking like, EVOCATIVE, you know?

Also, @Mantra , I definitely agree with Monument Valley as meditation. It's just a fucking stunning piece of immersive art that kind of takes you to a different, higher plane that is simple yet full of complexity and surprises.

I'm not a huge video game fan in my adult life, but this thing is something else entirely.

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Originally Posted by elevenism

That's fucking great @Mantra .

Re:alto, the interesting thing about that game is that it starts out being insanely relaxing but then the challenges get harder and harder.
But it's cool because if you keep after it, you get better and better at it.

I'm STILL stuck on the final achievement though. It's fucking ABSURD. The last thing is 'score 250,000 trick points. " I swear to god it's like a fucking joke. I've been stuck on it for a couple of YEARS. I'm on the leader board every day that I play it but it drives me nuts that I can't finish it. I also have like the #46 top combo score of ALL TIME on that game but still can't beat it, which makes me think that maybe it's a little too hard at the end.
But seriously, don't give up on any of the other achievements. They are all doable. One day I will get this last one, damnit.

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Yeah, I finally got the one where I have to do two triple back flips, which made my day!

Part of what I enjoy about this game is that I can play it in small doses. I still love video games, especially huge, complex games that you immerse yourself in. But the problem is that my life/schedule is so crazy these days, so I almost never have long stretches of time to just devote to a game (or anything else). "Free time" is something I snag here and there in 20 minute increments. So these days I just slowly nudge my way through books and now these two games, because they work for the way my life is structured right now.

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Originally Posted by elevenism

Also, @Mantra , I definitely agree with Monument Valley as meditation. It's just a fucking stunning piece of immersive art that kind of takes you to a different, higher plane that is simple yet full of complexity and surprises.

I'm not a huge video game fan in my adult life, but this thing is something else entirely.

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Yeah, for sure. I just finished the game last night, and I think tonight I'll start on the expansion pack, "Forgotten Shores." I'm trying to pace myself and not burn through it too quickly because I don't want it to end.

Also, I love the music! I wouldn't mind having the soundtrack on my phone to listen to at times. It's beautiful.

Have you played Monument Valley 2 yet?

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Originally Posted by Mantra

Have you played Monument Valley 2 yet?

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yeah and it's pretty much more of the same, but in a good way.
It's fucking stunning.

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Originally Posted by elevenism

yeah and it's pretty much more of the same, but in a good way.
It's fucking stunning.

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Cool, I'll have to check that one out as soon as I finish the first.

By any chance, have you played the game "Ghosts of Memories"? I grabbed that one since it was free and looked very similar to Monument Valley, but I haven't got around to playing any of it yet, so I have no idea if it's as good.

i still use my first gen fire often. don't play a lot of games on it, but five nights at freddy's is my favorite.

@Mantra i don't want to sway you one way or the other on Ghosts of Memories.

Zen Sands is pretty damn cool. It's nowhere near as intense as Monument Valley, but it's also meditative and relaxing.
@kel I wanna play five nights at Freddy 's but I promised myself I would never spend money on a game for this thing.

Although it's kind of goofy because I spend money on all sorts of dumb shit.

It just rubbed me the wrong way that you had to set up a payment method to "buy" the free apps and it's an actual transaction for $0.00.
It was so obvious to me that the entire point of this was to get you used to hitting the "buy now" button without any consequences, like some dope dealer on some "first hit free" bullshit.

So I vowed to turn it around on them and beat them for every fucking reasonable free app there is and NEVER buy anything, ever.

It's not as if the money makes a fuck to them. It's just the principal of the thing you know?

@Mantra (and anyone else getting into these free games,) there is another one I think you might like. It's called "Hitman Go."

it's based on the Hitman series, but it's also totally different. The concept is really clever. It's kind of like an action/puzzle game. The levels "come" in little "game boxes" and the characters are like "game pieces." That aspect adds an interesting vibe to the whole thing.

It's a relaxing, thinking man's game with wonderful level design and cool art and sound. The concept is pretty unique. You can take all the time you want before committing to moving your character (if I remember correctly,) but it still manages to involve shooting people.

This is another great one for winding down in the evening and it's in my top 3 (along with Monument and Alto.)

You're a star wars fan, right? I wondered if you'd noticed that Knights of the Old Republic is one of the "actually free" games. It was on PS2, and it's a full fledged sprawling Star Wars RPG with a great story that really surprised me in terms of what these games can do and how much Amazon is willing to give away for free if you just look.
It obviously doesn't fit into our "ambient" category, but it's pretty bad ass if you're into that sort of thing.
I got side tracked about 1/3 of the way through (It's supposed to be like a 50 or 60 hour game,) but I'm going to start it over one of these days.

But yeah, I would definitely recommend that Hitman Go game if it's still available.

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Originally Posted by elevenism

@Mantra (and anyone else getting into these free games,) there is another one I think you might like. It's called "Hitman Go."

it's based on the Hitman series, but it's also totally different. The concept is really clever. It's kind of like an action/puzzle game. The levels "come" in little "game boxes" and the characters are like "game pieces." That aspect adds an interesting vibe to the whole thing.

It's a relaxing, thinking man's game with wonderful level design and cool art and sound. The concept is pretty unique. You can take all the time you want before committing to moving your character (if I remember correctly,) but it still manages to involve shooting people.

This is another great one for winding down in the evening and it's in my top 3 (along with Monument and Alto.)

You're a star wars fan, right? I wondered if you'd noticed that Knights of the Old Republic is one of the "actually free" games. It was on PS2, and it's a full fledged sprawling Star Wars RPG with a great story that really surprised me in terms of what these games can do and how much Amazon is willing to give away for free if you just look.
It obviously doesn't fit into our "ambient" category, but it's pretty bad ass if you're into that sort of thing.
I got side tracked about 1/3 of the way through (It's supposed to be like a 50 or 60 hour game,) but I'm going to start it over one of these days.

But yeah, I would definitely recommend that Hitman Go game if it's still available.

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Oh cool, my brother has told me about that Hitman Go game before. I didn't even know it was on Amazon. I'll definitely check it out, although I'm still very gradually playing through those other two games, so it'll have to wait in line, haha. I used to be a big fan of the Hitman series way back in the day, Contracts and Blood Money in particular, so I'm curious to know how the series holds up with totally different gameplay approach. I think my brother mentioned that there's also a Tomb Raider Go game as well.

And yeah, that's insane that they have KOTOR for free. I suppose it is 15 years old, but still, I think it still costs like 5 or 10 bucks on steam. I tried playing that once many years ago but ended up getting sidetracked cause of a big cross country move and never got back into it. Maybe now I can give it another go.

I'll add my .02 even though these are for theses iPad pro final fantasy tactics and luxor are really fun and one i lost its starts with an "m" its a blob like spider creature and you move though caves sticking and letting go with you blobby limbs while avoiding slime was a lot of fun to bad i can't remember the name.
-Louie

@Mantra I broke my hd8 and migrated to the hd10.1 . And while my accomplishments on alto carried over, like my scores and leaderborad leaderborads rankings and such, my in game progress did not.
So now, you're ahead of me :p
I've gotta get back to the end.

The other day I was SO fucking close to beating it; I had like 240,000 trick points.

Part of me is very frustrated, but at the same time, I get to experience the game again.

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Originally Posted by elevenism

@Mantra I broke my hd8 and migrated to the hd10.1 . And while my accomplishments on alto carried over, like my scores and leaderborad leaderborads rankings and such, my in game progress did not.
So now, you're ahead of me :p
I've gotta get back to the end.

The other day I was SO fucking close to beating it; I had like 240,000 trick points.

Part of me is very frustrated, but at the same time, I get to experience the game again.

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hah, you'll probably pass me up very quickly. I only play it sporadically. I think I'm currently on level 39 (trying to do the one where you have to fly through an arch with the wing suit).

I just finished the forgotton shores expansion for monument valley and I'm about to start the last one, Ida's dream. Really loved Forgotton Shores. I actually thought some of the puzzles were even more mind bowing than the main game. Chapter 6 and 7 were incredible.

Chapter 6...

https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.co...?itok=EewKWb8P

And chapter 7...

https://www.imore.com/sites/imore.co...?itok=Mn0hKJ2M

Oh dear god @Mantra , isn't Monument Valley just fucking AMAZING?

Ok so

You'll love this: this is Mr. Close to top of leaderboard guy asking dude who just started playing for help, utterly humiliated.
Do you have any tips for getting the 2 triple backflips in one run?

So: back to being top scores guy: you CAN and WILL fly under that arch. You can do it!!!
(This is probably your exact advice for me, lolz)

Man, there is NOTHING like playing with the final character: he has all the special abilities of all the characters and then some. It's fucking awesome.

I'm not good at video games in general, but for some reason I'm fucking GREaT at this one.
Surely I'll hit the two triples before long.

I bet you've already flown under the arch. But wait until you have to get a certain amount of proximity flying or whatever (flying so close to the ground that you kick up snow.) THAT shit makes flying under the arch seen insanely simple.

I will give you a tip for that challenge: flying close to the rope/bunting thing counts as flying close to the ground (God knoes why.)

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Originally Posted by elevenism

Oh dear god @Mantra , isn't Monument Valley just fucking AMAZING?

Ok so

You'll love this: this is Mr. Close to top of leaderboard guy asking dude who just started playing for help, utterly humiliated.
Do you have any tips for getting the 2 triple backflips in one run?

So: back to being top scores guy: you CAN and WILL fly under that arch. You can do it!!!
(This is probably your exact advice for me, lolz)

Man, there is NOTHING like playing with the final character: he has all the special abilities of all the characters and then some. It's fucking awesome.

I'm not good at video games in general, but for some reason I'm fucking GREaT at this one.
Surely I'll hit the two triples before long.

I bet you've already flown under the arch. But wait until you have to get a certain amount of proximity flying or whatever (flying so close to the ground that you kick up snow.) THAT shit makes flying under the arch seen insanely simple.

I will give you a tip for that challenge: flying close to the rope/bunting thing counts as flying close to the ground (God knoes why.)

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Hah, yeah, I did get the archway challenge last night, but i appreciate the tips. That proximity one sounds crazy. Right now I gotta do the one where you pull off a 7500 point trick, which I've already done before, so I'm sure I can get it again. I really like the Paz character.

I know what you mean, I suck at video games, but I'm getting pretty good at this one. It's weird cuz the game only has one "button," but they squeeze a LOT out of a pretty limited number of mechanics. It's a great example of the benefits of minimalist design, where you give yourself limitations as a means of pushing yourself.

Lara craft go is also go puzzle fun again these are iPad not fire, but i think they both are there
-louie

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Originally Posted by Louie_Cypher

Lara craft go is also go puzzle fun again these are iPad not fire, but i think they both are there
-louie

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yeah it's also free on fire. I need to finish it.

There are a couple more that I liked a lot. Galaxy Bowling, believe it or not, is a lot of fun. You earn new, better bowling balls for higher scores: that's what keeps it going.

Another free one that I thought was a lot of fun was Age of Zombies. You
time travel to different eras or something like that and kill just literally thousands of zombies with different kind of guns.
It's purposely really dumb and it's kind of funny. The character says absurd things, and, for instance, you can get a T-Rex as a powerup and ride it. :p

Annnd, GODDAMNIT. No more "actually free" games.

:(

Hope you guys downloaded the ones you wanted.

@Mantra I cracked the top 100 for best distance of all time on alto.

I also got well over 300,000 trick points BUT it doesn't fucking count because I wasn't on the last level.
But at least I know it's possible now.

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Originally Posted by elevenism

Annnd, GODDAMNIT. No more "actually free" games.

:(

Hope you guys downloaded the ones you wanted.

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Aw really? What happened?

Man, that sucks.

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Originally Posted by Mantra

Aw really? What happened?

Man, that sucks.

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dude I don't fucking know. They just stopped doing it.
But hey!
Look at the top 100 longest runs on GameCircle. Elevenism is number 84.

I went like 60 thousand something meters ;p

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Originally Posted by elevenism

dude I don't fucking know. They just stopped doing it.
But hey!
Look at the top 100 longest runs on GameCircle. Elevenism is number 84.

I went like 60 thousand something meters ;p

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Cool, I'll have to check when I get a chance. That's awesome. Congrats. Now just see if you can beat that record again :p

btw, have you played The Room?

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Originally Posted by Mantra

Cool, I'll have to check when I get a chance. That's awesome. Congrats. Now just see if you can beat that record again :p

btw, have you played The Room?

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Yeeeeah.
It's dope
I haven't finished though

I fucking did it!!!
I finished alto. I got the 250,000 trick points.

I've been trying to accomplish this for a fucking YEAR. (In fact it might have been more than A year)

A LOT of people think it's impossible, but i DID it!