It has the humour, simplicity, and presentational flair of its mighty predecessors, yet it somehow manages to be even better. Though its tower defence DNA is evident, Iron Marines is a fully fledged RTS, with only minor concessions to the small screen. Expectations were high for its follow-up, and the studio absolutely crushed it with Iron Marines. Ironhide made a name for itself on mobile with the immaculate Kingdom Rush tower defence series.

To succeed you’ll need to not only kill and evade a lot of zombies, but also make canny choices about allies and resources. Part Organ Trail, part Binding of Isaac, the game sees you attempting to get from Florida to Canada during a procedurally generated zombie apocalypse. A collaboration between indie darlings MadFinger and Rocketcat, Death Road to Canada has been out on PC and iOS for a while, but only came to Android last September courtesy of Noodlecake. This one is as modern as they come, however. This sets up a classic LucasArts-esque yarn, complete with verb table, colourful characters, and plenty of jokes. The game sees you taking on the role of an FBI agent and trying to solve a murder in the fictional town of Thimbleweed Park. There are plenty of excellent pixel-art games in 2017, including a few point and click adventures, but Thimbleweed Park stands out because it comes from the keyboard of Ron Gilbert, the original adventure game supremo. So kick back, grab a glass of mulled wine (unless you are under 18, in which don’t), and check out the cream of this year’s games. In fact, there are several such tardy titles on this list. All good things come to those who wait, however, and it’s hard to be bitter when 2017 was so generous.

iOS’s younger, cheaper cousin doesn’t always get the best treatment when it comes to games, with numerous titles hitting the App Store long before they come to Google Play. What a year it’s been in the world of Android gaming.

Best games of 2017 android under 1