Happy Ninja Day! If I were a real ninja you’d be dead before you finished reading this sentence, but alas, I am not, so I have to settle for pretending to be one in video games. I’d probably be a pretty fail ninja anyway, what with my being a fat disgusting slob and all…maybe a slight step above Beverly Hills Ninja. Slight.
Anyway, to mark the occasion, I thought it’d be cool to share some of my favorite casual ninja games. They’re fun, they’re free, and most importantly, they’re 100% ShezCrafti Approved™.
Fruit Ninja
Everybody’s played this, right? I assume no explanation is necessary, but just in case you live under a watermelon, Fruit Ninja is Halfbrick’s insanely popular slasher where you swipe furiously at tossed fruit while avoiding bombs and trying for those juicy fruit combos. Highly addictive, highly recommended. Free versions are available for iOS and Android.
8 Bit Ninja
A simple but addictive little game with retro style graphics. Move your 8 Bit Ninja left and right to avoid falling fruits and collect coins, which you can use to cash in for power-ups like shurikens and sai. The free version is ad-supported and available on iOS and Android.
Banzai Blade
From Cartoon Network, who continues to crank out awesome free games like Robot Unicorn Attack, comes Banzai Blade, a vertical point-and-slash runner with beautiful graphics and sound. Slash at demons and dragons to skill up and unlock new blades, but watch out for bombs! Sorry Android users, this one’s currently only available for iOS.
Little Ninja
I like the style of Little Ninja more than the gameplay itself, but it’s still pretty fun. You’re a little ninja (no shit) who floats around on a cloud as you try to sneak up behind other floating ninjas to slah them into oblivion. My biggest complaint is that it can get tiresome to keep you finger glued to the screen at all times, so I’d recommend playing with a stylus. The free version only provides you with one minute of gameplay at a time, but hey, free is free. It’s available on iOS only.
NinJump
A fast and furious endless runner where you scale the vertical wall and jump left and right to avoid obstacles and slash through enemies with your ninja speed. Run through shields to protect yourself from enemy hits and use trajectory to cut down enemies. After a few minutes of gameplay (if you can last that long) you’ll probably have serious doubts about the structural integrity of buildings that tall, as I did. Free versions available for Android and iOS.
Now go forth, Grasshopper, and hone your ninja screen-swiping skills!
