Drop7, the simple puzzle game that made a splash on the iPhone in January 2009, was released on the Android Market in late March.

The port was released to little fanfare, but anybody who loves games and owns a smartphone that runs Google's Android operating system should stand up and take notice. Drop7, priced at $3, is the first truly great game available for the platform.

If you're not already familiar with the game from peering jealously over the shoulders of your iPhone-equipped friends, here's how it works: Players slide and drop numbered dots into a Tetris-style playfield. If the rows or columns they create are as deep or wide as the values on one of the dots, those dots will disappear.

Until now, gaming on the Android platform has been in dire straits. But last month, Google hoped to motivate developers to make more games by delivering a series of talks at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. Attendees were schooled in the ways of Android game development and given a Droid or Nexus One phone just for showing up.

If you're like me, and invested in the notion of playing great games on your phone, you'd be wise to reward Area Code Inc. for porting Drop7 to Android. In other words: Buy this game.

Image courtesy Area Code Inc.

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