There isn't a wealth of great games in the Android Market. Or if there is, it's buried under mounds of slide-puzzles, soundboards, and soft porn.

But among the (admittedly competent) derivatives of other games, I found an interesting time-killer that condenses a core concept of Civilization down to a 60-second mini-game.

If you've ever played Civ, you probably know the satisfying feeling that comes from watching your borders expand due to your micro-management decisions. Battleflood abstracts this to colored gems on a grid.

Here's how it works:

• You and an AI opponent start with a single gem in opposite corners of the grid.
• You take quick turns choosing a color.
• Your gem changes to this color and you "capture" any similar-colored gems in contact with yours.
• Repeat until someone controls the majority of the map. (A "domination victory" in Civ.)

It's missing any sound design whatsoever and isn't particularly pretty -- it's also free. You can toss the developer $1.99 if you want, but here's the QR code for the free version. (You'll need the Barcode Scanner or Google Googles apps to scan it.)