How To: Turn Your Chromecast into a Portable Gaming Console

With the emergence of rumors that Amazon, Google, and Samsung are all making their foray into the gaming console market, it's a possibility that our Android-powered mobile devices might become tools that play a central role.

As we proceed through 2014, we'll see inklings of what's to come for Android gaming, but for now we're still a bit in the dark. What is certain is that Android devs are working on making mobile games compatible with Chromecast, allowing you to cast them directly to your TV—or anyone's television (as long as it has HDMI input).

Below are some of the best Chromecast-compatible games that I've found so far. If you have any others I should check out, let me know, as I'm always looking for better ways to game.

Qcast Trivia Time (Android Only)

If you've always dreamt of being on Jeopardy due to your vast array of knowledge, but fear the magnified scrutiny of Alex Trebek and the dozens of old people tuning in, Qcast might just be for you.

One of the first games to be developed specifically for Chromecast, Qcast (from Android dev Dylan Pollard) is a free timed multiple-choice trivia game that allows you to battle out all of your friends.

Filled with trivia about history, music, science, television, and more, the games allows everyone to answer, but only the first one to do so correctly gets the points. If you guess incorrectly you won't lose points, but you don't gain any either.

The task is simple enough—first one to 100 points wins.

The app allows multiple players to join, and questions and answers are displayed directly on each player's Android device. Who needs to go out when you can have bar trivia right at home? If you want to submit your own personal trivia question to the game, the developer welcomes you to do so.

Tic-Tac-Toe for Chromecast (Android & iOS)

Played since the Roman Empire around the 1st century BC, Tic-Tac-Toe has spanned many generations and lifetimes, maintaining its place as a central facet of the ever-expansive board game world.

Originally played with chalk on empty walls, the paper-and-pencil game has now found its way to the iOS App Store and Google Play as Tic-Tac-Toe for Chromecast, with the ability to play friends via Chromecast.

GamingCast for Chromecast (Android Only, Paid App)

Developed by Eli Sherer and graphic designer Yaron Burger, GamingCast (for Chromecast) is the first mobile gaming console for Chromecast. Allowing you to cast a handful of retro video games to your television, the application then turns your mobile device into a beautifully designed and haptic-responsive controller.

With classic games such Snake, Pong, Xonox, and Tetrominoes (Tetris), the future for the mobile game console is bright, with variants of Frogger and Flappy Bird currently in development. While the application currently only works with single-player games, support for multiplayer will be included soon, allowing you to play with friends.

For only $1.50 this app is a steal. The fact that it's a fairly new app to a new-ish platform means that getting in on the ground floor will probably save you money down the road when the price increases. After playing with it for several hours, it's safe to say I'm hooked and I can't wait for what the future holds for this awesome gaming console.