Once again the Android rankings showed the most variety on the free and paid charts, with Arb Studios’ new free-to-play racer Tiki Kart making a solid debut in the No. 19 position on the free charts. The top grossing charts were again led by Droidhen’s popular tower defense title, Defender.

This week’s top grossing Android apps

Defender – Droidhen leads the Android top grossing charts this week, claiming the No. 1 position yet again with its ultra-popular game Defender. The free-to-play tower defense title has racked up more than 5 million installs and was last updated on Dec. 15 with new weapons and increased difficulty in the game’s nightmare mode.

Live Holdem Poker Pro – This week’s winner in the three way contest for highest grossing poker game at the top of the Android charts was Dragonplay’s Live Holdem Poker Pro, which just managed to best the No. 4 ranked Zynga Poker to claim the No. 3 position. The free-to-play poker game monetizes through in-app purchases.

Madden NFL 12 – Moving down to the No. 18 spot we find EA’s annual football offering, Madden NFL 12. Now back to its usual price of $4.99 after the end of EA’s holiday sale, the game has seen installs drop sharply, but has still managed to rack up more than 100,000 installs since it was released. The app was last updated on Nov. 16.

Minecraft – Pocket Edition - Mojang’s open-world creative game Minecraft – Pocket Edition is this week’s No. 19 top grossing app. Downloaded over 700,000 times according to a tweet from Mojang’s Daniel Kaplan, the developer has promised the app will be updated soon with more elements from its PC fore-bearer. Unlike most apps on the top grossing charts, the game costs $6.99.

Farm Story - Redwood Shores-based TeamLava is a mainstay of the Android top grossing charts. The company’s apps are so actually so popular, most weeks it would be possible to give a rundown of the top grossing charts that included nothing but apps from TeamLava. This week we feature Farm Story, the company’s free-to-play farm sim. Coming in this week in the No. 23 position, the game was last updated on Jan. 13.

This week’s top free Android apps

Angry Birds - Rovio’s Angry Birds leads our free charts this week in the No. 3 position. Featuring more than 300 different levels, the ad-supported version of the game has been downloaded more than 50,000,000 times, according to its Android Market listing.

Zombie Dash – Italy Games’ side-scrolling shooter Zombie Dash improves on its ratings from last week, climbing from the No. 38 position to the No. 4 position on the free charts. The free-to-play game was just updated on Jan. 18 with a new player character, more in-game currency and an in-game weapons store.

Tiki Kart 3D – A day after appearing on our iOS charts, Arb Studios’ new game Tiki Cart also manages to make it onto our Android charts in the No. 19 position. A free-to-play kart racing game heavily inspired by Nintendo’s Mario Kart, Tiki Kart has already seen more than one million installs.

Temple Run Fan App - Moving down to the No. 34 position we find a fairly unusual app, Temple Run Fan App. Created by I Love Games, the app isn’t Imangi Studios’ Temple Run or a copycat app — rather it is an app for fans of the game to chat, trade high scores, download wallpapers and learn cheats for the game.

Paper Racing – Droidhen appears on our chart for the second time this week with its new game Paper Racing in the No. 37 spot. A simple game, the player’s goal is to see how fast the entire length of a toiler paper roll can be unraveled. Players can also challenge other players to see who can rack up the best time. The game was last updated on Jan. 19.

This week’s top paid Android apps

Where’s My Water – Disney’s Swampy the Alligator proves to be popular on Android, with his game Where’s My Water climbing to the No. 1 spot on the paid charts. A physics based puzzler from the developers of Jelly Car, the game features more than 140 different puzzles and was updated on December 20th with new levels. Where’s My Water costs $0.99 and has seen more than 100,000 downloads.

ROM Manager (Premium) - ClockworkMod’s ROM Manager (Premium) holds the No. 9 spot this week. A utility for advanced Android users who have rooted their phones, the $5.99 app lets users make backups and flash and manage ROMS through a graphical UI.

Paper Camera – UK-based JFDP Labs’ chart mainstay Paper Camera is this week’s No. 24 entry on the paid Android charts. A photo application that allows users to apply and adjust a variety of cartoony filters to photos in real time, the app has more than 500,000 installs and costs $1.99.

The Moron Test - Moving down towards the lower reaches of the Android paid app charts, DistinctDev Inc’s The Moron Test makes the chart this week in the No. 47 position. The lighthearted game features a variety of puzzles, global leaderboards and achievements. The game costs $0.99 and was last updated on Oct. 19.

Reckless Getaway - Swedish developer/publishers Polarbit closes out our charts this week with the No. 48 paid app, Reckless Getaway. Last updated on Sept. 29 with a new level and car, the game challenges players to dodge the cops in 16 levels mayhem filled levels. Players can also compete against one another on global leaderboards. Reckless Getaway costs $1.99

UPDATE:  It appears as though Google hasn’t updated its Android charts since December. We’re exploring alternative methods to determine top grossing apps in the meantime.