A lot of criticism can be (and has been) levied against mobile gaming and the exploitative business practices that are utilized in many of the games. But amidst the constant badgering by certain games to get you to open your wallet, there are some truly great games that stand out. These are my three personal favorites of the year.
1.Quiz Up
Considering I play my mobile games on iOS devices and Quiz Up came out last November for those devices, this may be cheating a bit but it did debut this year on Android so I think I am in the clear. As the name implies, Quiz Up is a competitive quiz game, specifically trivia on any and every topic imaginable. Its super simple formula lets you pick a topic, get paired against an opponent, and face off in a battle of wits. But it is the challenge system that really makes the game great fun. Being able to asynchronously challenge, or be challenged by, your friends and family to rounds of the game is the shining star. The game keeps a running tally of your wins and losses against opponents and nothing quite beats totally dominating a buddy at a topic they thought they owned.
2. Crossy Road
Crossy Road is Frogger. I feel that explanation alone should justify its existence on this list but I’ll give you a bit more detail. Like Frogger, Crossy Road tasks players with guiding a frog (you start with a chicken but the frog is the only true way to play) across busy streets, train tracks, and deadly rapids. The further you go, the higher your score gets. Beating that high score, and those of your friends, is the driving force behind this game. It is the equivalent of gaming crack and I haven’t been hooked on an old school arcade game like this since Pac-Man Championship Edition DX.
1. Monument Valley
Monument is one part the aesthetic of Journey and one part the perspective mechanics of Fez. It is a beautiful game that forces players to play with perspective. Twisting, turning, and sliding objects to form two dimensional pathways in a three dimensional world is the focus of the game. And while the puzzles in the game are never extraordinarily hard or long, they present just enough of a challenge that completing them made me feel fantastic and fulfilled. Couple that great feeling with its beautiful aesthetic and a very mysterious storyline and you have something truly special. This is the title that showcases that mobile games are just as impactful as big box titles.
Those are my three favorite mobile titles of the year, what are some of yours?
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