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2013 had its fair share of memorable mobile games; titles like Candy Crush Saga, Gemini Rue, Year Walk further pushed the boundaries on the impact that a mobile game can have on the video game industry as a whole. While no mobile game in 2014 has managed to inspire a wide-spread cultural fervor like Candy Crush, the quality of this year's games has been just as good, if not better, than 2013.
Hearthstone, Monument Valley, and Battleheart Legacy have all delivered quality, high-end gaming experiences for the mobile platform, further proving the legitimacy of iOS and Android devices in the gaming sphere. We're no longer strictly in the territory of games like Bejeweled or Snake. With rich graphics, detailed narratives, and relatively cheap prices, the mobile platform is becoming better and better by the year. In 2014, we've found the best games that your smart phone or tablet can offer.
Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake
Developed by SleepNinja Games and published by Cartoon Network Games, Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake captures the zany, animated brilliance of its publisher's renowned television programs, featuring an artistic style that is a direct descendent of beloved shows like Samurai Jack or Powerpuff Girls.
In terms of gameplay, MAMBC is stunning, as it creates an environmental puzzle experience that is second-to-none. Its colorful palatte may be geared toward children, but the challenge is suitable for all ages.
VVVVVV
Commodore 64-era graphics? Check. A soundtrack comprised mainly of chiptunes? Check. An iOS title that is frustratingly brutal on a Super Meatboy sort of level? Check all of the checks and never speak to me of them again. From the creator of Super Hexagon comes VVVVVV.
You control Captain Viridian, who is searching for the missing crew members of his spaceship. Too bad he's also trapped in an alternate dimension where gravity has been inverted. Instead of jumping, Captain Viridian can control the direction of gravity, allowing Captain Viridian to flip between the floors and ceilings instead of jumping. The game is despicably charming and comes with the pedigree of having been designed by Terry Cavanagh.
Battleheart Legacy
Battleheart Legacy is quietly one of the best games of the year, featuring a RPG-style adventure with real-time combat and endless character customization elements. Produced by Mika Mobile, the game has the visual appeal of early 3D titles like Final Fantasy VII or Super Mario 64, but manages to offer so much more than its predecessors.
The game is littered with side quests, dialogue trees, and various avenues to explore in a semi-open world format. It's hard to believe that so much could be contained on a mobile game, but Battleheart Legacy ably champions mobile phones as a legitimate platform for serious gaming experiences.
Godfire
As mobile platforms have emerged and developed over the years, graphics have become less of a defining attribute between consoles and smartphones. Undoubtedly a console like the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 still has the clear visual advantage over your iPhone 5S, but the gap isn't as significant as you might think.
Games like Godfire prove the ever-shrinking disparity between mobile and console platforms, as the title boasts graphics comparable to what you might have seen on an early God of War title. And with a $4.99 price tag, you're getting this experience at a substantial discount.
There are certainly aspects that the title could improve upon; the combat is slow, and the boss fights can become repetitive. Still, however, Godfire does well to show how far we've come from playing Snake on our Nokia phones.
Fluid SE
Fluid SE is Pac-Man on steroids. You play as a ghostly figure dragged around a map of glowing pellets while you try to avoid the ghouls chasing after you. However, with Fluid SE, your focus is finish as quickly as possible, and the enemies sprout out of every pellet you eat. What this means is that you're engaged in a frantic sprint to the finish line so that you receive greater bonuses and avoid certain death.
It sounds like an adrenaline rush; in some ways, it is. Thankfully, Fluid SE won't force you to break a sweat. The addictive, arcade-style game is a cheap, fun way to pass the time on your morning commute. You can't ask for much more from a solid, mobile game.
Rival Knights
Rival Knights seems exactly like the type of game I'd hate.
Firstly, it's from publisher Gameloft who excels at making 'free' games that litter the App Store. Secondly, shut up. I wanna be a knight for House Baratheon and ride my steed to jousting glory. Game of Thrones is over and I need some outlet for my Eurocentric power fantasies.
The battles in Rival Knights boil down to stats: speed and power are determined by the game and armor is one of the few places in the game where in-app purchases can play a deciding factor. Speed and power are determined by some items as well, but your timing as a player is what's going to ensure victory.
Wayward Souls
Inspired by retro classics like Secret of Mana and Spelunky, Noodlecake Studios created Wayward Souls, an action-adventure game straight from the old school that revitalizes the 8-bit conventions of yesterday by infusing them with advanced control schemes and randomly generated levels.
The linearity of older games often makes them too stale for repeated consumption. On the other hand, Wayward Souls stays original and fresh with each play-through. Featuring six different characters, countless upgrades, and a plethora of equipment and skill combinations, Wayward Souls keeps you on your toes everytime you pick up the game.
Hitman Go
Completely re-imagining the Hitman franchise for iOS seemed like a dicey proposition for publisher Square Enix.
After a decade plus of Agent 47 bloodily dispatching countless targets, we knew exactly what we'd be getting from another Hitman title. And then we played Hitman Go. A puzzle game that takes on the guise of a tabletop board game starring everyone's favorite mute, shorn-headed assassin. An isometric, turn-based puzzle title proved to be a better fit for Agent 47 than another console release. Players are given a contract to choose from and set out to accomplish their goals by navigating beautifully rendered grid-based levels that look like postcards from the early 70s. Using distractions, disguises, and, yes, murder, to accomplish each level, Agent 47 may in unfamiliar waters, but Hitman Go is still worth taking for a dip.
Doug Dug
You know what modern gamers love doing? Digging.
Between Minecraft, Terrarria, and Starbound it should be obvious that gamers love digging stuff up out of the ground. And Doug Dug is, brilliantly, no exception. You see, Doug's a Dwarf, and Doug just knows that there's treasure directly under his feet. That's where you come in. Get to digging and help Doug get that loot.
You must traverse downward through randomly generated layers of earth, all of which is brimming over with treasure and death. The whole point of the game is to keep going until you die, start over, and try and beat your best score. The charm level reaches radioactive proportions as the throwback design sucks you further into Doug's hole.
FTL: Advanced Edition
I played the shit out of FTL when it first dropped on PC back in 2012. The entire time I was being a less-than-stellar space captain, I lost my entire crew more than once, I prayed that FTL would make its way to the iPad.
The interface for the rogue-like, spacecraft management begged to be ported to a touch screen. Taking after tabletop board games, FTL: Advanced Edition returns players to the role of captain of a starcraft as you recruit officers, maintain critical ship systems, and battle space pirates. Losing any of the real time battles will result in the perma-death of your entire crew and you having to start your game over from scratch.
FTL: Advanced Edition added even more ships and events for the iPad.
Final Fantasy VI
It's difficult to say whether Final Fantasy VI is underrated or properly rated. Fans of the series have a definitive reverence for the game, but it's easy to wonder if Final Fantasy VII's briliance caused its predecessor to become overlooked in the canon. Arguably, Final Fantasy VI is the best game of the entire series. The demented power and insanity of its central villain Kefka Palazzo overwhelms Sephiroth's cool, methodical appetite for destruction, and the final battle of Final Fantasy VI represents an apex for the entire series.
Finally, Square Enix decided to do the right thing by re-releasing the title for iOS and Android in early 2014. It isn't a perfect remake; the decision to remake the original graphics is questionable, particularly in light of the fact that its original aesthetic is so widely copied by contemporary games. Still, however, visuals aside, the game manages to hold on to the brilliance and emotion of the original title, providing a rich, accessible version of the game for gamers everywhere at anytime.
Trials Frontier
Trials Frontier is based on real world Motocross the same way choco tacos are based on actual tacos. And I love me some choco tacos. Trials Frontier is is a platform racing title that takes full advantage of ragdoll physics and a healthy disregard for motorcycle safety. As a result, the game is one of the most enjoyably casual titles on this list. The game rules and is a perfect title for pick up and put down gaming.
The Walking Dead: Season Two
Picking up where Season One left off, The Walking Dead: Season Two allows you to carry over every decision you made from the previous title to create a completely cohesive narrative experience. Whether its a graphic novel, a television show, or a video game, The Walking Dead has carefully avoided feeling stale or overdone. The game is so trusting of its users, and puts the story right in their hands. As a result, Season Two leaves us on the edge of our seats wondering what will happen in the next installment.
The Wolf Among Us
Borrowing from the formula that Telltale Games has perfected with The Walking Dead series, The Wolf Among Us uses a graphic novel as its source material to create a gorgeous, detailed point-and-click adventure experience. Much like The Walking Dead, your decisions and reactions to events will ultimately decide the flow of the game, making for a variety of possible endings to the series. As you control Bigby Wolf (formerly the Big Bad Wolf), who is in pursuit of a dangerous killer, your job is to keep his fairytale world from descending into madness.
République
The episodic République is equal parts stealth title and commentary on the modern surveillance state society is in danger of becoming.
As Hope you're trapped in a dystopian future where a citizen's every move is monitored and controlled. Using your mobile device you'll aid Hope by accessing security cameras and protecting Hope as she takes down guards as she attempts to escape a containment facility called Metamorphosis.
The combat and stealth systems are a slow burn as you'll be acting as Hope's protector and guardian more than the guns-a-blazing hero of the story. If you're looking for a rewarding stealth/action title for your mobile device that hearkens back to early Metal Gear, get your hands on the first episode right now.
Monument Valley
Beautifully atmospheric and cleverly designed, this architectural puzzler title is a brief, lush outing that is worth every penny of the $1.99 entrance fee. As the princess Ida you must explore and unravel each stage of the ten chapters in Monument Valley. Applying the all of the geometric logic of an M.C. Escher painting, players will manipulate perspective, environment, and landscape with a simple swipe of your fingers. Castles invert, staircases bend, and Ida must find her way through the traversal of 3D space.
The game is brief, but dazzling; can't recommend enough.
Hearthstone
When Blizzard announced they were going to be developing a collectible card game (CCG) based on the characters and lore of their World of Warcraft series, both MMO and CCG fans began foaming at the mouth thinking about the prospect.
Originally launched for Mac and PC, the game simply screamed for a mobile version as soon as the game was released. The interface of Hearthstone lends itself to the iPad so effortlessly the game has been a near constant for myself since it launched on iOS. The free-to-play title finds players building, customizing, and collecting cards in order to do battle as one of the eight base classes from WoW. And like the collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering, Hearthstone allows players to deal damage directly to an opposing player, or, a summoned creature on the field.
In-game purchases come in the form of using real world currency to purchase bags of gold to bolster your deck with increasingly rare and more powerful creatures and spells. But at no point does Blizzard partition any part of the game behind a paywall.
Grinding for better cards and earned gold in Hearthstone never feels malicious or intentionally agonizing. I haven't spent a dime and the game is still amazing.
The game is absurdly fun and Blizzard has done exceedingly well demonstrating just how a free-to-play title should balance in-app purchases and enjoyability.