As we roll into Christmas, we asked some of mobilegamer.biz’s best-known readers what their personal game of the year was. Here’s what they said…
Paula Ingvar, King’s VP of Candy Crush Soda Saga
This year, I have really appreciated Niantic’s Pokémon Go. Seven years post launch, the game does not miss a beat when it comes to releasing new content in the form of new ‘mons.
They drive engagement by tapping into the FOMO of players, and tie seamlessly to the Pokémon tagline – gotta catch ‘em all! The game is very story and events-driven, and in my opinion is best in class in leveraging a vibrant community and bridging into IRL happenings.
Kevin Segalla, Tilting Point founder and CEO
I love strategy games, but the 4x genre in particular is much more complex than your average mobile game. So the way Whiteout Survival begins with very casual gameplay and then introduces deeper strategic elements over time is fantastic. It’s a great way to bring more casual gamers into a genre that can feel very daunting for first-timers.
Elena Grigorian, My Games CEO
I play many games, but I’d go with Souls if I had to choose one this year. It’s an idle auto battler by Habby, a captivating mobile game that offers an immersive gaming experience plus a compelling backstory where seven greedy lords have sealed the souls of heroes and conquered the world — as a player, you embark on a journey to liberate these souls and save the world from evil and destruction.
It combines exquisite art style, beautiful UX and sound design, strategic gameplay, and unforgettable characters — and what’s more, it doesn’t always require my full attention, as you can set your team to explore dungeons on their own, collecting dailies and levelling up, a helpful thing when you have a busy schedule.
Michael Martinez, Funcraft cofounder
Royal Match… still. This game delivers the most satisfying pockets of gameplay. Their beautifully simplistic systems (simple is hard!) are designed to keep you playing – and they work. Despite knowing the mechanics and transparent goals as a gamemaker, the features are still fun. It’s one of those rare games where you visualize the pieces (propellers and rockets) in your everyday life – that’s playing too much.
Elizaveta Savenkova, Zimad head of business development
Apart from Zimad’s games, Candy Crush Saga has undoubtedly been my go-to mobile game this year. Combination of addictive gameplay and hours of puzzle-solving have kept me in the game for years now.
On the other hand, Monopoly Go has emerged as the breakout hit in the world of mobile gaming from a business point of view. Its adaptation of the classic board game into a mobile format, coupled with in-app purchases and strategic marketing, has made it a thunderous success, demonstrating the immense potential for monetisation and growth in the mobile gaming industry.
Ian Fielding, Super Evil Megacorp studio head
Right now I am actually playing a lot of Warcraft Rumble. I’ve played a lot of Supercell’s Clash Royale, and also a bit of AFK Arena (as a game I enjoy to play to unwind), and I felt Warcraft Rumble has this unique mix of providing the exciting PvP of Clash Royale while also providing the opportunity to unwind playing the game via PvE adventures, somewhat similar to AFK Arena.
I’ve also been enjoying how to best use my earned currency to build my team comps via their G.R.I.D system, the interactive nature of how you build up your troops has been really fun to experiment with. I also played Warcraft Rumble in the Friends and Family tests, and it has been great to see how much the game has evolved since that time, and it gives me confidence the game will continue to evolve and improve over time too.
Anastasiia Sereda, Zibra AI head of marketing
My game of the year has to be Resident Evil Village. The team at Capcom did a fantastic job – it’s not just an iOS port; it’s a fully fledged triple-A game designed and optimised for mobile.
The graphics and performance on mobile are incredible, they’ve kept the essence of the original game – especially the intense atmosphere – while ensuring everything works. It really is like carrying a top quality console game in your pocket.
Luca Fiaschi, Mistplay’s chief data, AI and monetization officer
State of Survival is a fascinating case study in user engagement. Its blend of strategy, survival elements, and social interaction keeps players engaged, which is key in the mobile gaming industry.
Chris Wilson, Metaplay marketing lead
I’ll go with Whiteout Survival, the latest example of a China-made game taking the Western app store markets by storm. Whiteout layers a novel and engaging storyline (which at the same time is perhaps slightly scary and a bit too close to home) on top of familiar 4x mechanics to great effect.
I’ll be the first to admit that under the surface it’s not anything revolutionary (see: Rise of Kingdoms, Game of War, Clash of Clans et al) but there’s something fresh about a theme that’s less built on total war and empire building, and more on resilience and goodwill of humankind.
It’s done a great job of appealing to a wider audience than a traditional 4x game, which is a key reason why it’s been able to shoot up the charts so quickly in the second half of 2023.
Gorkem Turk, Laton Ventures founder
My personal game of the year was Royal Match. The execution quality in every element of the game is proving that a given genre perceived as saturated can be way expanded with an exceptional touch.
Ben Cousens, ZBD CSO
Marvel Snap for me. Since releasing in October 2022, the regular updates have kept drawing me in!
Paraag Amin, SuperScale CFO
My game of the year has been going from strength to strength over the years: Kabam’s Marvel Contest of Champions.
Jonas Martins, Worldline director of video gaming and media
I really enjoy Text Express: Word Adventure by GameHouse. It has an interesting storyline which is navigated via a variety of fun word search puzzles and crosswords.
