Here we are the end of 2017. With mobile games, there are way too many games. There are so many games I can't play them all. Unlike PC or console games there are double or triple amount of games put out for phones and tablets, and a lot of them are casual games that I don't want to play, or they are fake games. If you have read any of my articles you know I like to play games that are platformer crossovers.
So I wanted to talk about some of my favorite games of the year that can scratch that gaming itch when you don't have your favorite gaming setup at hand.
Over the summer I got the Daydream Headset and I had the opportunity to play a handful of really cool games. One of those games was a PC port of the best horror game made, Layers of Fear. The Daydream version of Layers of Fear: Solitude utilized the controller to its fullest. It also had some of the best graphics of a mobile VR game that comes close to its original version.
Though the most innovative Daydream game I played was Untethered. Which was made by Numinous Games who created That Dragon, Cancer. You play as a radio DJ were you have to read as well as record the weather, news, and emergency broadcast announcements. I've only had the chance to play the first episode though it's the first game where I had to speak a script to move the story along. I know it sounds tedious, but it was very immersive, along with being a lot of fun.
There were a few games with that I thought could be fun for the whole family. The first is Along Together, a game where the protagonist goes on an adventure to find their lost dog. With the help of their new imaginary friend (controlled by you) you travel around town though obstacle course type levels that reminded me of classic Nickelodeon shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, and Guts. For what the game is and it being a imaginative follow up from Turbo Button’s Floor Plan, I think it was a great step in the right direction for the studio.
Even with it's great story, great graphics, along with some fun game play, it just didn't hold up to what I thought was its rival, Lola & the Giant. The game made me think of a VR follow up to 2012’s Papo & Yo (which is on sale right now on Steam). I really like how you have to use two characters to complete tasks. It's also cool that you can have a friend use their smartphone or tablet to help in a local Co-op mode. There is a lot more use with the controls in Lola & the Giant over Along Together, that made the game more of a challenge.
I'm not much for casual games, let alone golf games, but Ok Golf was a great surprise that I found myself playing it over and over again. Especially when they would add a new 9 holes to conquer. This game has a lot going for it in a very simple game. With three different game modes, along with secret courses, this game was a fan favorite all over the globe. If you want to know more about the game read my review right here.
Last year we saw the birth of a great Counter-Strike mobile game called Critical Ops. Then we got a few games doing their take on mobile versions of console and PC powerhouses like Destiny and OverWatch. This year we got Gameloft's Modern Combat Versus which was just ported to Steam this month. If you were lucky enough to get into the beta for MADFinger's long awaited Shadowgun Legends, you know how fun it is with it's Destiny type of game play. Though just like honest game trailers said in their end-of-the-year video, every game is slowly becoming a Destiny FPS RPG.
Though with the popularity of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds on PC and now XBox One X, mobile clones were popping up left and right. The top 3 were all made by an Asian gaming company called NetEase Games. I honestly don't know why they made 3 when they just needed to make one, and the one that I like the most is Rules of Survival. They had the best layout for touch screen controls, graphics, and map. Even though it's not the real thing, it's still fun to play.
There were a lot of great indie games that came out this year. Stranger Things: The Game, Death Road to Canada, Monument Valley II, and Morphite. The latter two are probably the two most beautiful looking games I have seen this year. Monument Valley II shows us why we fell in love with 3D puzzle games all over again, while Morphite is a stylized low poly FPS game that reminds fans of classic games like Metroid Prime, and Turok.
Along with being one of the best multi-platform games of the year, Morphite is the only game I played this year that is on all 3 home consoles, iOS, Android, Windows and Mac. The only way you can't play the game is if you're running Linux on your PC. Though it's strange that you can't seeing that PlayStation is Linux based. Right now the game is on sale over at Steam.
For the past few years streaming mobile games from your smartphone or tablet have become just as popular as streaming on PC or consoles. I have streamed with all of the best best apps: Live.Me, Omlet Arcade, YouTube Gaming, and Mobcrush. In my opinion I believe Mobcrush is the best app to stream from your mobile device. They just added a feature where you can stream to Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch simultaneously. Before that, the only app you were able to do that from was Omlet Arcade. Though Mobcrush is the only app between the two that saves your stream on their app.
There are a lot of talented people making and putting out this immersive playable art. Though the studio putting out some of the best new games and old ports for mobile goes to Noodlecake Studios. I'm not a casual gamer and they had me downloading 80% or more of their games over any other casual studio this year.
Well there you have it, my year end review. I'd like to end this article by thanking you, the reader, for reading my articles over the last 12 months. I'd also like to thank the following people who were kind enough to give me content to write about: Ryan at Noodlecake, Josh at CrescentMoon, Amy at Numinous, Johnathan at Aspyr, Holden at Turbo Button, Nicolas at Playdigious, Josh at Climax, and George at CCP. Last but not least, thanks to Novogamer for letting me have a voice in this gaming community.
