As console games became more and more beholden to digital distribution, and smartphones became both omnipresent and more powerful, it became harder to draw a distinction between the two. Sometimes that could result in creative dead ends-early this decade some designers spent too much time showing what mobile games could do, rather than exploring and building on what they should do. The best mobile games combine the pick-up-and-play ease of smartphones with elegant design and the kind of magnetic gameplay loop that keeps you enthralled far longer than you ever expected. Yes, too much of this market is underpinned with microtransactions and free-to-play shenanigans, but the recently launched Apple Arcade subscription service will hopefully minimize those exploitative tactics.
We’re not here to point out what’s wrong with mobile games, though, but to highlight the games that made this decade the artistic and commercial boom period that it was for mobile games. Here are Paste’s picks for the best mobile games of the 2010s. ELOHĮLOH’s another gorgeous puzzle game perfectly calibrated for touchscreens. The goal is to shift blocks into the right position to bounce balls towards the target. Each ball makes a sound when it hits a block, creating a steady rhythm once everything’s in the right place. It has everything I’m looking for in a mobile game: a simple concept that makes smart use of the touchscreen, action that grows increasingly more complicated, and charming art and music.
And on that last point, ELOH’s painted artwork makes it one of the most beautiful games I’ve seen in years.- Garrett MartinĪt this point, match-3 games are like zombie games: There’d better be a damned good hook if you want me to pay attention. A fusion of the match-3, RPG and endless runner genres, 10000000 employs a surprisingly effective combination of common mechanics to keep players coming back.- J.P.įortunately, the strange hybrid 10000000 has several.
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