December 26th 2023.
This year has been a standout for mobile gaming, with plenty of great titles to choose from. From the eerie escape rooms of Underground Blossom to the match-three mayhem of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon, there's something for every taste. There’s a lot of inspiration from console titles, but there's also plenty of originality too.
Take Underground Blossom for example, which is set across a series of tube stations. With its delicate touchscreen puzzles and sinister overarching narrative, this game from Dutch uber-developer Rusty Lake confirms their well-deserved reputation for creating refined and elegant mobile games.
Chronescher is another great game, borrowing mechanics from the much-loved Monument Valley. Here, you can rotate levels to alter their geometry, making the puzzles far more intricate. If you enjoy a challenge and don't mind spending time experimenting, this is the game for you.
Ultra Blade is an auto-aim shooter that takes cues from the ever-popular Vampire Survivors. You need to pick power-ups carefully and make judicious use of special abilities when the going gets tough. Although the frame rate is sometimes a bit slow for the amount of onscreen action, it's hectic and different each time you play.
Roto Force is a modern version of arcade classic Tempest. With its techno beats and action that has you dashing around the outside of each level firing into the middle of it, this game is sure to bring back memories. You can also switch from your starter machine gun to high explosive bouncing bombs or homing missiles - all rendered in 8-bit pixel art graphics.
EXIT: Trial Of The Griffin is a sequel to 2021’s The Curse Of Ophir, which is reminiscent of Fireproof’s The Room and its sequels. With its wood-panelled rooms and brass-embossed puzzles, you'll need to pull, push, drag, and tilt your phone to uncover the solutions.
Finally, Scenic Route's Generations is all about family. This game takes an unusual approach to its merging mechanic, using a set of human faces that you can combine to make a generation older. While it can be confusing at first, you soon become adept at chaining sequences and merging four or more faces to skip a generation.
Overall, this year has been a great year for mobile gaming, with plenty of titles for every taste and budget.
Roto Force is one of the year's best smartphone apps and GameCentral looks back at the last 12 months in mobile gaming. 2023 has been a vintage year for mobile games with something for everyone, from the escape rooms of Underground Blossom to the match-three delight of Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon.
The only problem has been that many of the best games are inspired by well-known console titles, but there's still an abundance of originality in the mix. One such original game is Roto Force, a free game with a full version available for £3.99. It plays like a modern version of arcade classic Tempest, with techno beats and action that has you dashing around the outside of each level, firing into the middle. You can also launch your avatar through the middle of the arena and switch from your starter machine gun to high explosive bouncing bombs or homing missiles. Its 8-bit pixel art graphics and fast, skill-based action evoke a simpler era of games that were far more challenging. Score: 9/10
Another original game from 2023 is Chronescher, an iOS and Android game for £3.49. It takes its inspiration from Monument Valley, taking place on levels you can rotate to alter their geometry, adding portals and time jumps to make puzzles more intricate. If you enjoy taxing puzzles and don't mind spending a considerable amount of time experimenting and trying different approaches, this is an immensely rewarding game. Score: 8/10
Ultra Blade is another iOS game, available for £2.99. Taking its cues from the all-conquering Vampire Survivors, this is a pixel art auto-aim shooter, where you take on incoming hordes of enemies. You must pick power-ups carefully to adapt your build as you play, making judicious use of special abilities when the going gets tough. It's hectic and different every single run, even if its frame rate can be a little slow. Score: 8/10
EXIT: Trial Of The Griffin is an iOS and Android game for £5.99. With its wood-panelled rooms and brass-embossed puzzles, whose solutions often comprise multiple layers of Victorian mechanical engineering, this is a sequel to 2021's The Curse Of Ophir. Making use of the touchscreen, uncovering solutions takes a good deal of pulling, pushing, dragging, and in some cases, tilting your phone. Fortunately, there is a hint system, although that too requires a bit of thought to decipher its clues. Score: 8/10
Finally, Scenic Route's Generations is an iOS game for £4.99. This game takes an unusual approach to its merging mechanic, which takes place across a set of human faces that you can combine to produce a single face that's a generation older. While it can initially be confusing, it swiftly becomes second nature, and you also become adept at chaining sequences of faces together and merging four or more to skip a generation entirely.
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