~Kevin has played more on his mobile phone this year than ever before. His personal top 5 are perfectly designed for any everyday situation.
To recommend a mobile title to die-hard video gamers is like recommending the Lite version to a Coke fan: A storm of indignation blows up, saying that this is not real Coke, that it tastes completely different and is worse in all respects. But let”s be honest: Cola is Cola and game is game.
Of course, not every title is designed for the mobile phone, not even by a long shot. The mobile versions of Fortnite, CoD and Co. don”t meet my personal taste. The screen is too small, my fingers too thick and my eyes too bad for that.
But there are titles that are perfect for the ever-popular pocket device. Those games that make a train journey feel hours shorter, that provide enough extra entertainment during the next bad crime scene, or that offer a refuge when conversation with the other person is anything but desirable.
In the same way, Diet Coke is also the perfect choice if you want to kick the sugar habit … and are filling up on sweeteners to do so? Okay, my metaphor doesn”t make sense now, I admit it. Let”s ignore that and move on to my game recommendations of the year for our constant companion, the mobile phone.
Table of Contents
Marvel Snap
Hearthstone is awesome, without question. Over the years, the card game has developed into a monstrously large game with numerous expansions, new cards and effects. On the PC, I really enjoy putting together a deck of 30 cards. But on a mobile phone? Not so much.
I prefer Marvel Snap, which comes from former Hearthstone developers. Snap is designed for mobile and not a simple port. The rounds don”t last 20 minutes, but just five. A deck consists of only twelve cards, and a new tactic can be put together in no time at all.
But in terms of play, Snap also offers enough recognisability and doesn”t copy too much from other card games. The three locations are reminiscent of Gwent at first glance, but the random location effects make each round play differently and hard to predict.
Of course, the eponymous snap still adds that certain kick. It determines how many rank points I gain or lose. If the opponent snaps early, does he really have good cards in his hand or is he just bluffing? Do I fold early or am I confident and snapping too? In just a few minutes, Marvel Snap creates a tension that doesn”t come up until quite late in the round in Hearthstone and the like.
Into the Breach
If you want to rack your brains but are once again stuck in a funk, Into the Breach is the optimal game for you. The title was originally released on the PC, but since July 2022 you can also run the celebrated game on your mobile phone with a Netflix subscription.
Thanks to its minimalist graphics and simplistic controls, Into the Breach is perfect for the small screen. But don”t underestimate this turn-based strategy gem, because it”s got a lot going for it!
You fight an invasion of insect-like aliens with fat mechs – again and again and again. Saving humanity is done quite quickly and the path to the end credits can theoretically be reached in a few minutes. However, the replay value in Into the Breach is enormous.
With dozens of mechs and pilots, Into the Breach plays differently every round. How about a playthrough where we simply don”t have any weapons mounted on our mechs at all? Or would you rather try the one where the Insectoids all kill each other? With the right mechs, it”s all possible.
If the final stop of your train journey suddenly arrives faster than expected and you”re still in the middle of the match, that”s no problem either – the game remembers at which point you interrupted your round. Into the Breach is simply great, even on PC. No wonder it made it into our top 300 best PC games of all time.
Vampire Survivors
When Vampire Survivors caused a real hype on Steam this year, I couldn”t understand it by any means. It”s just walking around, I thought. But since the Game Awards, the title is also available on mobile phones – for free. So of course I couldn”t pass it up and tried Vampire Survivors … and have been playing it ever since!
In this roguelite you fight against vampires, skeletons, zombies, Chewbacca and many other monsters who are out to get you. You, on the other hand, run around with your character, dodge the hordes and kill them with automatic attacks. The experience points of the fallen enemies help you to improve attacks or learn new ones – and that”s where the ingenious loot spiral begins.
At some point we just shred our way through the skeletons, one chest after the other is opened and it feels like nothing can stop us… until the next type of enemy comes along… stronger and more resistant, in greater numbers, and finally it”s all over, the life bar has lost its last shred of colour.
With the gold we collect, however, we can improve our characters for future rounds, unlock new characters and maps. And then we play another round. And another. And one last… for real now…
Minesweeper
Okay, now my game recommendations are getting a little more unusual. While Marvel Snap, Into the Breach and Vampire Survivors all came out on mobile this year too, Minesweeper has been around a few years longer.
But Minesweeper is simply timeless! And if you ask me, significantly cooler than solitaire. A little round of Minesweeper is perfect for restless people like me who need something else to do during a phone call. I can listen, talk and play at the same time, although my multi-tasking skills are more than limited.
Personally, I use the app Minesweeper – The Clean One because the minimalist style appeals to me, but any other Minesweeper game will certainly do the job.
Bacon – The Game
In the end, things get really wild again. Bacon – The Game is a rarely stupid game and I played it for much longer than I”d like to admit. This title didn”t come out this year either, but it wasn”t until 2022 that I came across it.
The aim is to use a frying pan to throw a piece of bacon at things. Things” can really mean anything. The unfried piece of meat lands on paintings, landmarks, planets, or even on the user reviews of the same game. By pressing the touchpad, the bacon flies in a high arc onto the desired object. If it stays there, classical music plays as a reward and you are one level ahead.
I invested a lot of time in this game during my bachelor”s thesis. All my energy went into this work, and in the breaks as little exertion as possible was beneficial. When your body is only capable of breathing and clicking and you are nothing but an empty shell of yourself, that is exactly the time to play Bacon – The Game.
Or you may prefer to spend your time playing more meaningful games, you can find inspiration in our Top 300 Best PC Games of All Time or you can pick up some new games on the cheap from all the sales.
Which mobile games have you spent the most time playing this year? And in what situations do you most like to turn to mobile games? Feel free to post in the comments!
