The Hottest Mobile Games of The Passing Decade

The 2010s will kiss us goodbye in about ten days. But we can’t enter a new decade without defining which smartphone games deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Which adventures, RPGs, shooters, tappers and slashers will be put in the history books of game design forever? We have selected 10 mobile titles worth to be crowned as The Best Mobile Games of The Decade.

Angry Birds — Feathery fury & Porky menace

Honestly, Angry Birds are one year older than the decade. But you can’t really imagine this era without the iconic Birds vs. Pigs feud. Millions of kids have been slacking off in classrooms, neglecting their literature, history and math. Instead, they preferred mastering ballistics and tactics — two things pivotal for defeating the egg-snatching villains.

Years later, our brave birdies traveled to space, learned how to use the Force and fought the porky villains in every corner of the world. In turn, nefarious swines learned how to build aircraft in a brain-twisting spin-off called Bad Piggies.

Fun fact. The game was inspired by Crush the Castle — another mobile game that used flinging mechanics. It never saw that much success. That one possibly was inspired by the Simpsons episode, in which Lisa appeared as Joan of Arc, and Chief Wiggum catapulted his men to storm a castle. (Episode 14, season 13).

Doodle Jump — Black holes, trampolines & a jetpack

Doodle Jump is another early bird of the mobile gaming era. What made the game catchy was its strange art style. This jumping saga is designed as a doodle idly drawn by a bored 6th grader. You get to play as a weird green entity. It can jump and shoot beans from its nose.

That little green guy exists on a piece of copybook paper. He must jump from one platform to another. And reach as high as he can. But there’s a serious danger he should avoid paper holes that transfer him to non-existence.

So, if you think Doodle Jump is a child’s play, think twice. Its gyroscope-based controls and numerous traps make it highly competitive. In fact, circa 2011, every middle school had at least one Doodle Jump tournament.

Fruit Ninja — Katana is drawn. A watermelon dies.

Perhaps, Fruit Ninja is the only game that can challenge Candy Crush’s position as the No. 1 time-killer. You still can see how people standing in lines brutally chop the juicy targets. And slay the boredom of waiting at the same time.

Fruit Ninja has rare gameplay that is both refreshing and ridiculously simple. By sliding your finger, you massacre bananas, kiwis, apples, and other edibles. At the same time, staining your screen with their sweet sticky ‘blood’. Could anyone fathom a better anti-stress game?

Temple Run — Faster than Usein

This title is responsible for birthing a whole genre — an endless runner. In 2012 marauding an ancient temple together with Guy Dangerous was a pretty big thing. Later on, this Indiana Jones doppelgänger was joined by a hole army of avaricious archeologists: from Scarlett Fox to Santa Claus. So, possibly we have a tomb-raiding cartel here. And Central America still suffers from losing its cultural legacy.

Clash of Clans — Riders on the hogs

Clash of Clans revived the strategy genre to an extent. Thanks to this game, people still want to build towns, manage resources and devise clever military tactics against their rivals. Especially today when MOBA dethroned the classic RTS genre.

Of course, CoC will always be associated with Vikings, Brutes and hogs. But another thing that made Clash of Clans so memetic was its promotional videos: Your village just got raided by yourmama671.

Crossy Road — Why did the penguin cross the road

This little game taught at least one generation basic safety rules. Well, except you shouldn’t really jump while crossing the road. As for the rest, playing Crossy Road is a great way to develop your rhythm sense and timing skills. One brief delay and your goofy avatar ends up under somebody’s wheels. Watch out!

Alto's Adventure — Game of weightlessness

Alto’s Adventure belongs to the masterpiece category. Seriously, there’s a very tiny amount of mind-cleansing games. And Alto’s Adventure, with its hypnotic Himalayan landscapes and physics that let you leap to the Moon and stars, definitely is in the top 5 Zen games.

Its gameplay is based on a unique meditative concept. Alto’s mesmerizing visuals and music banish stress, worries and anxiety. So, the passing decade proves that mobile games can be a form of art. Successful art.

Pokémon Go — Pikachu, I choose you

This game made a long-cherished dream come true. Finally, you can catch Charmander, Butterfree, Rattata, Meowth and other poke-beasts in real life! But apart from the joy of having your favorite Pokémon in your roaster, you also got a good deal of physical exercise.

The game paved a way for other AR games, like recently premiered Minecraft Earth. Though Pokémon Go showed a negative side of the augmented-reality titles too. Sometimes instead of another poke-stop, players would find a puking hobo, a secret drug stash or even a dead body. Well, a good Pokémon trainer should take risks sometimes.

Candy Crush Saga — My strange addiction

Candy Crush proved that a simple game can generate a billion profit. Well, the simpler the better. So now, millions of people spend hours of their leisure time at crumbling deserts. And it’s hard to blame them for it.

With its over-simplistic gameplay, Candy Crush is scarily addictive. Maybe in the future, we’ll need rehab centers built specifically for people who were unwise to download it. Until then, there are M&Ms and jelly beans to annihilate. Get to action!

Fortnite — Shoot. Survive. Dance.

Of course, this hit parade would be incomplete without the battle royale genre. This phenomenon took the world by storm barely 2 years ago. And it’s hard to imagine online gaming without this memetic extravaganza. Seriously, where else you get to be a tactician, architect, marksman, survivalist, and ballet artist at the same time? That’s right — nowhere.

Back to the future

Let’s see what games the coming decade has for us. Maybe there will be a rise of VR genre. Maybe smartphones will be smart enough to produce playable holograms. There’s only ‘maybe’. But what we know for sure, it was a legendary decade. So, what’s your special game from that epoch? What needs to be on this list? Let us know in the comments!