Top 5 gaming franchises exclusive to mobile

One reliable barometer for the health of any gaming platform is to take a look at the exclusives. What does the platform have to offer that no other does?

If we’re considering the mobile platform, there’s plenty for others to be envious of. Its best titles define and are defined by the host platform, often shaping the way we think about controls and accessibility across the gaming board.

We thought we’d run through five of our favourite mobile exclusives from the past year or so. Some may be on their way to other platforms as we speak, but all have established themselves as mobile titles first and foremost.

There are plenty other unique Java experiences to be had, of course, so please do add your own picks in the comment section below.

Top 5 mobile exclusives

One thing the mobile platform is good for is resurrecting genres and gameplay mechanics that have long been out of fashion or forgotten about and bringing them bang up to date.

Gemini Division is based on a sci-fi web series of the same name, but it eschews the usual generic action template in favour of a compelling text adventure.

As you make your way through the superbly told story of rogue clones, you're required to make decisions that will affect the course of the narrative. Further adding to the interactivity is a series of fun mini-games that represent your many skills as a special agent.

Gemini Division: Code Cracker is one of the surprises of the year, and it could only really have come about on mobile phone.

Like Gemini Division, Mystery Mania brings a classic genre bang up to date for the mobile platform. This time it takes the basic structure of a point ‘n’ click adventure game and strips out all of the flab to produce one of the most memorable mobile games on the market.

Playing the part of F8, an amnesiac robot with a CRT monitor for a head, you have to make your way through a deserted mansion, solving each room’s physics-based puzzle and attempting to get to the bottom of the central mystery.

The gameplay is as simple as it comes - the very definition of one-thumb gaming - and visuals and animation brings the world alive beautifully. You won’t find a game quite like Mystery Mania on any other platform.

The first of two action adventures from Gameloft to make this list, Zombie Infection is a gripping thrill ride of a game. Taking control of a contract security team in a near-future where a zombie epidemic has broken out, it’s up to you to survive and ultimately uncover the troubling conspiracy at the heart of the game.

Zombie Infection is an extremely ambitious mobile game, letting you play through events from multiple perspectives and offering an involved weapon customisation element. In fact, it puts many console game to shame with its level of sophistication.

Nevertheless, it never forgets that it’s a mobile game, and remains intuitive and accessible throughout. Zombie Infection shows the way that mobile action games should be heading over the coming years.

If Zombie Infection showed the way forward for mobile action games, Cops picks up the (police) baton and runs with it. Gameloft evidently knew it was onto a good thing with its previous action extravaganza, and Cops bares certain understandable similarities.

But it’s so much more than a simple retread, as your rookie cop takes to the streets to tackle a string of public disturbances. Besides the uncommonly strong storyline (the main quality it shares with Zombie Infection), Cops also introduces a range of optional side missions that add genuine depth to its world beyond the supermarket robberies and domestic incidents.

Cops is a truly excellent action adventure game and, what’s more, it’s one that can only be enjoyed on your mobile phone.

The undoubted king of Java exclusives has to be the Townsmen series. Built from the ground up for mobile phones, each Townsmen game is a master class in how intuitive controls and accessible gameplay needn’t equate to a lack of depth.

Townsmen 6 is the latest and greatest of these masterful strategy games, this time focused on the French Revolution. It’s your task to build, plan and expand your way to victory over the oppressive aristocracy of the time.

We’ve learnt recently that Townsmen will eventually make its way to other platforms, but it's interesting to note that series creators HandyGames will not be responsible for the conversions. If you want a pure Townsmen experience, your mobile phone will remain the only port of call.