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The best iOS and Android games of January 2017: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Star Wars: Force Arena and more

Looking back on a month in mobile gaming

The best iOS and Android games of January 2017: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Star Wars: Force Arena and more
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Welcome to our monthly round-up of the best games on iOS and Android from the preceding calendar month.

Have you taken your eye off the App Store or Google Play Store for a week or two of late? It's okay, we understand. You were busy. We won't hold it against you.

In fact, we're going to help catch you up on the choicest morsels of mobile gaming from the past 30 days.

It's fair to say that 2017 got off to pretty good start. There were some fine morsels of mobile gaming on offer, including these beauties.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links
By Konami - download on iOS / download on Android

The tide of mobile CCG games might have been stemmed somewhat in recent months, but Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links provides more than enough to sustain fans of the genre. Even if you're not a fan of the weird anime.

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
By Nicalis - buy on iOS

There's always a mixture of excitement and trepidation when an indie darling comes to mobile. Thankfully, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth - a twin-stick shooter with procedurally generated levels - works out pretty well on its new format.

Battleplans
By C4M - download on iOS / download on Android

Take a pinch of of MOBA, a dash of RTS, and a sprinkle of base defense. Stir well. Add a generous splodge of pretty graphics and serve. Battleplans is a bit tasty.

Red's Kingdom
By Cobra Mobile - buy on iOS

Red's Kingdom is an isometric puzzler with a familiar block-sliding mechanism at its heart. Where it stands out is in the way its beautifully detailed levels link together, making it feel like an adventure game.

Super Gridland
By Doublespeak Games - buy on iOS / buy on Android

Super Gridland initially appears to be another simple match-three puzzler, but it's not long before you bump into its intriguing day-night cycle and tricky survival mechanics.

Splitter Critters
By RAC7 Games - buy on iOS

This clever puzzler has you slicing up 2D levels and shifting the resulting segments to help guide your critters to safety. The result is one of the freshest puzzlers of the month.

Star Wars: Force Arena
By Netmarble Games - download on iOS / download on Android

If you fancy a new mobile MOBA to occupy your time, you could do a lot worse than Star Wars: Force Arena. You're still vying for control of compact battlefields with other players, but this time your 'hero' is Darth Vader or Princess Leia.

Milkmaid of the Milky Way
By Machineboy - buy on iOS

A point-and-click adventure that's been expertly honed and sculpted for mobile play. Milkmaid of the Milky Way is compact, attractive, and gently beguiling.

WarFriends
By Chillingo - download on iOS / download on Android

WarFriends combines a number of disparate components from a variety of genres, including third person shooter, tower-defence, and even card management. Somehow, though, it doesn't feel disjointed in the slightest.

Remedy Rush
By Fixpoint Productions - download on iOS

In a month of delightful mash-ups, Remedy Rush is perhaps the most interesting. It's an endless runner of sorts, but with puzzler and roguelike elements keeping things fresh.

Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.