Top 5 mobile games of 2018: Ric's picks of the year
Not the best, but the ones that stuck with him
It's the end of the year, and what a year it's been. 2018 has been a nightmare in a string of nightmares, and frankly the faster we can wake up from it all, the better.
Oh, mobile games, right. Mobile gaming in 2018 has been absolutely fantastic! From the likes of New Star Manager and Motorsport Manager 3 Mobile through to Evergarden and Asphalt 9: Legends, there's been an endless stream of great titles covering every genre imaginable.
But enough about them. Liking the "good" games just isn't the Ric Cowley way, and while I try to keep my idiotic taste in games in check when being the Editor of Pocket Gamer, this time of year is the only opportunity I get to bust out some weird-ass titles that no one else remembers from the past 12 months and go, "OI! LOOK! THIS WERE BLOOMIN' MARVELLOUS" before I get carted off back to my corner and told to stop letting my Northern accent slip into my writing.
So, my aim in my top 5 games list isn't necessarily to highlight the "best" games of the year. These are the games that have made some kind of impact on me - whether that's making me smile, cry, or whatever emotions people usually feel. These are the games that stuck with me through the year, nestled somewhere in the back of my head, that I think everyone else should play.
Grab yourself a warm beverage (I'll have a hot chocolate, thanks), pray that I've nearly finished this intro, and let's dive into the five games of 2018 that I think you should go off and play right this second. After you've finished reading my article on them, of course. Don't just click off now, that'd be incredibly rude and I'd be really sad.
1
Holedown
Holedown probably isn't the top of everyone's lists of "must-play games" in 2018, but by gum it should be.
A super simple puzzler, it sees you firing off little sentient ball creatures at walls in your path, with the aim of hitting them enough times that they shatter and you can dig a little deeper into the asteroid/planet/moon/whatever it is you're destroying at that time.
You pick up diamonds as you go to improve your abilities and unlock new levels, and you can tap a little smiling creature at the bottom of the screen to occasionally fill your head with communist propaganda. That's all there is to it.
But good God it's fun. And challenging. You'll need to re-do levels multiple times to grind out upgrades, because later levels will destroy you otherwise. But you'll also love every single second of it, thanks to its clean presentation, simple gameplay, and adorable communist alien things.
I've already hooked several people onto Holedown, and they're still cursing my name under their breath to this day. You should be one of those people too!
Learn more about Holedown here.
2
Detective Pikachu
Right, forget about that terrifying trailer for a moment. Forget Ryan Reynolds voicing Pikachu. And forget the Mr Mime gif that I'm about to post directly beneath this sentence.
pic.twitter.com/ARBBIwkQsg— Soft Dave Energy (@OddBreens) November 12, 2018
Detective Pikachu finally launched on 3DS in the West this year, and it was more than worth the wait. It's a pretty easy point-and-click adventure game, but it's full of charm, easy-going humour, and just enough darkness under the surface to make it actually interesting.
Pokemon are going insane and attacking humans. Your dad's missing, probably dead. And you're the only person in the world capable of talking to his Pikachu, who has a gruff hard-boiled detective voice and is addicted to coffee. If that setup alone doesn't sell you, you have no heart.
And as I've outlined in a previous article, there's a button on screen at all times dedicated to talking to Detective Pikachu. Honestly, it's worth the price of entry for that alone.
Learn more about Detective Pikachu here.
3
Brew Town
Anyone who's listened to the Pocket Gamer Podcast will know that I love idle games, and that I was a major proponent for Egg, Inc. when it was at the height of its popularity.
So, it's little surprise that I ended up infatuated with Brew Town, which is basically Egg, Inc. with a lot more going on and a focus on crafting the finest beer in the world to then sell to folks in your local bar.
It's a gorgeous game with lots to keep you occupied much longer than you might anticipate from an idle game, and if you're well into your graphic design, you can spend ages trying to make the fanciest labels for all your individual beers, which is sure to appeal to a fair few people.
It's not exactly the best idle game there is, but I loved that it tried to expand on the genre, and it looks really lovely to boot. And it gave me a way to still be into booze even after I'd given up on it in the real world.
Learn more about Brew Town here.
4
Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu/Eevee!
Yeah, yeah, another Pokemon game in my list. Honestly, I didn't think it'd make it in there either. But it's really bloody brilliant.
I spent a lot of my childhood playing Pokemon Yellow, and I think I still have a copy knocking about somewhere which probably doesn't work anymore given that all the clock batteries died on those game carts years ago. But I still have a lot of fond memories of the game.
The Let's Go games took that nostalgia and turned it into a wholly new experience, albeit with recognisable areas, characters, and Pokemon. It's not just a remaster of the original, but an entire reimagining of a game I grew up with and loved with every fibre of my being.
It's not just a shameless cash grab either. A lot of love and attention has been put into ever single part of the game, and it is an absolute joy to play. And you can dress up your Eevee in a little sailor suit which, let's get real for a sec, is amazing in every single way.
Thank you, Nintendo, for making this possible. I'm so happy I got to relive a part of my childhood in such a smart way, and make new memories with something that had previously been stuck in my mind as hazy fragments from over a decade ago.
Learn more about Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu/Eevee! here.
5
Alto's Odyssey
What game of the year list would be complete without Alto's Odyssey? I now I set out to tell you about games you may have missed this year, but come on now. It's Alto's Odyssey for Christ's sake.
Alto's Odyssey is zen in its purest form. It's an endless runner with one mechanic - jump - which can be held to become a backflip. You grind stuff, bounce on stuff, wallride stuff, but you only need to press one button.
It's gorgeous, utterly gorgeous. Its soundtrack is magnificent. The improvements on Alto's Adventure, while minor, make it that much more interesting and more involved. Everything about it is perfect.
If you haven't played Alto's Odyssey, you're a damned fool. I'm sorry, but it's true. Stop reading this, buy it right now, and play it. And now I'm going to go and have a lie down.
Learn more about Alto's Odyssey here.