32 mobile indie games from the UK you have to look at
Our round-up of the Very Big Indie Pitch from PGC London 2019
London is the capital of England, and therefore one of the main hubs of activity when it comes to game development. From the beautiful Monument Valley to the brilliant racing games from Hutch Games, there's plenty of indies around making wonderful games on mobile.
It's always a joy to be the first to see a new indie game, to get your hands on an innovative title from a small studio way before it becomes the next big thing. Imagine being the first person to play Reigns or Florence.
That's why we set up the Big Indie Pitch. It's our regular international competition for indie developers. We run about 20 of them a year, all around the world, and they're a chance for local studios and individuals to show us what they're working on. There are prizes, sure. But the real winner is you, dear reader, who gets an exclusive glimpse at the underground hits of tomorrow.
Not so long ago, we held one of these much-celebrated BIPs at PGC London 2019, our biggest and best event of the year, where mobile developers from all over the world gather to share their ideas about mobile games and show off their wares to our judges.
The clear winner was Run An Empire, a unique title that combines building up your own kingdom with physical activity, encouraging you to get up and go running in order to acquire land for your empire.
But there's so much more than that, covering a wide genre of games to boot. Expect RPGs, endless runners, and a game where you play as a supervillain's cat. That one's really good.
Want to take part yourself? Check out the Big Indie Pitch website for a list of all the upcoming pitches, and find out how you can get your game in front of our panel of judges.
1
Run An Empire
By Location Games
Run An Empire has you doing just that - building up and maintaining your own empire. You'll need to hire workers, build up your civilization, and fight your opponents to conquer their empires.
But wait, there's more! You gather resources by getting active in the real world - running, jogging, and walking will grow your land using GPS to track your location.
2
White Paw
By Radical Forge
In White Paw, you play as a villain…'s cat. You need to navigate your way through your owner's lair to find out what the heck is going on and where he's got to.
Interestingly, it's a puzzle game at heart, with you using a deck of movement cards to position yourself around the grid and navigate the various traps and tricks of the world.
3
Makeone
By Sung Jin Kim
Inspired by 2048, Makeone has you sliding hex-shaped blocks together to clear the board down to just one block.
Each combination increases the point value of the block, and you can only match blocks of the same value, so you need to make sure you're matching the right blocks at the right time to clear the board.
4
Wreckout
By Huey Games
Like Rocket League crossed with Breakout, Wreckout has you and a friend racing around on a tiny arena trying to grab a giant ball and smash their blocks before they can do the same to you.
The ball can be fired off from behind your car and into the blocks, or you can just ram the damn thing into your opponent's base. It's silly, magnificent fun.
5
Dead Man's Phone
By Electric Noir Studios
Dead Man's Phone is what A Normal Lost Phone would be if you were also solving crimes and interrogating criminals while digging through a phone.
You'll need to find pieces of evidence within texts, image galleries, and internet searches, then use those to interrogate people and solve the crime, making sure you get the right person banged up.
Dead Man's Phone from Electric Noir Studios on Vimeo.
6
Danger Pants
By Deer Cat
A silly roguelike, Danger Pants has you using a variety of trousers to upgrade your attacks and dole out hella damage at anything that stands in your path.
There's items to grab, bizarre enemies to fight, and dinosaurs to ride. It's all encased in a beautiful art style that feels familiar and unique at the same time.
7
Catpocalyspe Meow
By Fraxel Games
Take Cuphead, make it more of a children's drawing, and you've got something close to Catpocalypse Meow, the side-scrolling shooter from Fraxel Games.
You'll be running and gunning your way through various worlds as drawn by your in-game child main character, before facing off against massive bosses that will take everything you've got to take down.
8
Irradiant Core
By Sekvensoft
An action-shooter with real-time strategy elements, Irradiant Core sees you controlling a variety of tanks and turrets through a war-torn battlefield, trying desperately to destroy everything in your path.
Alongside all that, there'll be the chance to level up your units and give them new gear to make them deadlier, and multiplayer is being considered further down the line, so you can fight off your friends too.
9
Zombie Rocks!
By SinisterSoft
Braaaaains! You need to eat as many as you can find, all while digging around in the mud and avoiding getting crushed by falling rocks, Dig Dug style.
You can also play two-player on one phone, which is kind of tricky but very interesting. Death comes swiftly if you suck, so, uh, don't!
10
KamiCritters
By NeoNight KamiCritters is an ambitious idea - you're not just collecting animals for use in one game, but across a wide range of games to be launched in the future. The first game, KamiDrop, is a simple endless faller - think an endless runner, except with falling instead of running. It also features a wealth of cute creatures to collect, which is definitely a good thing.
Our #MobileGame was fully funded in only 3 hours! Check out KamiDrop and play today for as little as $2! https://t.co/VaJVU0DCyP pic.twitter.com/kwn3hIxv2D— KamiCritters (@KamiCritters) June 10, 2017
11
Sum Fun
By Greg Sharpe
Sum Fun is a maths-focused puzzle game designed to train your brain in short bursts, but in a low-pressure kind of way.
Each puzzle has multiple solutions, and while better players can solve the puzzles in the minimum number of moves, beginners are free to finish whenever they choose.
A heartwarming update for Sum Fun! https://t.co/VxbDCZoWSS #math #STEM #puzzles #SumFun #iphone #ipad #france #paris pic.twitter.com/120b49eakt— Greg Sharpe (@aflat_) July 14, 2016
12
VideoPirate
By Octocot
VideoPirate throws you right back into the '80s, with you in charge of your very own VHS shop - except you're not just renting out videos, but pirating them yourself.
Using your phone, you need to move around and "tune in" to various TV stations, collecting scenes onto a pirated VHS that you then sell to unwitting customers. Things were a lot tougher before the Internet.
13
The Flute
By Opus Ludus
The Flute is a story-driven puzzle-adventure focused around the Mozart opera Magic Flute, using the actual plot and music of the opera to tell the story.
In terms of gameplay, it's a 2D platformer with you playing a variety of different characters, each with their own mechanics and special abilities to help defeat any enemies that you cross paths with.
14
Chess World AR
By Beloudest
Like chess, but wish you could have the board in front of you? But also don't have a board to play with, and/or someone to play with? Chess World AR has you covered.
You can play online or locally with another person, and a third person can watch the whole thing and capture it for streaming purposes, which is actually a super cool idea.
Playing #AugmentedReality chess on a beautiful spring day with our Indian Empire themed set. Public BETA coming soon with player vs player modes. Please comment if you wish to join the Beta.#Chess #boardgames #gaming #AR pic.twitter.com/ZhcpLN6KvH— Chess World AR (@ChessWorldAR) February 25, 2019
15
Brain Annihilation
By Salamantiga
It may sound like a futuristic shooter, but Brain Annihilation actually wants to break your noggin through a collection of tricky 3D puzzles.
You need to guide a glowing spark through a tube, playing with physics and looking at the playing field from multiple angles to find your way to the goal.
16
MouseHunt World
By HitGrab Inc.
"Think Pokemon GO, but with a storyline and the ability to catch whimsical creatures all over the glove" says the developer about MouseHunt World.
An extension of its previous MouseHunt games, this title sees you going out into the real-world to collect mice using a variety of traps that are at your disposal.
17
Haiku Adventure
By Small Island Games
A poetic point-and-click adventure game, Haiku Adventure pins its story around the titular poetry style, and asks you to prevent a volcano from going off and destroying everything.
With an art style so unique that it's currently being shown off in a gallery in London, this is definitely a treat for the eyes, and an experience for those who like to write poetry and save the world at the same time.
18
Galactic Soccer
By Panic Barn Ltd
Remember Tiki Taka Soccer? Now it's going into outer space with Galactic Soccer, a Switch-based edition of the fast-paced football game.
You'll be leveling up your players and improving your campus to ensure you can take down the galaxy with your squad, and there's even eight-player multiplayer on one Switch so all your friends can join in on the action.
Play Galactic Soccer by @PanicBarn???? during the #CourageXL Premixer at GDC. Selected by @VlaamsAVFonds & @FlandersDC.
Get your CourageXL ticket here: https://t.co/41j2Nh7WGG #gdc19 #gdc2019 #gdcparty pic.twitter.com/V8H8c51hLT— Super Menno Monster (@DeenMenno) February 22, 2019
19
Kryss - The Battle of Words
By Crozzle
Kryss takes crosswords and makes them two-player, allowing you to take on players from around the world and chat with them to get in their head as you play.
Only instead of just finding words, you'll also be placing letters into the crossword grid to make new words to be found.
20
FEER
By Mental Home e.U.
An endless runner designed for the visually impaired, FEER is a sort-of horror game played out in first-person view across three tracks which you'll need to switch between to grab the right collectibles.
21
EdgeFlip .Puzzle & Adventure
By Lume Studio
What if life was like a Rubik's cube? That's what EdgeFlip wants to know - a puzzle game that has you sliding rows and columns of the level to create a safe passage for your character to run along in order to reach the end of each stage.
Expect boss battles aplenty to keep you on your toes and new mechanics introduced in each world as you progress.
22
FACEPLAY
By Dongkwam Kim
FACEPLAY, as you might have worked out by now, is a game you can play with your face.
Tilt and turn to spin your character around and shoot an endless horde of enemies, preventing them from getting too close and killing you.
23
S4GE
By Playtra
Inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics, S4GE is a turn-based strategy RPG played on a hex-grid starring a cast of adorable, cube-ish creatures that are battling it out for reasons unknown.
The developers say that it's going to guarantee hours of fun for players both old and new, and offer plenty of challenge for veterans while being simple enough for newcomers to the genre to understand.
24
Beeper
By Lamp Ant Games
Censorship is bad, but when it's your job, you've got to give it your best shot. In Bleeper, that's exactly what you're doing - bleeping out sections of TV shows before they air to keep in line with your country's censorship policy.
Designed to be played by people with visual impairments, it requires just one button to play, with players listening out for objectionable scenes before pressing the button to scrub said dialogue out before it gets aired to the nation.
25
Chain Lightning
By Jani Gröhn
Chain Lightning tasks you with tapping balls of lightning as they bounce around the screen, attempting to rack up as many points as you can before you're overwhelmed with rogue balls.
You can level up certain abilities after your run has ended to make things easier in future, giving you the opportunity to rack up some truly high scores.
26
Loot Hunt Go
By Project Loot
"Pokemon GO meets Hearthstone and the Blockchain" says Project Loot about its location-based mobile title.
You'll be fighting creatures you stumble across in the real world in a card-based battle, eventually winning prizes stored on the blockchain.
27
Kaijack: Card Attack
By Arcane Circus
The Crap! I'm Broke devs are back with a blackjack-style game about giant monsters attacking cities and fighting each other… in card games.
You'll need to strategise and bet effectively if you have any hope of winning each round of battle and being granted the ability to destroy the entire city that lies before you.
28
Yardin: Rise of the Scavengers
By Amazing Soul Games
A four-player, 2D platform-shooter, Yardin: Rise of the Scavengers tasks you with dodging around, trying to blast your friends to death in deadly combat. Think Towerfall: Ascension but in the future and you're almost there.
29
Chickens
By Wacko Software
A puzzle game involving chickens, evil ducks, complicated junctions, and lots and lots of coloured eggs. It even comes with a built-in level editor so you can make your own levels you can play and share with others.
The chickens must negotiate their way through a series of complicated spaghetti junctions of pipes (which are controlled by the player) in order to reach the end of the game.
30
Lazzzers
By Jomoho Games
Lazzzers is a puzzle game in which you solve levels by manipulating colored laser beams to hit targets in the right color.
The laser beams come in the colors red green blue and white and can be mixed, split, filtered and redirected.
31
Playerless: One Button Adventure
By Moonlit
This truly is a one-button adventure game - Playerless lets you make choices for your character by tapping on the screen to rotate between options, and hold your thumb to the screen to make the selection.
It also has a pretty interesting storyline, focusing on a sentient AI that knows you're controlling it, all while you're trying to fix the game world within the game.
32
Idol Boss
By Add Inspiration
Sadly there was no info on Idol Boss available, so here's some info about Add Inspiration's Rooster Booster instead:
"This is an idle clicker in which you'll need to swipe a screen of chickens to collect their eggs and rack up that sweet, sweet money.
You can build new rooms to unlock more chickens to tickle, and it looks silly enough to keep you smiling as you swipe."
