Top 10 Canadian-made mobile games
As you're more than likely aware, at the time of posting we're in the throes of our second LaunchPad event. Unlike the first one, however, we're running our event as part of EGLX, an event series created by our Canadian owners, Enthusiast Gaming. How better to celebrate than to take a moment to reflect on some of the greatest mobile games to come out of Canada.
You might be surprised to find out that this is actually an incredibly easy list to make. Canada is one of the world's biggest development scenes, with games following the North American trend of exporting a lot of production to Canadian cities. Much like how a surprising amount of TV shows (X-Files, Battlestar Galactica and Stargate-SG1, to name a few and also firmly paint my viewing habits on my sleeves) were filmed north of the US border, similar has happened with the games industry.
Many of you probably know how big a role Canadian studios play in the AAA console and PC markets, Ubisoft, EA and Warner Brothers all have studios there, and British readers might be surprised to find out that the Fifa Series has been, almost exclusively, developed on that side of the world rather than back at home. But, we're here today to talk about the mobile games which have come from the region - and you might be surprised at some of the games included in the list.
For a start, aside from those developers above, Square Enix, Bioware and Klei Entertainment are all based in the region - that should give you a good teaser as to some of the games to expect on this list as you click through.
Anyway, click on the big blue button below to head on and find out our top ten Canadian developed mobile games.
Alto's Adventure
A 2D auto-runner that oozes style and quality, Alto's Adventure went on to become the new standard for infinite runners, with its daily quests and beautiful visual effects continuing to wow to this day.
Lara Croft GO
While not the first of Square Enix's GO series (that honour goes to Hitman Go) it's definitely the most memorable. It was also, for us, a core part of the Tomb Raider revival which started around two years before, when Tomb Raider was rebooted on consoles and PC.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP has both Canadian developers and publishers, a double-whammy if you will. If you've not dived into the beautiful, enigmatic and low-poly world just yet then you've really been missing out. Set in the time of the ancient Scythians, few games have ever managed to capture such a feeling of awe and adventure.
Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville
Over the years I've played so many games LIKE Rebuild 3, but none that have managed to emulate the sheer organisation and planning that would need to go into rebuilding like this. It's a game of building systems and taking risks at just the right time, and it has a level of balance and careful execution which is normally only found in big box board games.
AdVenture Communist
Sometimes new genres and game types appear slowly, gradually gaining in popularity until they are everywhere. That wasn't the case with the idle and clicker game genres, which seemed to spring up overnight before quickly reinventing themselves tenfold in the months that followed. In 2020 it sometimes feels like more games have idle mechanics built into them than don't, and that's due in part to the raging success of games like Clicker Heroes and AdVenture Communist.
Where AdVenture Communist succeeded was in bringing a thick layer of satire to the genre, in this case parodying the USSR's realisation of the concept of communism. Is it funny? I don't know. But it was certainly notable and memorable.
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
You can only have a list of Canadain developed games go on for so long before a Bioware (or, in this case, Bioware successor Beamdog) title makes its way into the list. Baldur's Gate II was one of the most important cRPGs when it first launched, pushing the genre into new spaces and captivating millions. On touch screen it is, simply put, so much better, and the Enhanced Edition content and finesse really pull the whole package together.
Dead by Daylight Mobile
Featuring Spooky Stabberson, Dave Guillotine, Johnny Disembowelment and the rest of the Murder Gang, Dead by Daylight Mobile is a handheld take on the award-winning 4-vs-1 asynchronous horror multiplayer game. Unfortunately, it doesn't' actually feature any of the Murder Gang line-up, mainly because it doesn't need to, they have basically every major horror IP tied to it now.
It's a great, tense experience which promotes clever tactics and, in the case of the squishy civilians, teamwork.
Severed
When we look back at the history of the games which made mobile, and indeed the Nintendo DS, take off as successful gaming platforms it all comes down to how the games used the touch screen. Severed is a fantastic example of how to use the touch screen successfully, with the hero - a one-armed warrior - swiping their enemies based on your input. Much like other games from DrinkBox Studios (Tales from Space, Guacamelee!) you can spot Severed because of its fantastic art style, but it's more than just a looker with great controls; The RPG mechanics are succinct and memorable too.
Don't Starve: Pocket Edition
Gathering, crafting and horrible spiders. That's how I remember my earliest plays of Don't Starve, Klei Entertainment's long-running survival game. The game has gone on to be so much more than a moody, roguelite, survive-the-night game now, with masses of updates adding more and more to the game over the years that have passed.
Sneaky Sasquatch
Sneaky Sasquatch is almost certainly one of the collective Pocket Gamer Apple Arcade favourites. It's an unstructured open-world experience rife with potential for chaos, and it gets bigger and bigger every month as the developer continues to add more areas and items to the game.
Don't let its cutesy appearance fool you, there's plenty of room for fun and chaos in Sneaky Sasquatch. It's truly astounding.
