Pocket Gamer 20th anniversary: Eldritch fishing, horse girls, and bald assassins
It was a varied year, to say the least
Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached the end of our trip down memory lane. If this is the first time you've tuned in, we've spent this month looking back at each year of Pocket Gamer's existence to celebrate its 20th anniversary. And it's been fun, but all good things must come to an end as we bow out with 2025. Well, actually, we have one more article tomorrow that features all the lovely folks who work here, so I am being a tad melodramatic. Anyway, let's get into it. One last time!
In film, the likes of Sinners, Weapons, and One Battle After Another were all critical darlings, receiving plaudits left, right and centre. Did that mean they took the top spots at the box office? Of course not. That's rarely how it works. Instead, it was stuff like Jack Black saying Chicken Jockey in Minecraft or a needless live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch that earned the big bucks. I'm not mad about it. Honestly.
As for music, Chappel Roan's Pink Pony Club finally became a hit after initially releasing in 2020, proving the value of persistence. Elsewhere, Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter continued their reign at the top of the industry. I wasn't listening to any of them, naturally. If you've read any of these articles, you'll have figured out that pop music isn't my preferred genre. Instead, I was enjoying Ghost's latest effort, Skeletá and Sabaton's Legends. Apparently, it was a year for theatrical metal in my world.
Over in video game land, there were a few surprise big hitters. Sandfall Interactive's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 came along and won everyone's hearts with its stunning soundtrack and beautiful visual design. It also added quick time events to its turn-based combat, which, while not an entirely new thing, added a skill element to battles that made you feel constantly involved. Elsewhere, Donkey Kong Bananza became a Switch 2 seller and Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launched, making many people extremely happy, including our own Will Quick.
On mobile, the free-to-play cash cows continued to pay dividends while we saw an influx of amazing ports, including a triple-A game! All in all, a great year, so let's not waste any more time and see what was released, shall we?
Dredge
I'd only just finished playing Dredge on PS5 when it was announced for mobile. I'd thoroughly enjoyed every minute, though I believe I took the wrong message from it. My dream shouldn't now be to own a small boat and bob around on the water occasionally fishing up eldritch nightmares from the depths. And yet, here we are. Hey, the developers shouldn't have made the vibes so impeccable. Anyway, when it came to mobile, it merely gave me another excuse to play it again, and I was thrilled that Black Salt successfully made a fantastic port. If the unusual mix of relaxing and creepy calls to you, certainly give it a try.Umamusume: Pretty Derby
Where to begin with this one? Umamusume: Pretty Derby is a horse racing simulator, of sorts, except that your noble steeds are actually all cute anime girls. Actually, that's not too hard to describe. It's just delightfully mad. First gaining ludicrous popularity in Japan, it eventually made its way to English-speaking shores, where people were initially baffled and then enamoured with everything Pretty Derby had to offer. Even our resident cynic, Iwan Morris, got involved.
Spooky Express
While Dredge's combination of creepy and relaxing is a little unusual, cute and slightly scary are a lot more common. Stick a vampire in a train, make everything look like a cute board game piece, and suddenly, horror is adorable. That's the exact approach Spooky Express takes with its aesthetic before challenging you to complete puzzles that involve picking up passengers in the titular locomotive.Bloomtown: A Different Story
Thanks to Stranger Things, a group of kids battling against the forces of evil while still retaining some childlike innocence is currently in vogue. At least, it certainly inspired Bloomtown: A Different Story, a life sim meets RPG that follows a bunch of friends as they battle against rogue demons. And while it has nostalgia-inducing pixel graphics, there are dark themes at play here, so it's not one for the faint-hearted.
Timelie
The minimalist isometric puzzler isn't anything new on mobile, with Monument Valley being the most prominent example. However, that doesn't mean more aren't welcome, particularly when they involve an adorable feline companion as Timelie does. Alongside your kitty compadre, you need to escape a scientific facility where all manner of time-based experiments are taking place. That might be an easy task if not for the numerous, deadly robots milling about.Songs of Conquest
It's often thought that the strategy scene on mobile is fairly light on the tactical side of things. While I could argue why that's not the case using numerous examples, in this instance, I'll just stick to one: Songs of Conquest. Why not offer up a bigger list? Because, in many ways, this is all the strategy you'll ever need since it'll provide hours upon hours of battles and story to enjoy. If that's not enough, check out Dann's extensive review to learn more.
Hitman: World of Assassination
Every now and then, something releases on mobile that makes you stop to think about how far the platform has come in... I don't know, say twenty years. Hitman: World of Assassination is one such example. This isn't a mobile interpretation of the series like the wonderful Hitman Go. It's a full-fledged console port from a triple-A studio you can carry around in your pocket. Okay, sure, it's only available on the fanciest of iPhones, leaving Android users who are fans of assassins and bald men wanting, but still, you can play it on mobile! That's wild.