The three most interesting mobile games we saw at Korea's Gamescom pavilion

• There were plenty of great games at Gamescom 2026, not least at the Korean pavilion
• Ranging from Survivors-likes to short but sweet puzzlers, it was a great find
• So let's dig into the three major mobile games on display

One of the more understated parts of Gamescom’s show is the country pavilions. While it’s easy to get lost in a maze of merch, business deals and cosplay, these pavilions help to highlight smaller developers from a specific region. And alongside Morocco (more on them later), it was the Korean pavilion that really caught my attention.

Many of the releases on offer were for PC or other platforms, but out of the maybe dozen showcases there were three upcoming mobile games I think are ones to watch. Or, at the very least, can give you a reason that Korea could be one to watch for mobile games in the future!

Midnight Study

If you’ve listened to this week’s podcast, you already know this was my dark horse pick for mobile at the show. Midnight Study is a roguelike dungeon crawler, with a ricochet-shooting twist. Rather than picking and activating skills and attacks, you need to carefully aim and bounce your projectiles off the walls to hit cards that then activate in turn.

It’s an innovative twist on the formula, and combined with very decent art and creature designs drawn from Korean folklore and urban legends, makes this one to keep an eye on when it does release worldwide. We’ve even covered it before, although actually playing it made me realise how much fun Midnight Study’s particular brand of action could be.

Survival Larva

Based on the popular Larva animated series, which is popular in Korea, this is perhaps one of the least remarkable games at the pavilion. But it’s still well worth looking at, especially if you’re a fan of Survivors-likes. It sees you playing as various cartoonish grubs and bugs from the series, blasting their way through hordes of enemies in typical fashion.

I found it to be a fairly average Survivors-like, but one which gives an insight into the weird series and setups that Korean audiences are fond of. Worth overlooking other great takes on the Survivors format for? Maybe not, but if you’re at all familiar with the Larva TV series, it may be worth dipping your toes into.

Arrows & Cats

This simple puzzler that sees you rescuing and collecting cats comes to us from developer Nanali Studios, who’ll be instantly recognisable to some of you for working on Forest Island (which was their main marketing highlight as shown above), the animal-themed puzzler, way back in 2021. Arrows & Cats follows a different format, challenging you to tap arrows that unwind around a trapped cat, but be careful because you’ll need to do them in the correct order so they don’t crash into another arrow.

Arrows & Cats is another game; it’s difficult to describe, but it's really engaging once you play it. There are shades of Cats & Soup as you collect new felines to join your hub area, as well as gradually placing new items and furniture for them to interact with. All this, built around a simple but engaging puzzle premise, makes Arrows & Cats well worth checking out.

These are just a sampling of some of the great mobile games out there. And if you want to find more, why not dig into our list of the best mobile games of 2026 (so far) for some of our other favourite picks?