My 10 best games of the past 10 years - Matt Diener
'The Token American' condenses a decade of mobile play into the absolute essentials
As part of the 'PG 10th anniversary' fun this March, we've blackmailed former PG members into giving us a quick rundown of their favourite ten games of the past ten years. (We've also asked them to relive their PG moments, Matt included.)
They've not been asked to rank these so don't take the order below as set in stone. Rather, think of these games as a collection of digital experiences that will enrich your life, taking you to a place you didn't think you'd ever get to.
Alternatively, you could look through the list and mock their choices.
Create your own listIf you do disagree, here's the magic bit: you can give us your list.
See the 'Create your own Top List' button at the bottom of the article? It's not a trick. Click on that button and the rest should prove relatively straightforward.
You'll need to be registered with PG (and logged in) if you aren't yet.
(You can also create lists from within your Pocket Gamer user profile, at the bottom of the 'Logged in as [x]' dropdown menu.)
You can list your all-time favourite portable games, your favourite endless runners, shooters, candy-covered-pony-featuring titles, or even your favourite game making studios.
We all love lists. Share your thoughts and you can soon see your selection on the PG site.
What's all this, then? The Pocket Gamer 10th anniversary is a month-long celebration of the last decade of mobile games running March 10th - April 10th and featuring a stream of retrospective articles and fun stuff, supported by our friends at Gram Games, Gamevil, JoyCity, Rovio, Nordeus, and Ninja Kiwi. Head over to the PG 10th anniversary homepage for more information.
1
Angry Birds
Like The Beatles, tail fins on muscle cars, or a carefully groomed handlebar mustache, it's a classic for a reason. Love or lump the spinoffs that followed, the original almost single-handedly legitimized mobile as a popular gaming platform.
2
The Room
A brilliant puzzle game that really couldn't exist on another platform (at the time - it'd be brilliant in VR!). Fireproof took a fun, casual platform and really showed what it was capable of.
3
Chaos Rings
Square Enix recognized mobile gaming as a thing way back in the clickwheel days of iPods, so it should come as no surprise that they'd release the absolute best, original turn-based JRPG that they the platform's seen to date.
4
Flight!
This is a weird one. It's a simple 'endless' style game staring a paper airplane, but it tells a beautiful, heartfelt story along the way. Definitely a b-side, but one I'd recommend to anyone.
5
Hearthstone
Does it work better on PC? Maybe. But Blizzard did a terrific job emulating the tactile experience of placing cards on the board and did some truly remarkable things with the UI to make it workable on an iPhone's smaller screen.
6
Miku Flick /02
The Project Diva line of rhythm games rank among the best available on whatever platform they appear on, and Miku Flick's sharp graphics, bright tunes, and fun challenge make it an essential purchase for rhythm game junkies on the go.
7
Year Walk
I played this one during a particularly snowy February weekend in New Jersey and wound up sleeping with every light in the house on thanks to Simogo.
8
Lili
Maybe it was the excellently crafted game world full puzzle, or maybe it was because the gameplay was almost completely lacking in overt violence, but Bitmonster's oddball RPG stayed with me over the years.
9
Final Fantasy VI (mobile)
I said it in my review and I'll say it again here: I have a giant tattoo of the FF6 logo on my body, I've played through the game (now) 12 times across 5 different platforms, and the mobile port is the best version available to date. Do I miss the old 16-bit sprites? Sure. But the improvements to game mechanics and timeless story make it a must-play experience.
10
Lara Croft GO
I'm not a huge Tomb Raider fan, so I didn't think this would appeal to me. How wrong I was! The puzzle gameplay is some of the best you'll find in mobile gaming and it succeeds in feeling like a Tomb Raider game despite being a complete new experience.
