We’ve played a lot of games over the past year and now it’s time to look back. In our opinion, these are the best iOS games of 2019.
iPhoned picks: best iOS games 2019
Every month we pick five games from the App Store that are worth your time and money. Now is the time to look back at which games were really the best in 2019. We do that with a combination of regular games and Apple Arcade games.
15. Black Desert Mobile
It is remarkable how complete this MMO (massive multiplayer online game) is. Black Desert Online was already successful on PC, but the game also works great on your smartphone. As a player, you get the choice in how much you want to control yourself. After all, you can give up something. You can customize your character to your liking with a whole lot of possibilities, and everything looks really crazy.
14. Mario Kart Tour
Mario Kart Tour isn’t the game fans of the Nintendo series had hoped for, but once you let that go, it’s a damn fun racing game with new stuff being added all the time. You won’t get bored with all those new tracks, challenges and characters to collect.
13. KIDS
In fifteen minutes this art project provides a commentary on peer pressure, by putting you as a player in the middle of it. Jump through the black hole and experience it for yourself. KIDS is a unique game that will remain in your head for a long time to come.
12. Mini Motorways (Apple Arcade)
Mini Metro was a fun game where you build subway lines as if it were a map of London, with stations, tracks and people getting from A to B. The Apple Arcade game Mini Motorways has a similar concept, but with roads and packages to be delivered. That starts off calming, but quickly becomes very challenging.
11. Sky: Children of the Light
The makers of Journey are going big with Sky: Children of the Light. The game takes you to different beautiful worlds, where you float through and solve puzzles together with other players. Sky: Children of the Light is a magical game full of beauty, about discovery and wonder.
10. The Gardens Between
The Gardens Between is a smart puzzle game. Two characters travel across small islands. They do this over fixed paths, but clumsy obstacles prevent them from continuing. As a player you have control over time. By turning it back and forth, and making small adjustments, you help the duo to the end of each level. The game also looks very nice.
9. Card of Darkness (Apple Arcade)
Gamemaker Zach Gage has created his most ambitious project to date with Card of Darkness. As an adventurer, you venture into dungeons to get as far as possible. In these dungeons you will find piles of cards. These cards consist of enemies, weapons, money, magic spells and life potions. Do you know how to choose the right one? With a combination of thinking and luck, this game will stay fun for a long time.
8. Mosaic (Apple Arcade)
In Mosaic you play a boring man, with a boring life. But suddenly something changes, when he spits out a goldfish after brushing his teeth. What follows is a special game that has something to say about finding wonder in everyday life.
7. Count Lies
In this game you have to reveal the truth in a unique way. You do this by searching video fragments using keywords. You can find those words by studying the fragments carefully and taking notes. The game not only stands out because of this special way of playing, but the acting is also top notch.
6. Manifold Garden (Apple Arcade)
Manifold Garden throws all the rules around level design overboard. Normally you are stuck within the boundaries made, but in Manifold Garden every barrier is gone. If you fall down, you will automatically return to where you just stood. Add to that the ability to reverse gravity and you have a game like no other.
5. Journey
Earlier in this list you came across Sky: Children of the Light. That game is from the same makers as Journey. The similarities are also quite clear. Still, Journey is higher on this list, as it is one of the most wonderful short play experiences out there. No piles of worlds and countless other players, just your journey to the mountain with possibly one other person. A journey you will never forget.
4. Minit
What can you achieve in sixty seconds? A whole lot! In the game Minit you die after every minute, but within that time you can still learn new things every time or get something permanent done. This concept has been worked out so well that it deserves a high place in our list.
3. GRIS
Every time we hear the name GRIS, we think back to the beautiful, scenic visuals in this game. As a woman with an unknown trauma you set out in a wonderful world. Changing your dress into different shapes will help you progress. The game isn’t difficult, but that’s not the point. Experience this wonderful game and you will not soon forget this experience.
2. Call of Duty Mobile
Call of Duty Mobile is the best shooter ever made for smartphones. With an excellent deathmatch mode for short games of blasting fun, but also an extensive battle royale mode for longer work. Call of Duty Mobile stands out mainly because of the wonderful controls, but the rest of the game is also just right. Our expectations were low after the announcement, but Activision has left us nothing short of stunned.
1. What the Wave? (Apple Arcade)
Call of Duty: Mobile was a nice surprise this year, but What the Golf? let us truly stun every level. In this golf game your goal is of course to hit the ball into the hole in the large amount of levels. But the ball is not always a ball and the hole is not a hole. What the Wave? throws the rules overboard every time. This results in the best game of the year that you play from start to finish with a smile on your face.
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