According to App Annie stats, in 20213 there were only 7 mobile games with revenues of $100 million (or more) annually (PDF). Fast forward to 2021 and there were 7 mobile games with revenues of $100 million or more… a month. Mobile gaming is now the dominant form of gaming having accounted for 51% of all revenue in 2021.
Today there are AAA mobile games and numerous tournaments around the world. But a decade ago, in 2013, game developers were still grappling with the bigger displays and more powerful chipsets in smartphones, which were a world apart from the J2ME and Symbian devices that dominated the market a few years earlier.
Touch controls were a focal point, of course, but developers found uses for the various sensors that a typical iPhone or Android had, most notably the accelerometer and GPS. Let’s take a shot of nostalgia and revisit the best games of 2013.
The 9th International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) honored Telltale’s Walking Dead: The Game the game title of the year. This is a story-driven graphic adventure that focused as much on the twists and turns and hard choices as it did on the cinematic cutscenes. Not surprising, Walking Dead it also won in the Excellence in Storytelling category.
Walking Dead: The Game
The jury also nominated two honorable mentions: Zombies, run! AND The devil’s advocate. As you can probably see, zombies were a hot topic a decade ago.
Zombies, run! it was interesting in that it took place in the real world: players took on the role of “Runner 5” and had to actually go out and run while listening to the game’s music and instructions. It tracked you using your phone’s GPS and could trigger a “zombie chase,” requiring you to run at least 10% faster than your normal pace. Basically Strava with zombies.
Zombies, run!
The devil’s advocate it was much more relaxed, a turn-based strategy game with some RPG elements that had a humorous tone, an 80s soundtrack, and a bachelor pad you could upgrade.
The devil’s advocate
The People’s Choice award in the 9th IMGA went to The room of fireproof games. This was a puzzle game that saw the player discover the secrets of a series of increasingly challenging puzzle boxes.
The room
The best social game was candy Crush Saga da Re. The tile-matching game originally launched on Facebook before getting dedicated versions for the major mobile platforms of the time.
candy Crush Saga
Then there was spaceteam, which won the Excellence in Innovation category. This game also had a social aspect: it was a cooperative party game for 2 to 4 players. This was kind of a fast-paced and fun recreation of Star Trek in that players were given a control panel filled with technobabble and had to work together to pilot their ship away from an exploding star.
spaceteam
In the end, the winner of Best Serious Game was, wouldn’t you know, a game about math… Dragon Box Algebra 5+. And yes, it’s for ages 5 and up. This was also a kind of puzzle game as players had to solve various algebraic challenges to unlock new and more challenging levels.
Dragon Box Algebra 5+
Leaving IMGA behind, let’s take a look at what Apple says were the best games of 2013. Ridiculous Fishing – A Redemption Story by indie developer Vlambeer. Using touch and motion controls you can sail a fish hook into the depths to catch as many fish as possible and then toss them into the air (the game is called ridiculous fishing, in other words).
Ridiculous fishing on the iPhone
The best ipad game was Badlands by Frogmind. This is similar to Flappy bird sort of, a side-scrolling adventure that put you in control of a strange flying creature as it tried to make its way through a perilous and bizarre landscape and ever-changing physics.
Badland on the iPad
Honorable mentions went to Device 6an interactive novel/puzzle game hybrid and the sequel to Plants vs zombies.
At the time, the best paid apps on the Apple App Store were Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Temple Rush: Oz AND Plants vs Zombies HD. The free category has been superseded by Temple Rush 2 AND candy Crush Saga. Saga validated the freemium model as it was the highest grossing app in the Store, followed by Supercell’s Clash of clans AND Hay day.
On the Android side of the market, the best apps and games of 2013, voted for by over 1 million users, featured the Knights and dragons action RPG AND Entrance.
Knights and dragons action RPG
Remember Entrance? This was the first game from Niantic, who went on to create the mobile phenomenon that it was Pokemon Go. Entrance laid the groundwork for it: It was a location-based game where players navigated a modified version of the real-world map.
Entrance
What was your favorite mobile game of 2013?
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