It's that time of year again! Join us as we highlight some of the best mobile games of this past year.

Before diving into picks and talking about games, I just need to say that 2023 felt like a real turning point for gaming on iOS, and not in a good way. This year, I played what feels like fewer mobile games than ever, and I chalk quite a bit up to what the reality of mobile gaming is now, which--with a few exceptions--looks a lot like "run with a subscription model or die."

More than ever, the App Store looks like the nightmare marketplace everyone previously (and somewhat prematurely) made it out to be. There's a small sliver of games that are actually worth your time and attention, and many of those are now just solid but unexciting safe bets, many of which you are asked to pay for on a recurring basis to have access to.

This is the headspace I'm in heading in to these awards, so it feels less like the celebration of mobile gaming that it should be. Still, though, there are things I played that I think other people should also check out. So, with that, the awards will roll in piecemeal across this week and wrap up just before we turn over to 2024. See below for the honorifics:

The Categories

• Best Old Game
• Best Portrait Mode Game
• Best Music
• Best Style
• Best Multiplayer
• Best Story
• Best Game

For each of these categories, I'll choose a winner and mention some notable runner-ups. Any game nominated or chosen for any of these cateories is then eligible for the final category, Best Game, which is the culminating category where I will construct a ranked list of my favorite games from this year.

In most circumstances if you drove into the sea, you would consider that quite the error and it would ruin your day, however, this is exactly what Nexon is encouraging with the 23rd season of KartRider Rush+. Abyss will introduce the customary new karts, racers, and circuits.

You will be able to hit some new underwater tracks such as Into the Sea and Coastal Cruise, behind the wheel of waterlogged karts like the Ocean Burst and Hydra, which is such a cool name. It is so good in fact, that it makes the legendary kart for this season sound like quite the letdown.

XD Games is continuing the season of celebration with a brand new season launching for Torchlight: Infinite on December 28th. Twinightmare, a rather love-it-or-hate-it type of name, will feature new challenges and events, and will bring with it the tenth playable hero of the hit dungeon crawler.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way, you need to buy the Season Pass for the newest hero; Rosa the High Court Chariot. What you get for your money is a walking brick wall, as Rosa is a highly defense champion. Her Holy Domain Skill transforms her into an unstoppable chariot, steamrolling through foes and imparting on them a powerful curse.

The greatest gift of the holiday season isn't family, food, or even that shiny new console. It is, of course, a new summoner class on MU Origin 3. The Diviner is a natural-born leader, capable of suppressing enemies, assisting allies, and keeping itself buffed up whilst also wrecking enemies, and isn't that the true meaning of Christmas?

Whenever the Diviner attacks, they impose the Contained state on their target, lowering this victim's stats and also inflicting Snare. Crowd-controlling these will lead to additional damage and buffs for the Diviner, and you will even be getting beneficial effects based on the number of surrounding teammates. Finally, when casting Defense Elimination Skills you will heal yourself and lower the cooldown time of other classes’ skills.

When you hear that Hutch has released its newest title, NASCAR Manager, for pre-registration, you might think well, how hard can that be, you just keep shouting go straight. In reality, there is a lot more that goes on under the hood, during during and around races, and this is the perfect way to get involved.

As NASCAR is incredibly beloved, it is the USA's number one motorsport, you need some experts behind it to make sure the game stacks up. Well, with smash hits like F1 Clash, Top Drives and Forza Customs behind them, Hutch has that experience in spades. Basically, if you want a vehicle game on mobile, this developer should be near the top of your list.

Just because the world is ending, supplies are tight, and you can only go into specific Exclusion Zones for fear the apocalypse will eat you, it doesn’t mean it isn’t Christmas in the world of Last Light! Celebrate the season with special aesthetics and a new event to forget the horrors for just a little while.

When you think of this more festive of times, one of the first things to come to mind is reindeer with big red noses. Unfortunately, they have all been tied to sleighs or enrolled on flying courses, so NetEase has had to improvise, introducing the Golden Deer Hunt instead. Close enough.

Resident Evil 4 comes to iOS today, and we've taken video of the entire free portion that is available to let you see it in action and get a sense of how this new version fares. The short version is, this game feels an awful lot like the port job of Resident Evil Village, albeit with a modern classic, as opposed to a game that feels like a dated also-ran.

Read on below if you want more detailed perspective on Resident Evil 4 on iOS. Otherwise, you can look through the video to see it in action along with some light captions reflecting on the play session.

After a stunning nine years of up-time, you would expect that Kabam has released and re-released every Marvel character you can think of for the mobile fighter Contest of Champions. Now, though, the developers are digging up some old favourites from history, and bringing them up to date.

A few years back, fans might remember the Defenders, monochrome versions of characters you could slap around. Kabam is bringing these back, reworking their old kit to give them a competitive edge in the modern meta, which they are dubbing remixes, and naming them the Deathless.

Summoners War: Sky Arena is getting into the festive spirit, and releasing a rather heavenly update. Players can add two adorable cherubs to their team, and then take part in two new events with a host of delightful prizes to be won.

Undoubtedly the most fascinating part of this update is the new monster; Twin Angels. What makes these so enticing is the fact that both of these individuals are controllable. They share the same HP and Attack bar but can perform one skill each. The strategic options this opens up are mind-boggling, especially considering there are five elemental versions to collect.

If you want to build around your heavy hitter, the Fire Twins can use Horn of Charge to increase an ally’s Attack Bar, and then use Horn of Fesitval to decrease their skill cooldown by a turn to whip out your nuke that much quicker and more often. Or if you want to completely rampage, have the Wind Cherubs increase your whole team's attack speed, then decrease all your enemy's speed in the same turn. They can also deal damage, but having two buffs or debuffs a turn is game-breaking.

After you have finished controlling every battlefield you step on and look in your inventory, you will notice you've picked up a few Golden Holiday Decorations, courtesy of the eponymous collection event. Until January 7th you can collect these and exchange them for a Five-Star Rainbowmon, Grindstones, Ancient Coins, and more shiny prizes.

The Monster Update Special will also be running, but retiring slightly earlier on January 1st. As you draw Monsters, hoping to get those Twin Angels no doubt, you shall be receiving points; 1 for a three-star monster and 15 for four and above. Rack these up, and then trade them for Mystical and Legendary Scrolls, to use them to try to summon a five-star and repeat the process.

Summoners War: Sky Arena is available to download now from the App Store and Google Play.

The wait is almost over, as A Plus Japan and Perfect World open pre-registration for their upcoming cross-platform, action game One Punch Man: World. Launching January 31st, players will be able to get closer to the world-famous anime and manga series than ever before.

A host of fan-favourite characters will be available to recruit and play as, including the likes of Speed-O-Sound Sonic, Puri-Puri Prisoner, Genos, and of course the titular Caped Baldy himself, Saitama. You will come across memorable villains such as Subterranean King and Mosquito Girl in your travels, so pick your favourite and get training.

It has been 100 days since Seven Knights Idle Adventure expanded Netmarble's iconic franchise, and that is as good a reason as any to celebrate. Running until December 27th, players can get their hands on a bevvy of rewards for free, including seven heroes.

By simply logging in, you will notch up marks on the 100th Day Anniversary Celebration Special Check-in Event, and for seven days you will get one hero, ending up with Rudy, Dellons, Chris, Eileene, Java, Spike, and Rachel. It's well worth whipping your phone out every 24 hours.

The news that E3 has closed its doors for good is very sad. It was an institution, but on the other hand, step aside, as everything you need to know about gaming is available right now, thanks to the Pocket Gamer Awards 2023. Over 350,000 of you rabid fans came together to knight the best of the best in mobile.

You can have the best game in the world, but it is nothing without a strong following, and that’s what the Best Community Award is for. Devsisters have done excellent work making Cookie Run: Kingdom inviting thanks to their humour, and Pokemon Go is all about the community, but they were both foiled by Midoki’s Knighthood, and it's hard to disagree.

It was always going to be interesting to see which way NetEase Games went with its RPG Vikingard after the obvious collaboration with hit TV show Vikings ended. We now have the answer, and it is a bit of a surprise, as we have an announcement of a new team-up with Arthurian Legends.

Until January 6th, the Fharun clan finds themselves facing a cataclysmic threat with their land cursed by a spell of endless frost and cold, threatening all crops and life. On their journey to find a cure, the Vikings stumble upon Merlin and Gawain, who are coincidentally hunting the witch who cast the spell, to rescue King Arthur who is in a magical sleep after Excalibur shattered in a frozen lake.

If you have ever dreamed of swinging big hammers around, I recommend therapy, or you can indulge your intrusive thoughts with the new Demolisher class in Blade and Soul Revolution. Netmarble is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its open-world RPG in style, with this new way to play and some in-game events.

Let’s focus on the main offering first; the Demolisher. As you may expect from pretty much every game with a Warhammer-type weapon, this hammer-wielder is slow to attack but hits like a truck when they connect. To compensate, you can inflict a Tripshot on enemies to slow them down to make sure you can properly flatten them.

Fontaine has finally overcome a fairly turbulent time and it's time to get back to the important things in Genshin Impact. Version 4.3, Roses and Muskets, will kick off December 20th and bring Travelers to one of the nation's most important events; the Fontinalia Festival.

This year will include a unique film festival, honouring the legendary Lochknights who introduced the previous Hydro Archon, Egeria, the Fontaine. A team consisting of the Traveler, renowned Chioriya Boutique fashion designer Chiori, the Kasmisato siblings, and, of course, Paimon will come together to work on a special film.