The release of Returnal has caused me to revisit this list of the best run-based games on mobile. For the most part, run-based games are really great for mobile, because they provide a lot of depth and satisfying gameplay in a relatively bite-sized package that’s purposely designed for you to play over and over and over again.
Although you might not be able to play Returnal on your phone or tablet (nor would you want to), there are still a bunch of great run-based games on iOS to play. Check out our picks for the best run-based games below:
Ports or coversions of games from one platform to another can be quite tricky. This is especially true when porting games to phones and tablets, as these titles have to be designed with workable touch controls and account for smaller screen sizes.
It’s rare these days for a console or PC game to grace the App Store in a totally unplayable state, but it can be hard to find games that make their transition to mobile look easy. It’s even rarer when a mobile port comes out and it’s just so dang slick it feels better than it did on its original platform, but these games exist. Here are five of them:
With new consoles coming out soon, it's inevitable for folks to want to look back and determine what were the best games that came out across the current console's lifecycle. This process is commonly referred to as picking the best games of the generation, but that terminology is making less and less sense as the games industry expands beyond console hardware and the systems themselves see half-step upgrades.
As silly as it may be as an exercise, I thought it would be fun to go back and look at "this generation" of mobile titles and pick and rank the ten best. In terms of time period, this takes us back to November 2013, which is actually interesting timing for mobile games. It's a world where Flappy Bird already released but hadn't yet become a cultural phenomenon, and the latest and greatest iPhone was the 5S.
Anyway, enough preambling, let's get to the list. See below for the best mobile games of the generation:
Holy Potatoes! We’re In Space? is a great little space-faring adventure, but its combat isn’t always something you want to deal with. Luckily, with a ton of crafting and management systems to take advantage of, you can craft a ship that easily cruise through combat so you can just focus on the best parts of the game: The story and the characters. Here’s how to do exactly that:
If you ask just about anyone to name their absolute “must-buy” mobile games, FTL is bound to be on that list. With an awesome premise, tons of replayability, and a tough-as-nails roguelike sensibility, it’s a game you can fire up at any time just about anywhere and have a good time. With the release of Subset Games’s follow up title, Into The Breach, this week, a lot of people have been wondering if this game has the same potential to be a smash hit on mobile, and the answer is a resounding yes. Here’s why:
It’s great
The first thing you might want to know about Into The Breach is that—as a follow up to FTL—it pretty much completely lives up to the hype. It’s a tightly designed roguelike where you control a team of mecha as they try to defend humanity. For a quick comparison, it feels like someone took Pacific Rim and jammed it into a tiny tactical map that looks like Advance Wars but plays a bit more like Invisible Inc., where all of your hits will land, but you have to plan them out carefully to make sure you don’t die or inflict too many human casualties in the process.
On top of that, it has a ton of unlockables, bonus missions, upgrades, and the same great difficulty curve that keeps you on the edge of your seat constantly while playing. As long as a port job of Into The Breach brings the game to mobile more-or-less intact, there’s no need to worry about whether it’s worth a purchase.
It fits
As an experiment, I went ahead and tried a couple ways to shoehorn Into The Breach onto my iPad just to see what it would be like, and I wasn’t disappointed. Even without any port work to make Into The Breach’s controls work for touch, the game works surprisingly well. It's also a game that constantly saves your progress, which makes it easy to pick up and put down on a whim. Finally—and perhaps most importantly—Into The Breach’s bite-sized tactics maps fit amazingly well on a mobile screen. Don’t believe me? Check out the screenshot below of the game running on an iPad display. Even in this compromised, windowed mode, everything about the game's UI is clean and easy to read.
The App Store could use another essential release right about now
FTL came out on mobile about four years ago, and since then there have been a few games here and there that seem like they should stay permanently installed on your home screen, but not many, especially recently. Although there are no current plans for Into The Breach to come to mobile, it would be a huge hit, particularly if it struck during an App Store lull like the one we’re currently in.
Since its arrival on the App Store a few years ago, FTL has been entertaining mobile gamers with its irresistible style, regardless of the often absurd challenges it presents. Fans of that fine spaceship management sim will be pleased to learn that Subset Games has another sci-fi game in the works --Into the Breach.
In Into the Breach, the last vestiges of human civilization are hanging on despite a looming subterranean threat. The action plays out on an isometric grid, and you'll have to use your best turn-based strategy skills to win this fight. Massive insectoid monsters erupt from the earth, wreaking havoc. It's up to you, the player to stop them by commanding an army of mechs, all of which can be upgraded as you progress. The cities must be protected at all costs, as they are vital to powering your war efforts.
The game features more of the gorgeous pixel art that we saw in FTL, along with a soundtrack from FTL's composer, Ben Prunty. Subset Games says that Into the Breach will be available "when its ready". The game's only been confirmed for PC and Mac so far, but we expect we'll be seeing Into the Breach on mobile as well, if FTL is any indication.
No Man's Sky hasn't exactly turned out to be everything it was promised. Though its core concept of exploring an unimaginably vast universe of different planets is an intriguing one, the execution has left many PS4 and PC gamers feeling like they were not entirely satisfied with the result.
But hey, there are theories out there in the scientific community that there are actually an infinite number of parallel universes that exist. In gaming terms, if one isn't to your liking, you can simply go explore a different one.
None of these games will allow you to wander through a nearly limitless expanse encountering totally new worlds and lifeforms at every stop, but given what some people are saying about No Man's Sky, maybe that's not an entirely bad thing.
Welcome, one and all, to another 148Apps holiday shopping guide! Are you having trouble figuring out what to get for a distant relative, new neighbor, or estranged second cousin? Thankfully there are people like us putting together handy-dandy holiday shopping guides for you! Whether you’re looking for new hardware and accessories, or just something a bit less impersonal than an iTunes gift card, we’ve got you covered.
Today’s guide centers around iOS gamers. These are the folks who love their portable games and spend most of their morning commute matching pieces of candy or fighting immortal titans. If you’d like to make the gamer(s) in your life have an overall more pleasant and convenient gaming experience, or simply get them some really cool stuff to play, check out our list below for some ideas.
If there’s one thing you need to know about FTL, it’s that it’s a fantastic game. A very close second thing you really need to know is that it’s about as unforgiving as that one extremely tough grade-school teacher that never gave anyone a break. Don’t play innocent, we’ve all had one.
So, while we here at 148Apps wholeheartedly endorse you rushing to the App Store to purchase FTL for your iPad immediately (seriously, go do it if you haven’t already), we also understand that you may have some trouble starting out. Or just in general. That’s why we’ve put together a list of tips, tricks, and strategies to hopefully keep your ship and your crew functioning that much longer. Due to the random nature of sector layouts, encounters, and shop inventories there’s no way to guarantee success, but we’re certainly going to do our best for you.
