The best mobile games of 2018 so far - Campbell's picks
Now that the year is half over, we decided to take a look back at the first half of the year’s best games and highlight them. So far, our reviews have only hit the five-star mark five times, but there are other game’s worth celebrating here too.
Specifically, the games I’m revisiting are titles that have stuck with me after playing them for review. Whether it’s just because they were so memorable when I finished them or I’m still playing them today, here are some of the best releases from this year so far.
Out of the Loop - download for iOS
When I first picked up Out of the Loop, I wasn’t sure how much mileage I was going to get out of it. Considering the game requires you have at least two other people to play with, it seems like one of those games that is good in theory, but not so much in practice.
As it turns out though, this social deduction game has such broad appeal that just about anyone can have a great time playing it. Between friends, relatives, and mere acquaintances, I’ve played a bunch of Out of the Loop and had a really great time trying to guess who isn’t in the know or trying to fool everyone else.
Tiny Bubbles - download for iOS
Matching-based puzzle games are such an old hat on mobile that I hardly check any of them out anymore. There’s only so many ways that matching colors together can stay interesting, and Tiny Bubbles definitely found one.
By making their game more physics-based and including mechanics that allow you to do things like mix colors together, Tiny Bubbles is the mobile puzzle game from this year that I didn’t know I needed.
Oddmar is hands-down the best platformer I’ve played on a mobile device. Between the art style and inventive level design, I couldn’t stop playing the game until I had reached the end credits.
It may lack a bit in the narrative department, and it is a little on the short side, but Oddmar is such a tight package that just feels so good to play that those things hardly matter. Make sure you check this game out, regardless of whether you’re reading this in 2018 or not.
The Room: Old Sins - download for iOS
My first experience with The Room series was with Old Sins, and it really made me understand why people like these games so much. Since the first The Room game hit the App Store, tons of imitators have come out, but almost none of them come close to the level of quality packed into something like The Room: Old Sins.
There’s something about the sense of adventure mixed in with puzzle items that feel physical and real that really works in Old Sins, making it one of the most memorable games I’ve played this year so far.
Disc Drivin’ 2 - download for iOS
Out of all the games on this list, I think I’ve actually played Disc Drivin’ 2 the most. This might sound natural, considering it is a multiplayer game with high replay value, but I usually fall off of games like this in a way I haven’t with Disc Drivin’ 2.
Probably the best thing about it is its premise. By being a sort of shuffle board game about going further and faster than your opponents, Disc Drivin’ 2 is in a lot of ways the most convenient racing game on mobile. It has asynchronous play and doesn’t have complicated controls, so you can play it just about anywhere to get your racing game fix.