Designer Terry Cavanagh’s latest arcade masterpiece looks like Op Art and
plays like a fall down Alice’s rabbit hole. Dodge left and right to avoid
being trapped in a frightening geometric maze. This is as tough as they
come, and is certain to be a modern classic.
Flow Free
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
This ingenious puzzler has you drawing increasingly complex patterns on screen
to link dots of the same colour without crossing the path of another colour.
It’s simple but, as the board grows, it gets much harder and more addictive.
Where’s My Water? 2
Free; iPad, iPhone and Android
This follow-up to the hit Disney physics puzzler challenges you to guide your
character through a series of water puzzles. It looks fantastic and is great
fun to play.
Temple Run 2
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
The endless-runner hit gets a sequel that involves ziplines and mine cars.
It’s as addictive as ever.
Tetris
£0.69 iPhone and iPad; Free Android
Arguably the world’s greatest game is as addictive on smartphones as it is on
your PC. Skip it now and you’re merely postponing the inevitable.
Hundreds
£2.99 iPhone and iPad; £3.25 Android
The concept is simple: expand the circles until the numbers inside them total
100. It’s the way the game progresses that makes the concept work.
Draw Something
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
The Draw Something craze has long since subsided, but this turn-based spin on
Pictionary is still a lot of fun when you’re playing with friends.
Fieldrunners 2
£2.99 iPad; £1.87 Android
This tower-defence game pits you against massed ranks of enemy soldiers.
Luckily, you have a range of turrets to help you out.
Bike Baron
£0.69; iPhone and iPad
A wonderful physics engine gives you control of your motorbike in this
slightly mad game, although excellent graphics and regular updates will keep
you coming back to ride through obstacles without crashing.
Badland
£2.49; iPhone and iPad
This stunningly original update of the classic helicopter game sees you
frantically tapping the screen to guide a monster through a series of
levels. One of the best-looking apps you’ll find.
Hero Academy
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
More of an online sport than a game, Hero Academy pits you against rivals on a
grid-based battlefield where there are magical crystals waiting to be
destroyed or defended. The rules are straight-forward, but the different
teams you can choose provide depth.
Trial Xtreme 3
Free; iPod, iPhone and Android
Negotiate a superb obstacle course on a trials motocross bike in this highly
addictive and great-looking game.
Type:Rider
£1.99 iPhone and iPad; £2.28 Android
A clever twist on the puzzle game sees you playing as dots rolling through the
history of typography, learning as you go. It takes you from cave painting
to computer-game art, and it’s hugely addictive as well as looking great.
Osmos hd
£2.99 iPhone and iPad; £1.87 Android
A simple physics-based puzzler with plenty of devious levels, Osmos is
elevated to great heights by its Hubble Telescope-influenced art style.
Limbo
£2.99; iPhone and iPad
iPad owners in particular should investigate this title, just to see their
gadget put through its paces. It’s a dark, brooding platform game that has
you solving a series of puzzles.
Papa Sangre
£2.99; iPhone and iPad
Close your eyes and play this weird and scary audio-intense game with your
ears alone, avoiding traps as you navigate through the darkness.
Jetpack Joyride
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
An autorunner in the spirit of iOS classic Canabalt, Halfbrick’s charmer
chucks in rocket boosters and an addictive meta-game. Nice graphics and easy
controls make this a winner.
CSR Racing
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
An astonishingly addictive drag-racing game, you’ll find yourself drawn in and
buying upgrades so your cars can work their way through the levels.
Backbreaker Football
£2.39; Android
Why bother with all the tedious waiting around in American football when you
can cut straight to the good stuff? Backbreaker Football pares the sport
back to the moments that really count: wild cheers that accompany a
touchdown, and the crunching tackle that signals miserable failure.
Lumosity MObile
Free; iPhone and iPad
Bringing brain training to the road, the app designed by neuroscientists
promises to train your brain with a selection of mind-stretching puzzles,
and you can also play from a web browser.
Super-brothers: Sword Sworcery EP
£2.99; iPhone, iPad and Android
Beneath the cloyingly hipsterish presentation lurks an adventure game of quiet
elegance: Superbrothers isn’t for everyone, but it might be for you.
Minecraft Pocket Edition
£4.99; iPhone, iPad and Android
While most people over 30 probably won’t have a clue what Minecraft is, this
pocket edition of the popular virtual world has been a huge hit, and it lets
you build and explore the block-based universe wherever you are.
Incoboto
£2.49; iPad
Gentle and slow-paced, Incoboto sends you into a faraway solar system on a
mission to reignite an ancient star. Platforming, puzzling and getting
gloriously lost are the order of the day here, while a sharp satirical
storyline saves the whole thing from collapsing into a singularity of pure
whimsy.
Peppa Pig’s Holiday
£2.99; iPhone, iPad and Android
Anyone with children won’t need an explanation for why this great app works.
The franchise comes to the app world, and it’s guaranteed to give parents
some peace and quiet.
New Star Soccer
Free iPhone and iPad; £1.99 Android
With 8-bit graphics and limited gameplay, don’t let NSS fool you: it becomes
more and more addictive as you manage your team through the world’s football
leagues.
Spelltower
£1.49 iPhone and iPad; £1.32 Android
Anagrams get seriously tactical and stylish in this claustrophobic puzzle game
in which you frantically make words as your stack of letters moves closer to
the top of the playing area. Minimal artwork ensures that the screen is
always readable.
Jenga
£0.69 iPhone and iPad; £2.22 Android
The classic game works surprisingly well on a smartphone, and it’s every bit
as annoying as the wooden version. It’s also a neat way of showing off your
phone’s sensors.
Football Manager Handheld 2013
£4.99 iPhone, iPad and Android
For men of a certain age, this is simply one of the finest games ever created
as you steer your team to league and cup glory. Hideously addictive, it’s a
superb version of a console classic that robbed many teens of their
formative years.
Solipskier
£0.69 iPhone and iPad; £1.86 Android
Draw a wintry assault course with your index finger and race a tiny skier
across it at the same time. The sense of speed is mesmerising and the
artwork ignites the screen. Listen out for the blast of Chopin that kicks in
when you die.
Flight Control
£0.69 iPhone and iPad; £1.95 Android
The stresses of air traffic control are brought to life in this spatial
management brain-teaser that challenges you to land planes.
Tiny Wings HD
£1.99; iPad
With its pastel environments and sweet-natured cast of characters, you might
assume this autorunner was a throwaway treat. In truth, it’s a dangerously
compulsive leaderboard chaser, especially in its latest tablet incarnation.
Radiant Defense
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
In space the aliens are swarming and ready to attack, but your deadly turrets
will cut them down. Radiant Defense is hard but fair, and it’s beautifully
presented too.
One-Dot Enemies
Free; iPhone and iPad
Less is more is the approach to take with this brilliant Japanese curio. What
first appears to be a blank white touchscreen slowly crystallizes into a
tabletop covered with scurrying pixel-sized critters. Crush them as quickly
as you can and then marvel at how many of the little blighters have been
culled worldwide.
Airmail
£1.99; iPhone and iPad
The endless appeal of seaplanes provides the basis for this open-world flying
adventure in which you putter across the sky delivering post for a selection
of (admittedly rather forgettable) racial stereotypes. With a range of
control schemes to choose from and delicate watercolour art, this is a
magnificent way to waste an afternoon.
Candy Crush Saga
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
The runaway app success of 2013, Candy Crush sees you working your way through
levels by matching sweets to make them disappear. It’s simple to play at
first but then it becomes fiendishly addictive. Look around any bus or train
carriage and you’re bound to see someone playing.
Fruit Ninja
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
Chop fruit and avoid bombs: action gaming doesn’t get simpler or more
addictive than this.
Flick Golf Extreme
Free iPhone and iPad; £1.49 Android
An entertaining golf game where you flick your ball across a series of greens,
adding spin and getting more addicted as you progress.
Zaga-33
£0.69; iPhone and iPad
Few games are as hypnotic or menacing as Zaga-33, a top-down exploration
adventure in which you work your way through an oppressive alien world.
Fast-paced and pleasingly nasty.
Dungeon Raid
£1.49 iPhone and iPad; £1.28 Android
Match blocks to fight monsters in this witty, loot-heavy puzzle game. Don’t
forget to turn the sound up – the audio is hilarious.
Shot Shot Shoot
£1.49; iPad
Abstract and colourful, this game is an elegantly crafted spin on competitive
air hockey in which no idea is wasted.
Joe Danger Touch
£1.49; iPhone and iPad
Take on the role of stuntman Joe Danger in this racing game, which has you
performing tricks and avoiding traps as you race to the finish.
Despicable Me: Minion Rush
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
Based on the hit movie, the second in the Despicable Me series sees you
directing your minions across a variety of assault courses to keep them out
of harm’s way. It retains the comedy of the film and is set to be a hit with
kids and adults who have a soft spot for the minions.
Angry Birds
£0.69 iPhone and iPad; Free Android
Now that it’s slapped across everything from smartphone cases to children’s
pyjamas, it’s easy to forget that Angry Birds became a phenomenon because
it’s a brilliant game. A physics toy as much as an arcade puzzler, Rovio’s
catapult-based challenges encourage you to lose yourself in the cartoon
action.
Bad Hotel
£0.69; iPhone and iPad
Build rooms to defend your hotel from attack. Your tactics will need to be
precise, but it’s the artwork and audio that stand out here.
Bus Simulator 3D
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
This really is a bus simulator but it’s a lot more fun than it sounds and the
graphics are truly impressive. There are different routes, and you’ll even
damage your bus when you hit a parked car.
Clash of Clans
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
Build your village and raise an army in this absorbing strategy game. You can
play against others online or even join forces to form bigger armies. If you
prefer to play offline, there’s a single player campaign mode.
Pocket Trains
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
If the 3D Bus Simulator didn’t do it for you, how about running your own
virtual train set? Pocket Trains is surprisingly addictive, and it will have
you managing railroads around the globe, building new tracks and hiring
staff along the way.
Cut the Rope
£0.69 iPhone and iPad; Free Android
Cute and cuddly, this is a physics platform game in which you follow titular
advice to get a series of boiled sweets into the mouth of a little green
thing. Some of the later challenges will have you tearing your hair out.
94 Seconds
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
Think of it as Mastermind for the internet age. You have 94 seconds to answer
as many questions as you can. It’s great fun as a party game, and you’ll
definitely want to compete online to show off your high scores. You can
download extra questions and there are frequent updates.
Angry Birds Star Wars
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
Just to prove the franchise is still going strong, the latest installment is
based on Star Wars and is every bit as good as the original. All your
favourite characters from the films have been re-imagined in an angrier
setting.
Airplane!
Free; iPhone, iPad and Android
Sadly not based on the film, this flight simulator is nonetheless a big hit.
Take charge of a passenger plane and try to land it.
Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror
£2.49 iPhone and iPad; £2.99 Android
A great point-and-click adventure that has been wonderfully updated for
touchscreens, Revolution’s classic game has a new twist in this sequel.
W.E.L.D.E.R
£1.99 iPhone and iPad; £1.91 Android
Shuffle the letters to make words in a cracking game that throws in twists and
rule tweaks to keep things interesting.
Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/video-game-reviews/10510461/The-55-best-mobile-games-to-download-now.html