Hi, I'm Leif Johnson from Macworld and today we're going to check out the best iPhone games
from 2018!
It was an unusually good year for games on iOS and we had a lot of games to choose from,
but I believe these 10 titles are the most deserving of your time.
First up, we have Alto's Odyssey.
This is a game about maintaining momentum, so I’m not surprised it basically follows
the same design as 2015's well-loved Alto’s Adventure.
Back then, though, you were a snowboarder gliding down mountain peaks; in Odyssey, you're
sliding down slopes of sand.
But it's lovely, both in sound and sight.
It’s also deceptively simple, involving no more gameplay than tapping the screen to
leap over rocks or pull tricks to gain momentum.
When you’re in the groove, losing yourself in Odyssey’s music or stylized scenery feels
a bit like slipping into meditation.
Next up is Donut County.
Now, I’m always worried that donuts will be my ruin, but I’ve never imagined anything
like the chaos in Donut County.
In this brief but delightful puzzler, you deliver "donuts" that are actually movable
holes that swell in size every time you use them to swallow something.
Sometimes you’re swallowing chairs; sometimes you’re swallowing entire barns and hapless
citizens.
Donut County is never difficult, but it never fails to entertain thanks to its cutscenes
and creative physics puzzles.
And Apple itself certainly thinks Donut County is a treat: It called it the best iPhone game
of the year.
No list of the best iPhone games would be complete without Fortnite.
Epic Games caught lightning in a bottle last year with its wildly popular battle-royale
shooter, and last March it jolted us when it managed to squeeze its digital blockbuster
into the tiny confines of an iPhone.
Such a quality port would be impressive enough with a mobile-only game, but Epic manages
to deliver excellent shooting, movement, and building elements all with the same Fortnite
account you use to play on consoles or desktops.
You can even play with players on those systems, and frankly, that’s nothing short of epic.
Next up?
The Room: Old Sins.
I would have guessed The Room games would be running out of steam at this point, but
The Room: Old Sins proves its 3D puzzles have lost little of the magic that first wowed
us in 2012.
In fact, Old Sins may be the best game of the series.
In this case you’re digging through a creepy dollhouse to uncover its secrets, and you
can tinker with individual rooms with the help of an eyepiece.
No other game really does as good of a job of making 3D objects feel weighty and real,
and there’s a helpful hint system on hand if you ever get stuck.
Don’t give up too easily, though, as the "aha" moments here rank among the best on
the iPhone.
We also have Stardew Valley.
It's is a pleasant bit of escapism that’s always sitting in your pocket, ready to whisk
you off to another life where you manage an inherited farm outside a charming village.
Its aesthetic looks old, but the concept is timeless.
You’ll clear land and harvest crops, but you’ll also strike up relationships with
various folks in town and possibly even get married.
Beyond that, you can delve into randomly generated caves for the chance of easy riches.
It almost lets you do anything, and now that it’s on the iPhone, you can do that anything
anywhere.
Next on the list is Shadowgun Legends.
It's a first-person shooter about a group of mercenaries who hunt down aliens, which
makes it feel a little like Gears of War and a lot like Destiny.
That’s an ambitious pairing for a mobile game, to put it lightly, but Shadowgun Legends
does the concept justice.
You’ll probably forget the story within a day, but the graphics, gunplay, and wealth
of options all go a long way toward making up for that shortcoming.
Whether you want PvP, co-op battles, or tense short missions you can drop into during a
trip on the subway, Shadowgun Legends delivers.
Last year was full of games that took full advantage of the faster processing power of
today’s iPhones, but few harness it with such stunning effect as Asphalt 9: Legends.
The latest entry in the long-running series is a stunning one, complete with highly detailed
tracks for locations ranging from Macworld’s own San Francisco to Shanghai and Rome.
It’s an entertaining arcade racer filled with nitro boosts and destructible environments,
and a new semi-automated "Touchdrive" mode makes it easier to play on the go.
Reigns: Game of Thrones reminds us that the best games based on a major franchise don’t
need to have massive budgets that rival that of an HBO series.
In fact, this featherweight story-driven adventure resembles nothing so much as Tinder, as it’s
all about swiping left or right to make decisions that affect your power as you sit on the Iron
Throne.
Nor is this simply an HBO rebranding of 2015’s Reigns: In this case, you’ll see everyone
from Tyrion Lannister to humble Gendry take up the crown, and you’ll guide them through
personalized scenarios that reveal a deep knowledge of George R.R. Martin’s world.
You’ll fail frequently, to be sure, but in this universe, that’s part of the appeal.
Our next game is Oddmar.
No exaggeration: Oddmar is the best 2D platformer on the iPhone.
It’s got the platforming creativity and playfulness of a game like Rayman, which is
all the more remarkable since Oddmar was designed specifically for phones and not, say, the
Nintendo Switch.
You play as Oddmar, a cut-rate Viking with no fighting experience who nevertheless must
prove he’s worthy of Valhalla.
This quest leads him through 25 gorgeous levels, each filled with coin collections for upgrades
and puzzles that see Oddmar throwing down mushrooms to use as trampolines.
Blessed with astonishingly good touch controls, it’s a saga worth revisiting more than once.
And finally, we have Pocket City.
It’s tough to find a good city-building game these days regardless of which system
you’re playing on, but fortunately we’ve got one of the best modern titles right here
on iOS.
It's so good that it reminds me of the glory days of SimCity.
Microtransactions are non-existent, and offers sufficient complexity while sporting an interface
that’s ideal for small screens.
Whether you simply want to build commercial districts or tackle crime and calamities like
earthquakes, you’ll find that being a mayor in Pocket City is major fun.
And that's it for 2018, although I'd like to extend a special shoutout to worthy runner-ups
Civilization VI and PUBG Mobile.
For more on iOS games, keep visiting us here at Macworld in 2019.