• Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

Matttimeo

Member
Oct 26, 2017
762
I used to have the Christmas Iron Marines icon and I just checked and it is normal again. I presume they must have changed it back.
 

jefjay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,111
All these lists are doing a great job of decreasing my app store credit... I'm sure that will only get worse when mobile GOTY lists start popping up. Thanks! :)

So far Cat Quest is actually pretty fun. Based on the name I originally assumed the game was shovelware. Glad others didn't do the same. Kingdoms is also really neat.


But now also ordered a Wii U bundle that was on sale so need to cut back on expenses. Not even sure I'll keep the Wii U. Within the span of a few weeks, we had our dryer heating element go dead, dishwasher stop working and garage door springs break (which will likely mean we'll be getting an entirely new door). The dishwasher just happened today.

Been in our house for about 13 years now so guess a lot of things are going to start breaking and adding up maintenance costs. :(

I know how that goes when it seems like everything suddenly breaks at once... Hopefully you get to keep Zelda. That game is a big reason my iOS game time was so low this year.
 

awp69

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,517
I know how that goes when it seems like everything suddenly breaks at once... Hopefully you get to keep Zelda. That game is a big reason my iOS game time was so low this year.

Turns out the dishwasher should be covered under warranty so hopefully will be keeping the Wii U. Should be delivered today. Anxious to finally play BotW!
 

baconcow

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,814
Does anyone have Dungeon Warfare or Age of Rivals on the iPad? Do they have the proper aspect ratio for the iPad? I know Age of Rivals didn't on release, but I don't know if they have updated it. I am not sure about Dungeon Warfare.
 

awp69

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,517
Apple issued an apology today for batterygate. Sounds like they are reducing the price of a replacement battery to $29. What I don't get is they say replacing the battery will negate the slowdown issues. I thought the slowness was based on model — not the actual condition of the battery.

Either way, think I'll grab a new battery at the end of January when the drop goes into effect.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/28/technology/apple-battery-apology/index.html
 

Frost

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,229
Canary Islands

Frost

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,229
Canary Islands
Old Man's Journey is... captivating... looks incredible, like looking at a painting. Gameplay has the player meshing pathways so it makes a clear path for the protagonist to follow and advance. They are unique and work well with touchscreens. The best part of the game is following all his memories and discover what happened to him. Great but short game

DSOaimfXcAA7Fme
 
Last edited:

awp69

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,517
Take this with a very heavy grain of salt, but literally the day after I got my Wii U, this story popped up:

http://www.droidgamers.com/2017/12/29/zelda-breath-wild-android/

I seriously doubt Nintendo would port Breath of the Wild to mobile. That said they are porting Wii games to Shield Android devices in China so you never know.

But BoTW is a system seller for the Switch. Not so much with the Wii U since they no longer manufacture them. It is the biggest reason why I picked up the used Wii U bundle I got, however.

Just cannot see it happening. At least for a few years anyway.
 

Killercow

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,282
Take this with a very heavy grain of salt, but literally the day after I got my Wii U, this story popped up:

http://www.droidgamers.com/2017/12/29/zelda-breath-wild-android/

I seriously doubt Nintendo would port Breath of the Wild to mobile. That said they are porting Wii games to Shield Android devices in China so you never know.

But BoTW is a system seller for the Switch. Not so much with the Wii U since they no longer manufacture them. It is the biggest reason why I picked up the used Wii U bundle I got, however.

Just cannot see it happening. At least for a few years anyway.

I know you've mainly explained it already but no. That's a Chinese Knock-off with no legitimacy whatsoever and Nintendo would never ever do that, especially not now.
 

awp69

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,517
I know you've mainly explained it already but no. That's a Chinese Knock-off with no legitimacy whatsoever and Nintendo would never ever do that, especially not now.

I agree. Just thought it was ironic that that story cropped up on Reddit just after I got a Wii U for it.

It will be interesting to see if Nintendo takes its porting of Wii games in China to Shield outside of that market and maybe to Android and iOS in general. The Shield / Wii thing is the real deal (in China).

To me, I'd rather have full fledged ports from systems like the Wii over half-baked efforts like the Animal Crossing crap.
 
Last edited:

jon bones

Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,996
NYC
I've been busy playing Cat Quest and Civ 6 on mobile and other PC/Switch games!

I just picked AoV back up yesterday and am working through the Road to Glory unlocks. Unranked games have been a one-sided stomp so far though. Also finally unlocked Guilds but it looks like the ResetEra one is gone?

Civ VI i understand... wish my aging iPad could run it. Is it getting the expack next month?

We are 'resetEra' - it's case sensitive. what's your in game name?
 

Frost

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,229
Canary Islands
2017 Year of (High Quality) Ports. So many. And they feel natural playing on iOS too... also 2017 marks the return of platformers to my lists

My iOS Top10 of 2017:
  1. FEZ: Pocket Edition-the best indie game ever in my pocket and feels right at home. iOS Port GOTY 2017
  2. Ocmo-this does for iOS what SMB did for xbox. Invest on the controls and you will find one of the best and most polished platformer you can find ever on the AppStore. My favorite original, goes into my GOAT iOS lists. Original iOS GOTY 2017.
  3. Thimbleweed Park-i havent had this pleasure playing a point and click since... the 90s... Gilbert outdid himself once again.
  4. The Witness-beautiful and intriguing open world puzzling slice of heaven. And im only scratching the surface...
  5. Kingdom: New Lands-the sense of accomplishment and learning is unique in this roguelike. Very rewarding.
  6. Mushroom 11-havent played a platformer like this before, quite inventive and perfect for touch screen
  7. Cat Quest-should come preloaded on every device. Accessible, fun and interesting with a legendary coat of polish
  8. After the End: Forsaken Destiny- japanese indie action platformer masterpiece
  9. Kalimba-best dual character platformer ever due to an advanced level design and varied mechanics
  10. Million Onion Hotel-when it clicks, and thats quite often, its a blast

Honorable Mentions:

This games are very good at what they do... but some have flaws that takes out of their final score and some lost in the end to the overwhelming amount of high caliber ports that was the end of 2017

Sonic Runners Adventures-a good runner that manages to feel like an excellent Sonic game.

OXENFREE-narrative heaven. Was on the top10 list until Thimbleweed Park arrived

Inside-They took the Limbo formula and perfected it but the same confort zone

Iron Marines-StarCraft homage that seems a bit too IAP oriented

Crashbots-nice action packed runner with lots of action and thought out bosses

Snake Towers-best Snake game ever, even better than the original. Was on the top10

Cat Bird-extremely polished platformer with a unique mechanic. Was on the top10

I am the Hero-fun brawler with great unique controls

Old Man's Journey-beautiful adventure with an emphasis on emotions while being wordless.

Arkanoid vs Space Invaders-perfect mashup of two timeless classics. Was on the top10

Bust-A-Move Journey-the classic game... with lots of additional downloads...lots of times

Dragon Hills 2-better than the first but doesnt improve much

Tower Fortress-have to get used at first but the more you play the more you like it

Morphite-A lot more Metroid Prime than No Mans Sky. And its gorgeous on the 8. Need to spend more time with it

Pigeon Wings-fun arcade racer with some bullet hell

Steredenn-high quality bullet hell thats a little on the repetitive side

Samorost 3-Machinarium is very hard to top, yet this delivers, just not as much

Euclidean Lands-just bought this on sale, seems very interesting

Forma.8 GO-deep metroidvania exploration marred by way too floaty controls

Monument Valley 2-lost the spark, but still keeps the joy

Card Thief-great stealth card game with lots of replayability and impressive design

Dungeon Tails-roguelike thats a little too goofy for me

Reds Kingdom-backtracking killed it for me
 

baconcow

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,814
I have not played a lot of new releases, this year, focusing a lot on older games I missed. I'll update if I missed any. I just realized my top 2 were "Civilization" games.

Top 10 for 2017

1. Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization
2. Civilization VI
3. Motorsport Mobile Manager 2
4. Card Thief
5. Poly Bridge
6. Slayaway Camp


Still need more playtime:
- Cat Quest
- Darkest Dungeon (played a ton on PC; iPad port is mediocre)
- Death Road to Canada
- Miracle Merchant
 

Rodney McKay

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,186
With the Switch having come out this year, I gotta say I haven't been able to make a really deep list of mobile games for this year.

I only just recently got Cat Quest and Kingdom: New Lands and they both seem pretty great, but I haven't played enough of either to fully recommend them.

Iron Marines I played all the way through, but I don't quite like it as much as the Kingdom Rush games. Maybe on a higher difficulty I'd like it more, but on normal/casual it was pretty simple in the way of tactics (barely ever needed to split my units up), and a bunch of units I barely ever used (some just unlocked too late in the game, and others just didn't seem as useful as others). Sadly the game also felt lacking in content at launch.
Still a fun game, and the Kingdom Rush devs always put tons of extra content into their games (they already added a few new levels to Iron Marines already), but it was a bit of a disappointment compared to their amazing KR games.

I'd definitely love a sequel that maybe felt a little more like Halo Wars. Simple, but still has bases you can build up (other than just adding turrets and a shield) and has a skirmish mode you can play big levels against AI or other people).
 

jefjay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,111
With the Switch having come out this year, I gotta say I haven't been able to make a really deep list of mobile games for this year.

I only just recently got Cat Quest and Kingdom: New Lands and they both seem pretty great, but I haven't played enough of either to fully recommend them..

Are you me from another dimension? Switch dominated my play time this year, and I bought exactly two iOS games in the past week. Guess which two.

I don't have an ordered list (yet), but top games that come to mind:
  • Ticket to Earrh
  • Age of Rivals
  • Framed 2
  • Arkanoid vs Space Invaders
  • Red's Kingdom
  • Stranger Things
If I hadn't already played them elsewhere I'm sure Witness and Fez would top the list. Time to start going through these other lists to find items I might want to purchase. Wait, what?

Ocmo-this does for iOS what SMB did for xbox.
 

awp69

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,517
Here's my top 10 iOS games of 2017. As usual, I restrict my list to original games only (no ports). These are in no particular order.

Cat Quest
Easily one of the best — if not the best — take on action RPGs on mobile. The game has inspirations from many games but is so original in its implementation and fit for the mobile platform.

Rogue Wizards
Few F2P games keep my interest long, especially RPGs. But this rogue like RPG is full of charm and also has a well implemented turn-based combat system. Wide variety of interesting enemies with all kinds of buffs and spells. F2P is also quite fair with a few purchases essentially making it premium.

Animus
This Dark Souls inspired game brings the brilliant F2P Ire: Blood Memory to a premium offline experience. Challenging and brutally hard but never unfair, the game puts skill first in its weighty combat.

Onion Hotel
I caught this one late in the year worried about not knowing what the heck it is. I'm still not sure I can describe it. The dev's other game, Dandy Dungeon, was a fun quirky RPG so I took the chance. It's strange but satisfying and like DD puts a smile on my face.

Warhammer Quest 2
Not everything was perfect with this one. Even after updates, the item management and menu driven interface is still subpar. But it's still a great turn based strategy with plenty of polish in the dungeon crawling.

Space Invaders vs Arkanoid
Two of my favorite classic games merged into a perfect arcade classic. Premium and a massive amount of content. This is nostalgia done right.

Ticket to Earth
Some good match three games this year but Ticket to Earth's dynamic mix of matching tiles on a huge grid for turn-based battles was unique. Lots of RPG style upgrades and abilities combined with a variety of gameplay objectives kept this one addicting from start to finish.

After the End: Forsaken Destiny
A puzzle adventure that felt epic with an emotional connection to boot. Fantastic level design with the overall quality of some of the best indie titles on PC and console.

Slayaway Camp
Puzzle sliders are a dime a dozen. But combine campy humor with slick B-horror movie presentation and gore and you've got a stellar standout in the genre.

Frost
Gorgeous and entrancing with a nice even increase in difficulty. The developers of Blek have upped their game yet again. This is a game I want to play just to watch the beautiful artistry.

Bonus:
The Machines
With AR gaming being Apple's latest fad, I wanted to mention the one game I thought did it best. Many games just took gameplay and slapped it in an AR interface (like the aforementioned Ticket to Earth which is great for other reasons but not AR). This one really felt next level though expertly handling the ability to use your phone to pan around the action and controls that made sense. Really can make you feel like you are in the game.

Honorable mentions (many of these could easily have been in my top 10 and were hard to cut):

Dijnn Caster
Pigeon Wings
Danmaku Unlimited 3
I Am The Hero
Morphite
Red's Kingdom
Hidden Folks
OK Golf
Euclidean Lands
Campfire Cooking
AKA to Blue
Starman
Gorogoa
Data Wing


And 2017 was indeed the year of great ports. Here are a few of my favorites:

Mushroom-11
Kalimba
Icey
Linelight (this one deserves special mention because it is brilliant on iOS)
Forma.8
Kingdom: New Lands

There are tons of other ports that I know are great but have not purchased on iOS having played on other platforms.
 
Last edited:

Saucycarpdog

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,301
Death Road to Canada is TA's game of the year. Interesting that they picked a game that was ported to iOS instead of an iOS original game but then again I would say DRtC was always meant for mobile in the first place.
 

RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,898
JP
My top 5 would be:

0. Battle of Polytopia - Because sadly I was LTTP for this, but dang, it's legit one of my most played games this year, not only on iOS.
1. FEZ Pocket Edition - Absolutely brilliant game that I'm half glad I missed so I can enjoy it on my iPhone. The hype was absolutely real.
2. Tower Fortress - Reverse Downwell, it controls so well that I turned the buttons invisible purely because of aesthetics.
3. Street Fighter IV Champion Edition - It's just nuts that SF works to some extent on mobile. I won't lie, though, the controls are not perfect but that's to be expected.
4. Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders - It takes a bit of time to get good IMHO, but it's a great arcade game and a refreshing premium experience on iOS. I love playing this with a stylus.

Everyone here makes me want to try Cat Quest. I'm thinking of grabbing Cat Quest, that Portal Bridge Constructor thing,and Death Road to Canada.
---

Unrelated, but one of the worst things about moving to Japan has been the Japanese AppStore. More expensive, lacks big releases all the time, filled with Pachinko crap, ugh. Sometimes I switch back to the Mexican AppStore, but I'd prefer being able to use my main payment method at the moment...
 

HotHamBoy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
16,423
Touch Arcade named Death Road to Canada their GOTY

Cat Quest runner up

Great games but odd picks, IMO.

Personally, I think more interesting games were released that were also truly mobile-exclusive (Card Thief...)

There were a lot of fantastic ports this year but it's tough for me to get behind a port of a game that came out prior to 2017 as a 2017 GOTY winner.

I mean, shit, might as well just say Planescape Torment is the mobile GOTY.
 

RM8

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,898
JP
^^ But you do get a bunch of JRPGs and other "Japanese" flavored games before the West (and sometimes we never get them). Of course, you need to be into those kind of games.

New sale. Lowest price yet at $.99:

Danmaku Unlimited 3 - Bullet Hell Shooter by Sunny Tam https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/danmaku-unlimited-3-bullet-hell-shooter/id1230598125?mt=8
I don't like Japan's taste in mobile games to be honest. It's a lot of always online, gameplayless, menu-driven IAP vehicles with garish looks.
 

Oynox

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
884
Death Road to Canada is TA's game of the year. Interesting that they picked a game that was ported to iOS instead of an iOS original game but then again I would say DRtC was always meant for mobile in the first place.
Isn't it a native mobile game? The PC version does feel like a mobile port with those huge buttons etc.
 

JCho133

Member
Dec 13, 2017
42
Okay I finally booted up Iron Marines for the first time, even though I bought it launch week and damn... once it gets going it really gets going! Sucked like 4 hours outta my night. Really good and a very addictive upgrade loop.
 

Oynox

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
884
Played three hours of This War of Mine last night. Ups.

If, like me, you thought Civ VI was blurry on iPad, here's how to activate Retina graphics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnlzGwadv84&feature=youtu.be&a=

You can also play with plenty of options like refresh rate, MSAA, terrain quality eyc but it takes a toll on the framerate quite fast.

Retina makes for a massive change and doesn't seem to affect the framerate.
Do you know if this is possible on Windows or Linux? If not I have to wait for an official patch..
 

Rodney McKay

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,186
Okay I finally booted up Iron Marines for the first time, even though I bought it launch week and damn... once it gets going it really gets going! Sucked like 4 hours outta my night. Really good and a very addictive upgrade loop.
Oh yeah, I did love the upgrade tree in Iron Marines. Tons of stuff to choose from and you can mostly focus on units you actually use. Some of the upgrades really improve the units too, like giving them new abilities.

I do wish they had made the hero upgrades better though. You pump individual points into stuff, but it only seems to matter when you get halfway upgraded and then fully upgraded in the three options you have for them. Kingdom Rush was better at telling you exactly what each upgrade did on the heroes (power lasts a little longer, does more damage, larger AOE, etc).
 

Frost

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,229
Canary Islands
Linelight is full of "ohh thats clever". Been playing it for a while now and it keeps surprising me. Fantastic minimal design with superb audio and seems to have many tricks on its sleeve. When i saw the screenshots i didnt know what it was, didnt seem that interesting... thanks for putting it in my radar is really neat. And a 2$ premium app

Ok I have to take a look at Line Light and Ticket to Earth

Edit: Bought Linelight seems genious


Ocmo is fantastic. Best platformer ever. Shows that you can play deep and complex (you have to gain and use momentum) platformers on touch screens if you do it right. The attention to detail is absurd
 
Last edited:

Shearie

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18
I didn't play a lot of games this year so I don't know what my top games list would look like except that The Witness would be number 1. Up there with SpaceChem as one of my favorite puzzle games ever (wish I could play newer Zachtronics games but he doesn't port them to iPad anymore)
 

Frost

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,229
Canary Islands
Well, when it first released at the beginning of the year i didnt like it much. Didnt help it that i didnt like roguelikes either, but didnt click me with me. I completely forgot about it. Now with all that Touch Arcade GOTY im hearing (mainly on Twitter) i decided to reinstall it and.. wow. This is seriously good now. So much carnage, loot, companions, weapond, places, story bits and some choices to be made. Im really liking it. The change of heart is probably due to the many many updates the game has gotten over the year (and more to come soon). What a way to support your games. Monsters Ate My Condo devs Adult Swim could learn a thing or two (sorry couldnt help it xD)
 

jefjay

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,111
Ocmo is fantastic. Best platformer ever. Shows that you can play deep and complex (you have to gain and use momentum) platformers on touch screens if you do it right. The attention to detail is absurd
I should clarify. When I hear SMB and platformer I assume that's Mario, but that certainly isn't on Xbox. So I was confused on what SMB stood for. I'm still not sure:) But Ocmo does look interesting.
 

Frost

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,229
Canary Islands
I should clarify. When I hear SMB and platformer I assume that's Mario, but that certainly isn't on Xbox. So I was confused on what SMB stood for. I'm still not sure:) But Ocmo does look interesting.

Whoops i meant Super Meat Boy the game where Ocmo gets its influences from but it evolves into something else. A beautiful song of momentum of sorts. If you get it going and do what it asks from you, the flow is incredible. A platforming gasm. But many didnt like or didnt give it proper time to learn the controls and dive into a dreamformer (im
Drunk lol xD)

Edit: Can anyone tell me what is the iap in Slayaway Camp for? I tried to reach them in twitter but no answer so far
 
Last edited:

awp69

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,517
Edit: Can anyone tell me what is the iap in Slayaway Camp for? I tried to reach them in twitter but no answer so far

There's a Supernatural Forces DLC for $1.99 and a Monthly Murderer Club for $.99 (not sure if that is recurring) for new playable characters each month.

There's penalty of content in the game itself (140 levels I think). I still haven't finished it myself.
 
OP
OP
More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,622
So what games did you guys get with all the gift cards Santa probably left you?

I got Technobabylon, Million Onion Hotel, Cinco Paus, 911 Operator, and the RttG expansions