By Ethan Clark

The year 2020 may not be remembered in the brightest light. However, anyone keeping up with the mobile gaming news of the year knows many positive things happened amidst the chaos. Whether it be new games, anniversaries, or unexpected comebacks, 2020 will be remembered not only for the hardships, but for the moments that made us smile. This, unlike most game reviews, will not be a glorified “Top Ten List,” but rather a brief review of the year’s mobile games. No game can truly be “the best,” since every game strives to be something unlike any other, both in gameplay and style. So if you’re looking for a fun game to play while waiting for the bus and have no idea where to start, here are some ideas.

Starting off in no particular order comes a classic in the mobile gaming world, which thanks to the ever-growing streaming software Twitch has made a substantial comeback with new players. SkullGirls is a fresh take on the classic genre with a twist. Choose your player and battle it out in an old school player-versus-player brawler, where the first knockout takes it. What sets the game apart from most other Street Fighter clones is the game’s hand-drawn animations. The game perfectly captures the aesthetic of the 1920s and 1930s by recreating the rubber-hose animation style used in many early cartoons such as Felix the Cat, Popeye, and everyone’s favorite rodent, Mickey Mouse. Classic cartoon tropes such as white gloves, characters with only four fingers, and the ability to pull slapstick weapons such as anvils or giant mallets out of thin air have been revived for this smash hit game. Assemble a team of zany characters and battle against your friends, or go solo in story mode to protect the world from impending doom. Thanks to a variety of weapons and abilities to choose from, you can battle your friends again and again.

While SkullGirls may be regarded as a classic in the world of mobile games, one new game has taken the mobile gaming world by storm: Genshin Impact. If you remember Nintendo’s next installment of the Legend of Zelda franchise and smash hit Breath of the Wild, then Genshin Impact is a game that should grab your attention. Genshin Impact is an open world adventure game where players can set off on quests and master the elements to protect the kingdom of Monstadt. Cast spells and attacks to beat monsters back as you explore the world of wonder and mystery. You will not go on this journey alone, however. Along the way, you will make allies and friends that will aid in your quest, such as your goofy sidekick Paimon, a fairy who I can assure you is not emergency food. For a mobile game, Genshin boasts some of the cleanest graphics and polished designs that would have some console titles beat. Battling bosses, embarking on exciting quests, and the lovable characters make for a gaming experience that can only be described as breathtaking.

Azur Lane, The Five Minutes of Fate. Image credit: Ethan Clark.

Celebrating its second year anniversary on the global port of the game, Azur Lane never ceases to amaze in bringing history to life in ways never before possible. Take to the seas and relive the greatest naval battles of WW2 and command your fleet to victory. Choose your faction or join forces with the greatest warships to ever sail the seven seas and engage level after level of intense combat. Azur Lane has something for everyone, from hardcore boss stages that will challenge your mind to exhilarating bonus features like secret quests for exclusive characters. For the anniversary, Azur Lane recently aired a limited-time event for old and new players alike: Dreamwaker’s Butterfly. New levels and challenges made for a pleasant treat in the event. What had every fan on the edge of their seat, however, was the new characters. In addition to the expected elite, rare, and super-rare characters being added, Dreamwaker’s Butterfly introduced fans to the first-ever ultra-rare character. Players were reintroduced to the third ship of the Yamato class battleships, Shinano, now as a playable character. Whether you play solo or join a guild with your friends, Azur Lane is a beautiful love letter to gamers and historians alike.

Our final game stands as the greatest mobile gaming comeback. Among Us, created by InnerSloth LLC, was originally released in 2018 for iOS and Android devices to minimal success. However, with the rise of Twitch, the game exploded in popularity. A simple murder mystery game with an added cooperative twist, Among Us puts players head-to-head as either crewmates completing tasks, such as fixing the lights or the dreaded keycard swipe, or as imposters trying to hunt down and kill the other players and avoid getting caught. The thing that sets Among Us apart from other titles of the genre is the addition of emergency meetings, where if a body is discovered, everyone is gathered together to discuss who they believe the imposter is. Upon completion of the meeting, players then vote on who they believe the true imposter to be and execute whoever earns the most votes, whether they were correct in their guesses or not. The game ends when either the imposter or imposters are found out and voted off. However, if the imposter manages to kill everyone in the game before they get caught, the imposter(s) win.

The game’s simplistic ideas yet immersive gameplay hooked fans in and made a simple game designed by three developers into a worldwide phenomenon, especially during the pandemic. InnerSloth’s recent hit The Henry Stickmin Collection drew most of their attention away from Among Us, but when the game blew up the developers decided to give some love back to their old creation and began strengthening the servers to handle the influx of new players. Ever since the server upgrade, the game has been on an upward climb, with thousands of players happily pointing fingers at each other in daily friendly arguments over who killed who. Shortly after the game’s success, it was nominated for several awards at the 2020 Game Awards. For its popularity, Among Us was awarded not only the Game Award for Best Mobile Game in 2020, but also the Game Award for Best Multiplayer Game. To celebrate, the developers announced a brand new map coming to the game in early 2021 which is a new version of the Airship, the mobile headquarters of the Toppat Clan from the Henry Stickmin Collection. This map is the largest map yet, boasting new mechanics, tasks, and kill animations. It doesn’t take a big budget company to make something great, and Among Us is the perfect example of that.

The nightmare that was 2020 has finally come to an end, and with it comes a new year of unbound possibility. While stuck in quarantine for the past several months, many gamers have flooded the mobile gaming world. Instead of bulky consoles and controllers, mobile games can be played practically anywhere with Wi-Fi connection. With thousands of new games in the app store every day, the mobile gaming world is continuing to keep the passion of gaming strong until the coronavirus hits its inevitable game over.