The popular way to describe the first Reigns is something along the lines of a combination between Game of Thrones and Tinder. The same can be said for the sequel, Reigns: Her Majesty, a game where you take the role of a monarch — in this case a queen, unlike the king in the first game — and you have to make choices by swiping right or left.
Monument Valley is one of the best mobile games ever made, and one that is extremely important to the development of mobile as a platform. It’s one of the first truly huge single-player games on phones, and the sequel, Monument Valley 2, is better in just about every way.
Ironhide Game Studio probably doesn’t need to innovate much to continue producing quality games. Kingdom Rush is fantastic, as are both of the follow-ups, despite not changing much with the formula. As I said, they don’t need to make big changes … but they did with their latest release, Iron Marines, and it’s worked out fantastically.
Thimbleweed Park is an adventure game made in the style of the classics and made by a pair very familiar with the classics in Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, creators of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island. It’s a noir mystery set in 1987, and has shades of Twin Peaks in its bizarre but charming story.
There are shades of Monument Valley, Journey and even some Legend of Zelda, at least from where I’m sitting. It’s an inspired world, carefully built from end to end, and visually, stands out above all else this year.
Our top 31 games of 2017 continues with numbers 20-16, featuring big names like FRAMED 2 and Miracle Merchant.