Beautiful indie mobile games for people who don't like gaming
Mindless and pointless, or puzzlingly beautiful curiosities? Featuring independent studios, here are the best mobile games for taking your commute to the next level
Beautiful indie mobile games for people who don't like gaming
It started with Pokémon Go. Its interactive map allowed you to see Pokémon in the real world, but the mobile game joined the gaming universe with the real universe in more ways than one. With more people playing than Candy Crush, it became a portal into the world of games for people like us who thought gaming wasn't for them. It made us ask: what else is out there?
We asked a senior games designer what they think are the best mobile games. They pointed out that there plenty of games out there that are relaxed, easy to learn and a little bit different.
No lazy shoot outs. No complicated rules. No bias, snobbery or trolling if you play it wrong. Just adding a little inventiveness, curiosity and beauty to your day. You can start by simply watching the game trailers, here are five beautiful mobile games:
Botanicula (2012)
Beautiful and charming, set against a blurry background of geometric biology, pick an adorable tiny insect character to play as and enjoy a microscopic world.
The game is easy- 'point and click' exploration with small puzzles to solve, just watch out for the spider!
Try Machinerium, by the same studio, if you want harder puzzles and painstakingly hand-drawn robot character who gets bullied by the other mean robots. These are sweet games that make you stand up for the little guy.
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Monument Valley (2014)
If you want a game that makes you say- beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!, this is it. if you watch House of Cards you may already be familiar with Monument Valley, but it is arguably the game that helped the public start thinking of games as art. Designed more as an exploratory experience than a challenge, lead Princess Ida through a maze of beautiful, impossible buildings. The buildings might be impossible but the puzzles are easy and soothing to solve. It's as though MC Escher had stopped being a DJ and started drawing for his children.
FIND OUT MORE
Year Walk (2013)
On the night before the New Year, Scandinavian tradition dictates a walk in the snow-laden forest to the church. On arriving, you should see the future. But in Year Walk, to get to your destination, you must encounter a series of Scandinavian folklore characters... and they're not Moomins. The Brook Horse, for instance, will drown you if you attempt to get on his back.
It comes with a companion guide for the fairy tales that's more disturbing than Disney. Pretty, spooky.
FIND OUT MORE
Little Inferno (2012)
A dark, strange, funny story. You're a cute child, and you're told to burn your possessions... then buy more possessions (strange items, recalled toys, bricks) to set on fire. Amazing flame effects distract from a simple concept. But then the story starts, delivered in notes and asides before gradually taking over gameplay, and the plot thickens. The last twenty minutes of exposition are exceptional. Avoid the spoilers and play it for yourself.
FIND OUT MORE
Sword and Sworcery (2011)
An adventure game which is all about the soundtrack. Guide your pixellated Scythian warrior through beautiful sets to the soothing music of Jim Guthrie and encounter plenty of surprises- what you find is controlled by the phases of the real life moon. This game is still achingly hip and scattered with jargon. The soundtrack is key, with some pieces only available if you enter certain phases of gameplay, and not available to download anywhere else. A true audiovisual adventure.
FIND OUT MORE
We asked a senior games designer what they think are the best mobile games. They pointed out that there plenty of games out there that are relaxed, easy to learn and a little bit different.
No lazy shoot outs. No complicated rules. No bias, snobbery or trolling if you play it wrong. Just adding a little inventiveness, curiosity and beauty to your day. You can start by simply watching the game trailers, here are five beautiful mobile games:
Botanicula (2012)
Beautiful and charming, set against a blurry background of geometric biology, pick an adorable tiny insect character to play as and enjoy a microscopic world.
The game is easy- 'point and click' exploration with small puzzles to solve, just watch out for the spider!
Try Machinerium, by the same studio, if you want harder puzzles and painstakingly hand-drawn robot character who gets bullied by the other mean robots. These are sweet games that make you stand up for the little guy.
FIND OUT MORE
Monument Valley (2014)
If you want a game that makes you say- beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!, this is it. if you watch House of Cards you may already be familiar with Monument Valley, but it is arguably the game that helped the public start thinking of games as art. Designed more as an exploratory experience than a challenge, lead Princess Ida through a maze of beautiful, impossible buildings. The buildings might be impossible but the puzzles are easy and soothing to solve. It's as though MC Escher had stopped being a DJ and started drawing for his children.
FIND OUT MORE
Year Walk (2013)
On the night before the New Year, Scandinavian tradition dictates a walk in the snow-laden forest to the church. On arriving, you should see the future. But in Year Walk, to get to your destination, you must encounter a series of Scandinavian folklore characters... and they're not Moomins. The Brook Horse, for instance, will drown you if you attempt to get on his back.
It comes with a companion guide for the fairy tales that's more disturbing than Disney. Pretty, spooky.
FIND OUT MORE
Little Inferno (2012)
A dark, strange, funny story. You're a cute child, and you're told to burn your possessions... then buy more possessions (strange items, recalled toys, bricks) to set on fire. Amazing flame effects distract from a simple concept. But then the story starts, delivered in notes and asides before gradually taking over gameplay, and the plot thickens. The last twenty minutes of exposition are exceptional. Avoid the spoilers and play it for yourself.
FIND OUT MORE
Sword and Sworcery (2011)
An adventure game which is all about the soundtrack. Guide your pixellated Scythian warrior through beautiful sets to the soothing music of Jim Guthrie and encounter plenty of surprises- what you find is controlled by the phases of the real life moon. This game is still achingly hip and scattered with jargon. The soundtrack is key, with some pieces only available if you enter certain phases of gameplay, and not available to download anywhere else. A true audiovisual adventure.
FIND OUT MORE
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