From the action of ‘Fortnite’ to the art of ‘Donut County,’ it was a good year for iOS gaming.
People on social media enjoy saying 2018 was an awful year, but you’d never be able to tell it from the amazing selection of games that came to the iPhone and iPad. It was a year filled with fresh incarnations of old favorites, such as The Room: Old Sins, Alto’s Odyssey, and Reigns: Game of Thrones. But there were also surprises, such as Fortnite and its almost unbelievably effective port of its Mac and console counterparts. It was a year of art, of action, and optimism for the future of iOS as a gaming platform. From a pool of many worthy contenders, these games stand out ahead of all the rest.
Alto’s Odyssey is a game about maintaining momentum, so I’m not surprised it follows much the same design we saw in 2015’s beloved Alto’s Adventure. Back then, though, you were a snowboarder gliding down mountain peaks; in Odyssey, we’re sliding down slopes of sand in tranquil deserts.
It’s lovely, both in sound and sight. It’s deceptively simple, involving no more gameplay than tapping the screen to leap over rocks or pull tricks to gain momentum. And few other games do such a good job of mixing relaxation with exhilaration. When you’re in the groove, losing yourself in Odyssey ’s minimalist music or the stylized scenery feels a bit like slipping into meditation.
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 anthropomorphic citizens.
Donut County is never difficult, but it never fails to entertain thanks to creative physics puzzles and cutscenes featuring everyone affected by the donut disaster. And Apple itself certainly thinks Donut County is a treat: It called it the best iPhone game of the year.
Epic Games caught lightning in a bottle last year with its wildly popular battle-royale shooter Fortnite, and last March it jolted us when it managed to squeeze its digital blockbuster into the tiny confines of an iPhone. The shooting, movement, and building elements all work so well that this version leaves little doubt that Fortnite deserves many of the billions it earned in 2018.
