It’s the end of the month, and that can only mean one thing. It’s time for another Top 10 Mobile Games List. If you missed out on last month’s, check it out here. April brought forth a lot of games. As in, there were more games in the month than there were days in the month. Which only meant I had my work cut out for me…

Over 30 games, down to 20, down to 10. Strap in for MXDWN’s Top 10 Mobile Games of April!

#10. Zombicide: Tactics and Shotguns

Zombicide: Tactics and Shotguns is a turn-based tactical strategy game developed by Asmodee Games and Guillotine Games. And it’s a mobile game heavily based on the board game of the same name. While not an exact digital port of said board game, it is based in the same realm. Players put together a band of people who each have their own unique fighting style and set of skills to fight their way through the zombie apocalypse. Choose your steps and moves wisely, and complete over 40 missions available. A bit of a different take on the zombie apocalypse, but a whole lot of fun.

Zombicide: Tactics and Shotguns is available on iOS and Android for $4.99.

#9. Nomads of the Fallen Star

Going off on turn-based strategy games, let’s take a turn into turn-based rpg games. Developed by Halfgeek, Nomads of the Fallen Star struck a small chord as it’s gameplay and choices of dialogue showed how much it influences the game. So choose your own adventure, really! Players take on the role of a small scavenging team where a young girl is looking for her mother. But she isn’t the only one you can help as others can join your rag-tag group and help you navigate through the hostile planet. With great art, relatable characters, and a great turn based combat system, and a choice of your own of how you make your way through, Nomads of the Fallen Star is a great way to go.

Nomads of the Fallen Star is available on iOS, Android, for $7.99 and on Steam for $12.99.

#8. The Unic

Couldn’t have a top 10 list without a puzzle game! The Unic, developed by Lozange Lab, is a rather quick moving puzzle game that won me over with its unique patterns and soft sounds and simple gameplay. The game is set up a geometric pattern opposite of a match-2 memory game. The term ‘unic’ refers to the one pattern that doesn’t have a match, and that’s the one you click on. The levels get harder and add more patterns, and soon enough the whole screen become a mass of brightly colored matching designs and one lone one. The Unic is a game that is simple, fun, and honestly just flat out pretty.

The Unic is available on iOS only for free.

#7. Pocket Cowboy: Wild West Standoff

Ever want to be a gunslinging cowboy? In this game you can. Developed by Foxglove Studios, Pocket Cowboy: Wild West Standoff is a neat little online matchmaking strategy game. Players make a band of cowboys that all have their own specific set of skills in how they move, reload, shoot, so on and so forth. With a team of 3 different cowboys, go up against 3 other players with their own teams. Everyone moves and does the activity at the same time, so it’s a hope and prayer and a ‘please don’t walk right into a gunshot’ away from winning. Try to see if you can become the Most Wanted in this wild western strategy game.

Pocket Cowboy: Wild West Standoff is available on iOS and Android for free.

#6. Super 80’s World

Ah, the 80’s. The era in which so many of us want to bring back. This game is no different. Super 80’s World, developed by Tap Tap Good LLC, is a side scrolling pixelated game that’s just drowning in everything 80’s. The neon lights, the music, the outfits, the characters you meet, and oh boy the references. In the game you, as the player, need to collect paraphernalia. A lot of it is albums that were top hits when they came out, and top shelf video games of the time. As each level continues, there’s more to collect and more obstacles to get around. Looking for a one-way ticket to nostalgia? This is the game.

Super 80’s World is available on iOS only for $3.99.

#5. Foxyland 2

Still going right with the side-scrollers, up next is Foxyland 2. Developed by Cresent Moon Games, Foxyland 2 is another side-scroller. However, this one brought me right back to the old Sonic days on Sega. Players take on the role of Foxy, whose house was raided by wolves. With his children kidnapped, he goes on a quest to get them back. Use jumps, attacks and slides to make your way through the levels. Fun, simple, and boy does it bring back the early days of gaming, this is one to check out.

Foxyland 2 is available on iOS and Android for $1.99, and on Steam for $5.99.

#4. Cultist Simulator

Having covered Cultist Simulator before when it was announced for mobile devices, this was on the list to watch for since last month. And, it was well worth the wait. Take the role  of… whoever. Each time you start a new game, you’re a different person. And each time you start a new life, you delve more into the occult and finding out secrets and mysteries. Juggle sleep, work, health, and the occult until you can make your way to the top. Tricky at first (I ashamedly admit I forgot to have my guy sleep and work, so I died of hunger and sickness because guess who couldn’t afford medicine?), but once each card is laid out for you and time management is understood more, the farther you can get. Dripping with an unsettling atmosphere, this is a game to keep track of… and to keep track of all the others watching.

Cultist Simulator is available on iOS and Android for $6.99 and on Steam for $19.99.

#3. Distraint 2

Distraint 2, developed by Jesse Makkonen, had first come out as a PC game back in November 2018, and had a mobile port being worked on since then. Again, the wait was worth it. Players take on the role of a man who’s dealing and struggling with his life choices, considering himself irredeemable because of it. The game makes players confront the impact of their choices through the existential dread and suffering.

The player has to go through these dark halls, questioning on whether or not they can have a normal life, even after all the terrible things they did. Though of course, there are still monsters lurking in the shadows as a corporeal reminder of the things they fear the most.

Puzzles, horror, and a deep story of one’s healing through facing their own demons to find hope, test to see if you can play it with the lights off.

Distraint 2 is available on iOS and Android for $3.99 and on Steam for $8.99.

#2. Whispers of a Machine

If you’re a fan of thrillers and murder mysteries and sci-fi, this is the one for you. Developed by Raw Fury, Whispers of a Machine has you take the on the role of Vera, a cybernetically enhanced special agent living in a post-AI world. She’s tasked with solving a couple of murders who both have a similar death, and could be connected more than just by the same killer.

Through uncovering the clues, scandals are revealed, more questions show up than there are answers to (yet) and you hold the key to how Vera might act out in certain ways. Gripping storytelling, wonderful characters, and a mystery that will get you hooked, Whispers of a Machine is the one to check out.

Whispers of a Machine is available on iOS and Android for $4.99 and on Steam for $14.99.

#1. Photographs

There comes a time when a game makes us question the things we do, and the choices we make. Luca Redwood’s Photographs became that game for me. The premise is deceptively sweet: live through 5 people’s lives through the photographs you find. Solve puzzles to continue and hint at the story behind the Polaroid image. But it isn’t just living through their lives, it’s living through an irreversible choice that they make.

Without going into any details, the choice they make is hard, and alters the course of their life. The game is about puzzles that the player goes through, and witnessing the consequences of a character’s decision. And in the end? The game makes you wonder of all the ‘what if’s’ that were left behind in the character’s life when they got to the fork in the road. But it does bring forth a valuable lesson: sometimes the best choice, isn’t the easiest one.

Because of its intensity, and the experience it gave, Photographs is this month’s most recommended mobile game. It’s available on iOS, Android, for $3.99 and on Steam for $11.99.