The air is colder now, warranting cozy jackets and sweaters. Leaves descend from trees in great droves, carpeting the grassy floor below in warm colors. People everywhere buy pumpkins for their porches, decorate their homes with ghoulish decor, and order cheap costumes on Amazon. It’s October, and the time has come for another Top Ten Mobile Games List! A lot of games were released this October, and although not all were spooky, most left me entertained and impressed. If you plan on dressing up as a ruthless space marine for Halloween, then consider playing this first game for inspiration:
10. Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge
After a long day of work, something that always helps me unwind is exterminating heretics in the name of the Emperor. Warpforge is perfect for any fans of the Warhammer 40k franchise who also enjoy tactical card games. The game throws you into the 41st millennia, a futuristic universe full of war, war, and more war. Everything starts with choosing which iconic faction you want to play, and then you continue on to battle the rest. Overtime, you assemble powerful cards and strategically customize your decks, competing your way through solo campaigns, PvP matches, and a variety of competitive modes.
I especially enjoyed the amount of care put into the voice acting, and the entertaining references to the franchise’s ever-expanding lore. The tutorial starts you off as an Ultramarine, and right away you are training alongside iconic characters like Uriel Ventris and Marneus Calgar. The voice acting lines, although short and to the point, are so professional and energetic, bringing these otherwise stagnant cards to life.
Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge is available for free on iOS and Android devices.
9. Grimguard Tactics: End of Legends
If the sound of Warhammer 40k’s grim apocalyptic world got you excited, just wait until you hear about Grimguard Tactics! This game is set in war-torn Terenos, a fictional world ravaged by an ancient evil known as Primorva. All that stands between humanity and utter chaos is Holdfast, the last remaining human stronghold. You lead the Dawnseekers, a team of powerful heroes, against the Primorva’s forces. This means facing all sorts of monsters and corrupted beings in the pursuit of a better life.
The meat of Grimguard’s gameplay takes place on a grid-based battlefield, where players must strategically control their heroes in turn-based combat. The combat system was easy for me to pick up on but satisfying to progress through. It was a nice mix of tactical maneuverings and role-playing elements. The game also features a stronghold building aspect, where you are able to level up and expand Holdfast as you progress through the storyline.
I found myself very charmed by the game’s bold and unique character designs, each of which possess a distinct hand-drawn feel that reminds me of early Dungeons and Dragons artwork. If you’re in the mood for some dark fantasy and an epic storyline, consider checking this one out.
Grimguard Tactics: End of Legends is available for free on iOS and Android devices.
8. Nightfall: Kingdom Frontier TD
Nightfall is an adorable tower defense game where you play as a king who rides around on his horse, defending your castle every night when the monsters attack. It’s rare for a tower defense game to let you actively participate in the onslaught as a fully controllable character, and it made the experience all the more exciting. During the day you invest your coins in building up your defense towers and forces as much as you can, and during the night you ride alongside them, shooting or stabbing the enemies with your weapon of choice.
When I started playing this game, I honestly didn’t have much in the way of expectations. On the surface it seems like a fairly straightforward tower defense game. I quickly found myself surprised by how much I loved it, however, and it became one of my go-to time wasters. Its simplistic graphics have grown on me, and I’m grateful for its straightforward and satisfying mechanics.
Nightfall: Kingdom Frontier TD is available for free on iOS and Android devices.
7. Disney Pixel RPG
Any Disney fans reading this are in luck! This is definitely the game for you, especially if you, like me, are easily charmed by retro pixelated graphics. The game throws you into a world where iconic Disney characters all live and co-exist in various Disney-themed games. At first it appears like you’ll be playing an old Mickey Mouse arcade game, but everything quickly changes as a mysterious invasion tears down the digital walls separating these game worlds. These glitchy little troublemakers are nicknamed Mimics. In order to defeat them and restore the various realms, you must team up with both Disney heroes and villains to fight as one.
This game oozes nostalgia, in the best way possible. Everything, from the adorable, pixelated graphics to the cheery 8-bit soundtrack, reminded me of why I love Disney properties so much to begin with. Disney has a stronghold in almost everyone’s childhood, and they know it too. It’s almost frustrating how easily they were able to turn me into a little kid again.
Disney Pixel RPG is available for free on iOS and Android devices.
6. Devil’s Purge
Have you ever wondered what Pokémon GO and DOOM would look like as one game? Devil’s Purge is the answer! As soon as you open the game you are greeted by a biblically accurate angel, who commands you to follow God’s divine will and become an exorcist. All of the sudden your smartphone becomes a tool for purging demons, using your camera to reveal all of the demonic creatures that just so happen to be hanging nearby. Defeating these demons takes on a physical role, as you are forced to literally evade their advances and aim for weak spots. So what if I get a few side eyes in the park when I play? I’m getting customized weapons and upgrades from Jesus Christ himself!
Jokes aside, the game really was impressive. It’s distinct blend of beautiful baroque graphics and a killer heavy metal soundtrack made it memorable, to say the least. It felt like, for the first time in a while, I had seen something completely new in a mobile game. Its AR and geolocation features really sell the idea that you’re an exorcist and your demonic enemies lurk around every corner.
Devil’s Purge is available for $7.99 on iOS devices.
5. Machinika: Atlas
This game captures the serene silence of infinite space as you explore a derelict alien ship all by your lonesome. You play as museum researcher who crash lands onto Atlas, one of Saturn’s moons, and explores an abandoned alien ship as you recollect yourself. Secret technology lies in wait, hidden and itching to be discovered. Only through solving complex puzzles (and I mean complex) are you able to progress through the story and understand what happened to the former alien crew.
I really appreciated the unique atmosphere this game established with its detailed graphics and tranquil soundtrack. When most people think about science fiction games, a lot of lazer beams and blaring beep-boops likely come to mind. Machinika: Atlas depicts an advanced futuristic species after their demise, thereby making a hypothetical future feel historical.
Machinika: Atlas is available for free as a demo and for $5.99 as a full game on iOS and Android devices.
4. The Get Out Kids
This game definitely fits the spooky spirit of October as it follows a late-night adventure set in the 1980s. You are introduced to Molly and Salim, two off-beat best friends who sneak out one night to see a film and lose their dog, Moses. It’s your job to help the kids rescue him by solving puzzles each chapter in detailed 3D dioramas. With each and every puzzle, however simple it might at first appear, more information about their mysterious town is uncovered.
I enjoyed every aspect of this experience, from the game’s unique art style and cute characters to its captivating storyline and eerie undertones. It thrived on 80’s nostalgia, and definitely got me in the mood to buy some overpriced popcorn and watch a drive-in movie. The characters were well written and full of 80’s specific slang that made me laugh. I absolutely adored Molly’s fearless, paranormal enthusiast grandmother, who defied all my expectations.
The Get Out Kids is available for free on iOS devices through Apple Arcade.
3. Wizardry Variants Daphne
Time for a dungeon crawl! Wizardry Variants Daphne is a huge expansive Wizardry RPG that features dungeon exploration, turn-based combat, and a blend of character classes and races to fight alongside. You essentially start the game by failing it, walking down a dungeon corridor and immediately getting slaughtered by an overpowered monster. As if to emphasize the weight of your failure, the game then begins its credit sequence as your character decomposes in the background. Just when you begin to wonder if ‘the end’ is about to appear on your screen, time rewinds and your body reassembles itself to a degree. Just as you reach the level of slightly decomposed, your eyes open wide. From here your real adventure begins as a mysterious cloaked figure grants you the ability to self-resurrect.
The game is insanely detailed and complex for a mobile game and gives you a unique first-person perspective as you tap your way through endless dungeons. I love the character designs, and the English dub voice acting is well executed.
Wizardry Variants Daphne is available for free on iOS and Android software.
2. Children of Morta
This game is absolutely gorgeous, with small, pixelated characters who are dwarfed by the sheer magnitude of a magical environment called Mount Morta. You play as members of the Bergson family, who dedicate their lives to protecting Mount Morta and combatting a dark force called the corruption. Each of the family members have unique personalities, storylines, and fighting styles, and their strong familial bonds remain an ever-present theme throughout the game’s sprawling narrative. The game’s action-packed roguelite portions take place in procedurally generated dungeons crammed full of monsters. The combat is admittedly difficult at first, but the regeneration system is forgiving and encourages players to learn from previous mistakes.
The game puts an emphasis on collaboration, especially within family. Currently co-op is unavailable, but the game assures players that it will be as soon as possible. This means that you can play with friends, if you’re lucky enough to have any!
Children of Morta is available for $6.99 on iOS and Android software.
1. Kingdom Two Crowns: Call of Olympus
Last but not least, (obviously) we have Kingdom Two Crowns’ expansion pack, Call of Olympus. Players are transported to an environment inspired by Ancient Greece, where they must assist the Greek gods in reclaiming Mount Olympus, all while expanding their kingdom and protecting their resources from monsters called ‘greed.’ Their character spends the entirety of each campaign on their steed, never touching the ground. They carry only what they need to run their kingdom and restore Mount Olympus, which consists of their crown and coins. It sounds impossibly simple for a game that contains such depth, but the developers made it work! All that you as a player have to do is swipe left or right to determine your character’s direction and disperse coins wherever you choose to allocate funds. Your loyal followers will set everything else into motion, building walls, farming food, hunting animals, etc.
This game achieves a perfect mixture of satisfyingly simple mechanics, and rich, complex content. Part of the appeal to mobile games pertains to their convenience, and this is sometimes overlooked. People play mobile games everywhere they go, and sometimes for very short periods of time. It can be difficult to comprehend intricate gameplay mechanics while you’re on the toilet, or sneaking in a bit of forbidden screen time at the office. Kingdom Two Crowns: Call of Olympus checks every box I have for what makes a mobile game worthwhile, and that’s why it’s the highest game on October’s list.