50. Mikey Hooks
Platform gaming in 2013 doesn't get much better than Mikey Hooks. A retro-styled game that has you using hooks to swing around the screen while collecting coins, the gameplay starts out easy at first, then becomes diabolically difficult during later levels and bonus stages. With gameplay that works wonderfully on touchscreens, and plenty of cool unlockables, Mikey Hooks will have you swinging in no time.
49. Candymeleon
There's a good chance you may have missed this gem from Bulkypix, but as the saying goes, better late than never. In Candymeleon, you guide a lizard creature across the screen snatching delicious looking candies that fall from the sky. Put simply, you do this until the game gets so intense that failure is more or less the only option. Depth here comes from the multicolored candies that imbue the character with special powers. Definitely one of the best free games on the App Store.
48. Dead Ahead
You'll find no shortage of zombies games on the App Store, and picking the great ones from the bad can at times be difficult. So let us make the process easier for you, and recommend Dead Ahead as one of the very best. Chillingo's title puts you on a scooter and forces you to burn rubber through a 2D environment that's packed full of flesh-eating monsters. Hit one with the vehicle and watch the creature go splat. Simple but satisfying, and it never gets old.
47. Slayin
You'll find a virtual ton of games containing 8-bit style graphics designed to tug at your nostalgic heartstrings. With Slayin, though, there's more to this title than simply old-school visuals. You guide a warrior back and forth, killing a variety of monsters until you succumb to progressively challenging waves of baddies. Simple and addictive - just the way we like it.
46. Hundreds
Semi Secret Software's Hundreds infuses a simple idea with so much imagination that it comfortably assumes a place in our top 50 round-up this year. All you have to do in the game is push down on a collection of circles in order to grow them up towards a total score of 100. The catch? If they touch each other while you're growing them you'll fail, and later levels require some serious dexterity as well as fast thinking.
45. Warhammer Quest
Through the likes of Talisman Prologue and Warhammer Quest, Game Workshop fans have been very well catered for in 2013. Based on the table-top board game of the same name, this digital edition has you tactically exploring dank dungeons in the endless pursuit of loot and riches. Highly recommended if you can't get enough fantasy fare.
44. Running with Friends
It wasn't necessarily the best year for Zynga from a PR perspective, but the free-to-play publisher managed to release some fun games in 2013 nevertheless. Running with Friends (recently renamed to Stampede Run) stood out from the pack. It might not do too much that we haven't seen in other runners before, but the whole running-with-bulls theme was cool to see, and the social integration is top-notch.
43. The Blockheads
David Frampton's The Blockheads drew some unfair comparisons with Minecraft at release, but this is very much a sandbox exploration game that stands on its own two feet. We fell in love with the animations, artwork and audio in the game as soon as we got our hands on it, and some of the community creations have to be seen to be believed. Why not join in the fun with them?
42. Amateur Surgeon 3
Amateur Surgeon 3 continues the series' tradition of tongue-in-cheek surgical insanity in fine fashion, and you can get a long way through this free-to-play game without feeling the need to spend a single cent. Perfect for those with a dark sense of humor, and who know deep down that the real way to save someone from a coronary involves a car battery and a rusty pizza cutter.
41. What's the Word? 4 Pics 1 Word
To be fair, 4 Pics 1 Word wasn't the first trivia game to hit the App Store, but it certainly helped kick off the craze that's dominated smartphones and tablets throughout the year. The premise, as with all great games, is effortlessly simple. Four seemingly random photos appear on screen, and you must figure out the one word they have in common. Hundreds of puzzles later and we still occasionally go back to figure out the trickiest brain teasers. If you haven't played it yet, you're missing out.
Platform gaming in 2013 doesn't get much better than Mikey Hooks. A retro-styled game that has you using hooks to swing around the screen while collecting coins, the gameplay starts out easy at first, then becomes diabolically difficult during later levels and bonus stages. With gameplay that works wonderfully on touchscreens, and plenty of cool unlockables, Mikey Hooks will have you swinging in no time.
49. Candymeleon
There's a good chance you may have missed this gem from Bulkypix, but as the saying goes, better late than never. In Candymeleon, you guide a lizard creature across the screen snatching delicious looking candies that fall from the sky. Put simply, you do this until the game gets so intense that failure is more or less the only option. Depth here comes from the multicolored candies that imbue the character with special powers. Definitely one of the best free games on the App Store.
48. Dead Ahead
You'll find no shortage of zombies games on the App Store, and picking the great ones from the bad can at times be difficult. So let us make the process easier for you, and recommend Dead Ahead as one of the very best. Chillingo's title puts you on a scooter and forces you to burn rubber through a 2D environment that's packed full of flesh-eating monsters. Hit one with the vehicle and watch the creature go splat. Simple but satisfying, and it never gets old.
47. Slayin
You'll find a virtual ton of games containing 8-bit style graphics designed to tug at your nostalgic heartstrings. With Slayin, though, there's more to this title than simply old-school visuals. You guide a warrior back and forth, killing a variety of monsters until you succumb to progressively challenging waves of baddies. Simple and addictive - just the way we like it.
46. Hundreds
Semi Secret Software's Hundreds infuses a simple idea with so much imagination that it comfortably assumes a place in our top 50 round-up this year. All you have to do in the game is push down on a collection of circles in order to grow them up towards a total score of 100. The catch? If they touch each other while you're growing them you'll fail, and later levels require some serious dexterity as well as fast thinking.
45. Warhammer Quest
Through the likes of Talisman Prologue and Warhammer Quest, Game Workshop fans have been very well catered for in 2013. Based on the table-top board game of the same name, this digital edition has you tactically exploring dank dungeons in the endless pursuit of loot and riches. Highly recommended if you can't get enough fantasy fare.
44. Running with Friends
It wasn't necessarily the best year for Zynga from a PR perspective, but the free-to-play publisher managed to release some fun games in 2013 nevertheless. Running with Friends (recently renamed to Stampede Run) stood out from the pack. It might not do too much that we haven't seen in other runners before, but the whole running-with-bulls theme was cool to see, and the social integration is top-notch.
43. The Blockheads
David Frampton's The Blockheads drew some unfair comparisons with Minecraft at release, but this is very much a sandbox exploration game that stands on its own two feet. We fell in love with the animations, artwork and audio in the game as soon as we got our hands on it, and some of the community creations have to be seen to be believed. Why not join in the fun with them?
42. Amateur Surgeon 3
Amateur Surgeon 3 continues the series' tradition of tongue-in-cheek surgical insanity in fine fashion, and you can get a long way through this free-to-play game without feeling the need to spend a single cent. Perfect for those with a dark sense of humor, and who know deep down that the real way to save someone from a coronary involves a car battery and a rusty pizza cutter.
41. What's the Word? 4 Pics 1 Word
To be fair, 4 Pics 1 Word wasn't the first trivia game to hit the App Store, but it certainly helped kick off the craze that's dominated smartphones and tablets throughout the year. The premise, as with all great games, is effortlessly simple. Four seemingly random photos appear on screen, and you must figure out the one word they have in common. Hundreds of puzzles later and we still occasionally go back to figure out the trickiest brain teasers. If you haven't played it yet, you're missing out.
