In the .biz realm, we often find ourselves wrapped up in the investments, deals and stats of the gaming world (and rightly so), but it’s also important to highlight the games themselves – the fruits of the labour that can only appear after years of research, funding and, of course, development.
So, for the last time in 2023, here are the most exciting new mobile games right now, the developers and publishers behind them, and why, exactly, they’ve made the cut.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World
Starting things off on a suitably festive note, Ebenezer and the Invisible World sees a reimagined Ebenezer Scrooge joining a team of spectres on a mission around Victorian London. The non-linear story is intended as a sequel to A Christmas Carol, focusing on a new adventure wherein Scrooge and his ghoulish chums must uncover mysteries on his quest to put a stop to industrialist Caspar Malthus.
For players, this means a 2D metroidvania experience with materials to collect, abilities to unlock and plenty of ghosts to find and fight alongside. It all takes place on the Victorian backdrop, hand-drawn with frame-by-frame colouring and animations.
Ebenezer and the Invisible World has launched across consoles, Steam and iOS as the debut title from Play on Worlds, together with Orbit Studio, known for the award-winning Retro Machina and isometric medieval title Forbidden Requiem.
Jump Heroes
Warsaw-based indie developer Radikate has launched its very first game in Jump Heroes, an arcade-style title that tests players’ reflexes as they aim to survive a random onslaught of obstacles. The goal of the game is to “become a jump hero” and rise up the global rankings, aiming for the highest score possible in casual competition.
Challenges take place on an 8×8 grid where players can move their characters up, down, left and right to dodge anything that comes at their character. And as for those characters, there are 22 vibrant cuboids to choose from – a frustrated yellow chicken and a tipsy-looking cow among them.
With casual games on the rise again, and with competitive games finding more willing spenders, Radikate has brought together an ideal formula for its first game, free to download on iOS and Android.
Little Nightmares
Tarsier Studios’ Little Nightmares has finally come to mobile, available now on iOS and Android to give everyone a chance to face their childhood traumas – ideal at Christmas time. Little Nightmares has come to be well-known through its popular console release, built around Six’s quest to escape The Maw and plenty of nightmare-fuel horrors.
With a port to mobile, Little Nightmares has been tailored to touchscreen play and offers a stealth-puzzle experience that will be familiar to some and brand-new to others. The latest version sticks to the classic pay-upfront model rather than overhauling its monetisation with in-app purchases, and has a 30% sale on to celebrate the launch. Very festive!
Publisher Playdigious also recently ported Dead Cells onto Netflix.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
A 3D platformer leveraging the well-known SpongeBob IP, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake has released on mobile almost one year on from its January 2023 console release. The game sees titular hero SpongeBob and his trusty sidekick Patrick getting their hands on wish-granting Mermaid’s Tears, which causes inevitable chaos. There are skills to unlock, 30 costumes to find, seven distinct worlds from across the universe, and plenty of familiar characters to interact with.
Also noteworthy is the game’s accessibility, with nine voiced language options and 15 text languages available to choose between. Returning characters share their voice actors with the popular Nickelodeon show, too.
The game comes courtesy of SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom publisher THQ Nordic and its subsidiaries Purple Lamp and HandyGames.
SIGIL
When discussing location-based games in the mobile industry, one’s mind may naturally go to Niantic and the likes of Pokémon Go. But there are other location-based game developers out there too, and Toronto-based Albedo Informatics is one of them, combining geolocation with AR, VR and XR to create new experiences.
After working on a content creation app and platform, Albedo Informatics has now released the mobile RPG SIGIL, which breathes life into myths and legends by giving them something close to a real-world presence through AR. It has an occult theming to it and sees players explore The Gloam, a parallel world filled with monsters to fight, items to find and lore to learn about.
Albedo Informatics balances a fine line between humour and fear in SIGIL, with fights using a barbecue lighter probably on the more humourous side of the scale.
