Mobile Mavens’ mobile games of the year 2024: Balatro, Squad Busters, Monopoly Go, Pokémon TCG Pocket, and more

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Once again it’s that time of year where we all start feeling reflective and look back on the year just gone.

So to that end, we thought we’d ask our Mobile Mavens – a collection of games industry experts – a few questions about the year gone by.

Here we ask:

What was your favourite mobile game of the year?

Don’t forget you can check out the winners of the Mobile Games Awards – voted for by members of the games industry – and the Pocket Gamer Awards – voted for by consumers – to see the other top mobile games of the year.

Definitely Squad Busters by Supercell!

It’s really impressive on multiple fronts in a way that very few games can pull off. The gameplay is immediately engaging and just a lot of fun with friends. The technical execution (animations, loading times, networking) is fantastic and easy to admire.

The various Supercell IPs are brought together in a fun and fresh way. This gets easy parallels with Nintendo’s evergreen IP mashups and I’m at awe on just how well it’s all put together.

The jury is still out on what kind of a business ends up forming around the game, as they face all the classic challenges of making a game be casually approachable and very highly retaining and monetising at the same time. No silver bullets here!

I have two favorites for this year, one for each monetisation model – premium and free-to-play. For premium, my choice is Balatro. This game made a huge splash in 2024 and received well-deserved acclaim. It’s the kind of game that keeps players up late into the night, as quick sessions often turn into hours of addictive gameplay.

For free-to-play, I’d pick Hexa Sort. As a player, I found it deeply satisfying, combining aesthetic pleasure with ASMR-like elements during level completion. From business perspective, I was particularly impressed by Lion Studios’ innovative approach to ad monetisation, which has set a new standard for quality in the industry.

While Black Myth: Wukong captivated me with its stunning visuals and groundbreaking mechanics, my favourite mobile experience was the latest Monument Valley.

2024 has been another outstanding year for gaming, with countless incredible titles making their debut.

For me, the game that had me hooked this year was My Superstore Simulator by the talented Game District team. It’s a brilliant example of blending strategic decision-making with engaging gameplay mechanics that made it impossible for me to put down.

Bitcoin Miner!  It’s a fantastic, fun game enabling gamers to earn real money rewards!

To be honest, I don’t have that much time to play mobile games, so when I do play it’s usually one of our partner games. I still like Bitcoin Miner the most, though that’s been around for a few years now – it’s a great game and the real-money rewards element just fits with the concept so well. If I’m picking a new game, it would be Homegrown by MetaBit.

Monopoly Go was this year’s real highlight. Not only was it a fun twist on a familiar game, but it demonstrated how a game can succeed when it blends elements of social casino and social games to offer both skill-based challenges and luck-based rewards.

I anticipate more titles will incorporate chance-based mechanics, progressive rewards, and social features in the coming year to create engaging and compelling experiences.

Developers will need to strike a delicate balance between fun and responsible gaming, ensuring that these elements enhance gameplay without compromising user experience or regulatory compliance.

Pokémon TCG – It’s amazing how the game makes it simple for anyone to understand the mechanics and logic of Pokémon cards and how Pokémon is still a driver for innovation and growth in the mobile games space today.