19 Mobile Games From 2016 You Might Have Missed

If you want to keep your thumbs busy, you better check these out.

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

1. The Silent Age

House on Fire

In this point-and-click adventure game, you'll play as an average Joe navigating his way through both the 1970s and a dystopian future. It sounds a little hard to grasp, but the stylized puzzles and creepy time-travel plot are more than enough to keep you hooked.

Great if you like: Time travel, dystopian settings, choose-your-own-adventures

Price: Free on iOS and Android.

2. Stack

Ketchapp

It's simple: just stack the blocks as high as you can! If you don't perfectly align the squares, bits of their edges break away, making it harder to land the blocks in place. It's straightforward, easy to grasp, and wonderfully therapeutic.

Great if you like: Reflex tests, building blocks, games you can play with one finger

Price: Free on iOS and Android

3. Tomb of the Mask

Happymagenta UAB

In this endless retro vertical game, you want to climb as far as you can, as fast as you can, to escape numerous enemies and booby traps in a tomb while collecting little Pac-Man-like dots. It has great power-ups, easy controls, and hours of addicting, arcade-like fun.

Great if you like: Old-school arcade games, cute animations, endless replayability

Price: Free on iOS, not available on Android

4. Clash: Royale

Supercell / Via youtube.com

Here's a great real-time strategy game that will let you battle players from all around the world. In Clash: Royale, you'll use the cards you collect to attack enemy towers while defending your own. Card players and Crash of Clan fans will love it, and who can get enough of multiplayer tower-defense games?

Great if you like: Card games, strategizing, tower defense

Price: Free on iOS and Android

5. PinOut

Mediocre

Pinball gets a cool, glossy makeover in this app. With satisfying physics and sound effects, you can use this retro simulation to flick the ball through a series of never-ending tables as you aim for your high score.

Great if you like: Retro games, great soundtracks, beautiful design

Price: Free on iOS and Android

6. War Tortoise

Foursaken Media

Turrets? Check. Rifles? Check. Tortoise? You got it. Arm your shelled friend to the teeth as they fight against never-ending waves of enemies. You can upgrade weapons, add defenses, or even recruit troops to do what it takes to survive.

Great if you like: Tower defense, shooters, armed reptiles

Price: Free on iOS and Android

7. Pokémon Go

Niantic / Via gaming.stackexchange.com

If you haven't been living under a rock for the past few months, you've probably heard of Pokémon Go. This augmented reality game allows you to journey forth in the world to catch and battle Pokémon, just like a real-life Pokémon master. So far, this is the closest we've been to making our childhood dreams come true!

Great if you like: Scavenger hunts, collecting, going outside

Price: Free on iOS and Android

8. The Trail

Kongregate / Via youtube.com

Explore lush landscapes, hunt and collect resources, trade and camp, and most importantly, just be. This is a walking simulator that's all about taking it slow and enjoying the view. It's perfect for when you're stuck inside or trapped on a long commute and want to go exploring.

Great if you like: Exploration, side quests, free will

Price: Free on iOS and Android

9. Peter Panic

[adult swim] games

Guys, it's a mobile game musical. A MOBILE GAME MUSICAL. In the game, you'll perform mini games to convince people to hep an aspiring musical director bring theater back to his hometown. It features tons of original songs, AND it's voiced by actual Broadway stars!

Great if you like: Singing, clicker games, heartwarming earnestness

Price: Free on iOS and Android

Charlotte Gomez / BuzzFeed

10. Chameleon Run

Noodlecake Studios / Via mobilesyrup.com

Yet another endless runner game. Been there, done that, right? WRONG. This game is so sleek, and beautifully combines minimalistic graphics with vibrant pops of color. Plus, here's the twist — you must make sure your character always matches the color of the ground.

Great if you like: Endless runners, pretty colors, games with a little bit of rhythm

Price: $1.99 on iOS and Android

11. War of Mine

11 bit studios S.A.

You don't play this game for fun — you play it for honesty. Set in a shelter in the midst of a nameless war, you'll scrape your way to survival by bartering, scavenging, and defending what little you have. War of Mine doesn't shy away from presenting war as savage and chaotic, and it often forces you ask yourself: How much of your morality are you willing to sacrifice to keep living?

Great if you like: Survival games, craft games, horror

Price: $14.99 on iOS on Android

12. Crashlands

Butterscotch Shenanigans

This fun crafting game seems like it would be straightforward, but it's much more complex and fulfilling than it initially lets on. You'll play as a delivery truck driver who crash-lands on an alien planet. You'll have to learn to use the world around you to repair your ship and survive on a strange planet overrun with quirky, malevolent creatures like wompits and glutterflys.

Great if you like: RPGs, action-adventure games, mean floating squids

Price: $4.99 on iOS and Android

13. Never Alone

E-Line Media

In this stunning game, you'll guide a young girl and her Arctic fox through the tundra as they try to stop a never-ending blizzard from wreaking havoc on their home. The game was made in collaboration with indigenous Alaskan cultures, and the art, storytelling, and video vignettes are more than enough to tug at the iciest of hearts.

Great if you like: Platform games, puzzles, gorgeous scenery

Price: $4.99 and iOS and Android.

14. Zenge

Hamster on Coke Games

In this elegant puzzle game, you'll piece together shapes and images to unravel the story of a lonely wanderer. It's creative and charming, and a great way to exercise those spatial reasoning muscles.

Great if you like: Casual games, puzzles, great visuals

Price: $0.99 on iOS and Android

15. Reigns

DevolverDigital

It's like Tinder...but for medieval monarchies? Swipe left or right to respond to your subjects' requests as you shape your legacy into one of prosperity or one of desolation. Just make sure to think carefully about your decisions — just like on dating apps, each swipe has a consequence that might come back to haunt you.

Great if you like: Card games, strategy, humor

Price: $2.99 on iOS and Android

16. Samorost 3

Amanita Design / Via media.giphy.com

Did you know you could house an entire fictional world on your phone? This charmingly surreal adventure game presents you with challenging puzzles, but ultimately it's about playing and interacting with the world around you. What it lacks in plot, it makes up for with vibrant scenery that's more than enough to leave you satisfied.

Great if you like: Whimsy, fairy tales, world building

Price: $4.99 on iOS and Android

17. Able Black

Skot Leach

If you're hungry for something a little more narrative heavy, this is a great game to try out. Follow an android in an underground human refuge as he tries to survive loneliness and isolation. The puzzles are challenging, the music is lovely, and the story? Slightly disconcerting, but still exquisite.

Great if you like: Dark plots, puzzles, choose-your-own-adventures

Price: $1.99 on iOS and Android

18. Neon Chrome

10tons Ltd

Who said you couldn't enjoy a top-down cyberpunk shooter on your phone? This fast-paced game is pretty straightforward: Just run out with your guns blazing and try to bring down everything and everyone around you until you fall. Then do it again. And again. And again. It's pretty addicting, and the perfect way to occupy two free thumbs.

Great if you like: Destroying things, shiny weapons, endless replayability

Price: $4.99 on iOS and Android

19. Burly Men at Sea

Brain&Brain

Based on Scandinavian folklore, this charming game about adventures and shipwrecks is perfectly suited for your phone. It's an interactive narrative starring three burly brothers, aptly named Brave Beard, Hasty Beard, and Steady Beard. With a great host of characters and a clean design, each play-through will lull and soothe just like a bedtime story.

Great if you like: Folklore, charming simplicity, storybooks

Price: $4.99 on iOS and Android

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