1. Pokémon GO
Developed & published by Niantic; when both Niantic & Nintendo collaborated with The Pokémon Company & the game was initially released in selected countries during July 2016.
Pokémon GO needs no introduction as this game took over the world soon after its release.
Pokémon Go is an augmented reality location-based game for iOS and Android devices.
The concept is same as it was in the animated series of Pokémon.
To play this game the players need one mobile device compatible enough to run the game i.e. GPS ability to locate, capture, battle & train virtual creatures who appear on the screen as if they exist in reality. The game supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items.
We know that Nintendo never jokes around when it comes to games. Although it was released in selected countries, in other countries, people started playing the Beta version. Even before it was released people had gone mad over the concept of the game. It ended up being the most profitable & most played game of 2016.
The player is supposed to catch Pokémons which are hidden across the city or locations you travel to, using different items like Poké balls, eggs, potions, and berries. You get to create your avatar and then use the map for gameplay. To use navigation, the location should be on.
2. Angry Birds
A Finnish company named Rovio Entertainment is behind the creation & development of this awesome game named 'The Angry Birds'. As we know it is a series, the first game in the series was released in December 2009 for Apple iOS. Then, the company released ports of the game for other smartphone operating systems such as Android, Symbian and Windows Phone. Later they also released ports for video game consoles and PCs.
Basically, this game was inspired by Crush the Castle. In the series of the game- The Angry Birds, the main focus is on multi-colored birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs.
The game has been appreciated for its successful combination of comical style, fun gameplay, and low price. Its popularity escalated quite quickly with versions of Angry Birds being created for PCs and gaming consoles. Moreover, a market for merchandise is featuring a televised cartoon series, Angry bird’s characters, and a feature film.
Fact: It has been downloaded more than 3 billion times collectively. In January 2014 there had been over 2 billion downloads across all platforms, including both regular and special editions as of July 2015.
The original Angry Birds has been called "one of the most mainstream games out right now", “one of the great runaway hits of 2010", and "the largest mobile app success the world has seen so far".
Based on this series, Columbia Pictures released a film based series on 20 May 2016, and the 1st main series sequel Angry Birds 2 was released on 30 July 2015.
3. Temple Run 2
Temple Run 2 entered the development phase in March 2012. Imangi stated that they wanted the gameplay similar & familiar to the original one. With that, they wanted to introduce new elements & create a "redeveloped experience." Keith Shepherd stated that their biggest reason for doing the sequel instead of an update is that they were not able to make changes to the original one. The game was then completely re-written from scratch and it's now in much better shape which allows us to continue adding more to it over time."
Natalia Luckyanova told that once the game became popular, there was a lot they wanted to go to the game but it really wasn't built for expansion. It's built on top of their in-house 3D engine, which was pretty limited and required a lot of coding to make any changes.
Moreover, they didn't want to make much change to the Temple Run too dramatically, since so many people were playing & loving it. So they decided to make a brand new version, where they updated the graphics, played around with powers, created new environments, etc.
An announcement was made by Imangi on January 16, 2013, about the release of Temple Run 2 in the App Store specifically in New Zealand followed by an international release in few hours. The Android version was released on January 24, 2013. The Windows Phone 8 version was released on December 20, 2013, with the inclusion of Xbox Live achievements. Within four years of its iOS release, a version for Tizen was released on October 13, 2016. The game had reached twenty million downloads, out of which six million were within the first twenty-four hours.
4. Subway Surfers
KILOO and SYBO Games are private companies based in Denmark together developed this amazing ‘Subway Surfers’ game. It is an endless runner mobile game.
Platforms: Subway Surfer is available on Android, iOS, Kindle, and Windows Phone platforms.
Players of the game take the role of teenage hooligan whose name is Jack. In a metro railway site, Jack is caught in the act of applying graffiti, so Jack has to run down the tracks to escape the Inspector and his dog. The hooligans grab gold coins out of the air, while running & dodging obstacles such as railway cars and other objects, and can also jump on top of the trains to evade from being captured.
Jack is the default character while other characters are locked. These locked characters are unlocked in two ways: 1) collection of attributes 2) Spending coins.
Subway Surfers was released on 24 May 2012 with updates based on seasonal holidays. From January 2013, updates have been based on a "World Tour" theme and every three weeks the setting of the game is changed.
Subway Surfers received mixed reviews. Critics praised the game's visual style, entertaining gameplay & intuitive controls, but criticized it for its unresponsive controls & monotonous world.
Only 5 out of 10 was given by Dan Griliopoulos. He did praise the game’s free access &fun gameplay but criticized the game's ordinary design & controls.
Fact:
Normal users & players reviewed the game more favorably. Users of Google Play & iTunes gave the game a rating of 4.5 out of 5 which is a quite good score & one that matters the most.
5. Call of Duty
The Activision is the publisher & owner of the game Call of Duty.
Call of duty is a single-person shooter game franchise. In the series, earlier games are set primarily in World War II.
It began on Microsoft Windows & later expanded & developed for consoles and handhelds.
A Later version came up with modern time’s layout & futuristic settings i.e. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Recently the creators of the game announced the release date of Call of Duty: WWII which is on November 3, 2017, and this will return the series to its early 20th Century roots.
Till February 2016, the Call of Duty series managed to sell over 250 million copies. Call of Duty games topped US$15 billion in Sales.