Google has begun to summarize the results of the year. She published a list of games that she considered the best in the outgoing 2021. Pokémon UNITE, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Bird Alone and about twenty other titles got into it.
It is important to note: the list of winners varies from region to region. For example, the game of the year according to American users was Free Fire MAX, and according to gamers from Russia — Suspects: Mystery Mansion. Below we have listed the winners according to the Russian version of Google Play.
Game of the Year
Pokémon UNITE is a free—to-play MOBA developed by TiMi Studios. Initially, the project was only available on the Nintendo Switch, but on September 22, 2021, it released a mobile version. In the first five days after the release on mobile, the Pokemon game earned $ 1.7 million and collected 5 million downloads.
Game of the Year according to users
At the very beginning of the year, the Brazilian company Fun Games For Free released Suspects: Mystery Mansion. This is a game for nine people in the spirit of the “Mafia”. Users will have to play as animal detectives (or criminals) who need to solve a murder in a mansion.
The best competitive games
The winners of this nomination included both Pokémon UNITE and Suspects: Mystery Mansion. However, the list of winners was not limited to them alone.
One of the winners was League of Legends: Wild Rift — a MOBA in the League of Legends universe created by Riot Games. The title became available in Russia last December .
Another award went to the role-playing action MARVEL Future Revolution. It was released on Android at the end of July. The project was developed and published by South Korean Netmarble.
Also among the winners in this nomination was the role-playing action Rogue Land from Huuuge Games, which was released in March.
The Best Breakthrough games
Five projects also got into this nomination. Read more about them below.
Inked is a touching story about the journey of an unnamed samurai in a world that is drawn with a ballpoint pen. The game was developed by the Croatian studio InkedGame. It was published by the Chinese Nuverse.
JanKenUP! — in fact, this is a game of “rock, paper, scissors”, but the action takes place in the ring. In early March, it was published by Humita.
Sixit is a puzzle game from Star Garden Games. You will play as an animal who is trying to save the forest and his friends from a mysterious impending storm.
Tears of Themis is a romantic detective story from miHoYo, the authors of Genshin Impact. The user of the title needs to investigate a series of crimes and at the same time establish relationships with some characters. The game was released on July 29.
Unmaze is inspired by the myth of the labyrinth of the Minotaur. Two young men — Asterius and Theseus — found themselves in a maze full of monsters. The player must take them out. But there is a nuance. The user plays for Theseus when holding the smartphone in the light, and for Asteria when holding the smartphone in the shade. The more time a gamer spends on one of the characters, the higher the risks of losing the other. The game was published by the French ARTE Experience in June.
The best games for every day
Cats in Time is a puzzle game about the adventures of cats who travel through time. It was published by the Croatian Pine Studio in March 2021.
Crash Bandicoot: On the Run is a mobile runner developed by King and released in early spring. The main character of the game named Crash and his sister Coco need to defeat Dr. Neo Cortex. In between missions, users can improve their base.
Switchcraft is a match-3 game published by Wooga. The events of the title unfold in the magic academy. As the authors of Switchcraft insist, one of the key features of their project was the opportunity to meet many university characters with different races and orientations.
Towers is a puzzle game from the Ukrainian JOX Development. In it, players need to drop cubes on the towers on the playing field, without touching other towers and without crossing borders.
The best indie games
7 Billion Humans is a sequel to Human Resource Machine from the American Tomorrow Corporation. This is a programming puzzle in which you have to come up with algorithms for a computer made of people. The game was released on PC and Nintendo Switch back in 2018, but it only got to Google Play this summer.
Released last September, Bird Alone tells about friendship with a sad parrot. During the game, the user writes poetry, draws, composes music and answers questions about the meaning of life.
Donut County is another game that was released on “big platforms” back in 2018 (as, indeed, on iOS), but on Android it took place relatively recently. Annapurna Interactive released it on Google Play at the end of 2020. A Donut County user controls a hole in the ground that is gradually getting bigger. He has to move it around the ground to get as many different items as possible: from garbage to other characters.
My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge was released on smartphones in August 2021. The main character of this action story must help his banana friend, whose wife and children were kidnapped. The project was published by Devolver Digital.
Puzzling Peaks EXE is a pixel arcade game in which you need to move the ball hero into a suitable hole. That’s just not possible to control the character itself. Instead, you will have to rotate platforms and other objects around the ball. The Filipino Darius Immanuel Guerrero was responsible for the publication of the title.
The best games for tablets
Three games won in this category. League of Legends: Wild Rift and My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge were among them again. Since we have already talked about them, we share the details of the remaining project.
It will be about Chicken Police – Paint it RED from HandyGames. This is a noir adventure of anthropomorphic roosters-detectives who were legendary detectives many years ago. The game reached mobile on June 29, 2021. It is also available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One.