Craig Chapple Head of Content Craig Chapple is a freelance analyst, consultant and writer with specialist knowledge of the games industry. He has previously served as Senior Editor at PocketGamer.biz, as well as holding roles at Sensor Tower, Nintendo and Develop.

Game of the Year: Pokemon GO

I think I lose points for lack of originality here, but Pokemon GO really was my game of the year and one of the titles I played the most.

But even more than that, it's the first time in a long time I've been able to discuss a game with my friends, who rarely play games to the extent that I do.

Simply being able to talk about my experience with the game added to my enjoyment, and competing with friends to catch 'em all, or teaming up (Team Instinct forever) with them to take down gyms was glorious.

Particularly those moments when cars would suddenly appear driven someone looking to recapture their gyms (seriously what are these people doing the rest of the time?).

Many of us even created a special WhatsApp group to keep each other updated on our latest catches. It became an addiction.

It also made boring walks a lot more interesting.

Pokemon GO flies in the face of a lot of norms in the mobile space, and the augmented reality part doesn't really do anything for me (I've long since turned it off) - but it nails location-based gaming.

Nostalgia plays a big part for me, it's the game I always wanted to play when Pokemon Red came out.

And yet it's the most fascinating, unique, social, exciting and enjoyable game I've played all year.

Even if I've still yet to find a Bulbasaur.

Honourable mentions: Deus Ex GO, Toy Blast, Reigns

Ric Cowley Editor Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.

Game of the Year: Egg, Inc

2016 was a year of big releases, games that required a tonne of interaction and high production values across the board. We had Pokemon GO getting people out on the streets, Clash Royale exclusively operating in real-time multiplayer, and whatever the heck Slither.io was.

And yet the one genre of game I found playing most of all was the idle game. I never thought of myself as someone who enjoys "playing" a game that does all the work for you, but here we are. And the best of the best of these games is Egg, Inc.

I've written before about the wonderful monetisation of Egg, Inc – coincidentally the only free-to-play game I've bought an IAP in this year – but there's a lot more to it than that. It looks absolutely gorgeous, it has this strange, whimsical humour underlining the whole thing, and it features really big numbers, which make me feel super rich.

And it has a button that you tap to make chickens appear, and they start bawking away as they run to their coop. And you can build a coop called Eggkea. And I've been playing it for about six months now. I think I might have a problem.

It may not offer the player much of anything to do, but it is incredibly charming all the same. It's pure disposable entertainment, something you can pick up and giggle at, because chickens, for a little bit, then put it down again. Yet you still make progress while you're away. What could be better?

Honourable mentions: Viridi, DC Legends, Nicki Minaj: The Empire, Super Cat Tales, Love You To Bits

Matt Suckley Features Editor Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.

Game of the Year: Robocide

As someone who's pretty sick of base-building, Robocide was just the strategy game I needed in 2016.

As PlayRaven continue the admirable challenge of innovating in an increasingly staid mobile strategy market, this one has you ordering around an entire army of tiny robots - and a couple of big brutes for luck - using just a single thumb.

There's a feeling of real power in dragging this deadly swarm around, and it's surprising how tactical it can get - even when all the stages fit exactly within the confines of the screen, and never demand input from more than a single digit.

Even better is the metagame, which strikes the perfect balance between autoplay (using finite tokens) and some painless grinding through already-completed levels to upgrade your bots.

Not only does it succeed in doing something different, every aspect of it is so perfectly formed that it's actually difficult for me to now stomach yet another strategy title in the Clash of Clans mould.

Honourable mentions: Six!, Rival Fire, Football Manager Mobile.