The 10 most significant iOS games of 2010

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While gamers and critics love to spend their time debating top 10 lists of the best games of the year, what's more interesting to consider is those games that for various reasons can be defined as being the most significant.

Of course, this doesn't necessary mean these games are great, or even good in terms of the offered gameplay experience.

Only that they encapsulate an important trend in the iOS games business that's worth investigating further. 

10. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Square Enix

The conversion of this Xbox Live game for iPhone and iPad was in-and-of itself fairly unremarkably, although Square Enix's inclusion of a local co-op mode was impressive. Instead, the significance of Lara Croft's iOS debut was that it demonstrated the complete failure of some console publishers to understand the ecosystem.

With the App Store already saturated with pre-Christmas releases and a huge number of sales, The Guardian of Light suddenly appeared without any PR or marketing support.

Of course, to some degree, the power of licences in the context of digital distribution is that they generate their own hype.

However with the likes of Real Racing 2, Shadow Guardian, N.O.V.A. 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Broken Sword, and Aralon: Sword and Shadow released at the same time, and anticipated by the press and gaming audience alike, there was little surprise that Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light wasn't reviewed widely, charted outside the US top 100, and quickly slipped into obscurity.

9. Doodle Jump

Lima Sky/GameHouse

Hold on, you may be thinking. Doodle Jump was a 2009 game. Hold on yourself, I retort. As well as gaining 15 updates and a standalone Christmas release on iPhone in the past 12 months, thanks to developer Lima Sky's publishing deal with GameHouse, the game was also ported to Android, Ovi and mobile.

In this regard, alongside Angry Birds, Doodle Jump demonstrates the breakout potential of iPhone games into the wider smartphone market. No doubt, it will break out into other entertainment platforms too, proving that one great idea, constantly loved, nurtured and updated, can be turned into a substantial enterprise.

And if further proof was required, despite the competition and clones, the original concept still works. Doodle Jump remained in the US top 20 iPhone game chart for the whole of 2010, being in the top 10 for the majority of that time. Small wonder it was listed as one of Apple's top paid and top grossing games of the year.

8. Rageid Software

Before Epic revolutionised the market with Infinity Blade, it seemed that rival first person shooter studio id Software would take the crown for the year's most impressive iPhone graphics.

Based on its forthcoming console game of the same name, Rage was significant for several reasons. The universal app was released in two versions; a standard resolution 537 MB version at 99c/59p, and a 746 MB HD version for iPad and iPhone 4 priced $1.99/£1.19.

If nothing else, it was the year's biggest extreme between price and file download size.

Technical specifications aside however, it was the design decision to make Rage a high score on-rails shooter that really divided opinions, with most reviewers marking the game down. This was reflected by its relative commercial failure, as it charted high only to decline. In many ways, Rage was the most disappointing iPhone game of 2010.

7. Smurfs' Village

Capcom

In a double whammy, Capcom surprised us, not only ending the year by releasing freemium games but realising the rarely exciting and European-centric Smurf licence was, in fact, a licence to print money.

Solidly floating in the US game top grossing top 10 chart since its November release, Smurfs' Village was the first free-to-play iOS game to unlock the kids' market, albeit it with some controversy concerning the propensity of adults not to understand Apple's default system for in-app purchases - a 15 minutes grace period after your iTunes' password is entered - as well as the enthusiasm of children for Smurfberries, little realising the impact on their parents' credit cards.

Still, the game's chart longevity in the most competitive months of the year demonstrates that Capcom has managed to combine the licence with highly accessible gameplay and social features. Disney must be spitting feathers.

6. Zombie Farm

The PlayForge

In a year that's seen an explosion in successful mobile freemium games, it's surprising that despite the headlines gained by the likes of FarmVille and We Rule, Zombie Farm - from Vince McDonnell's solo startup The PlayForge - was the only such title to be listed in Apple's 2010 top 10 list of the highest grossing iPhone games.

Of course, it helped that it followed the well trodden gameplay and monetisation conventions of the Facebook casual sector. It also managed to take momentum from the zombie meme before weight of numbers finally demonstrated that even the undead can expire, creatively and commerically at least. 

The result of the serendipitous right place, right time, Zombie Farm was over seven million downloads and around two million monthly active users.

5. Gun Bros.

Glu Mobile

Its significance for the wider games industry needs to be picked apart, but there's no doubt that the success of this topdown freemium shooter saved publisher Glu Mobile, at least in the short term.

For when Niccolo De Masi joined as CEO at the start of 2010, it was assumed the failing company would be bought or go bust. Instead, he refinanced, making freemium games its new focus, with Gun Bros. the first proper release in that direction. The iPhone game has since been downloaded around 3 million times, has 175,000 daily users and is regularly found in the top grossing charts.

More widely however, it's demonstrated that freemium games don't have to follow the casual but commercial grinding gameplay popularised by the likes of FarmVille. Thanks to its customisation and social co-op options, and its sheer gunplay, Gun Bros. is one game in which hardcore players will clock up the minutes daily.

4. Cut the Rope

Zeptolab/Chillingo

While there's no question Cut the Rope was one of the best reviewed iOS games of 2010 - as well as being one of the fastest selling - certainly the fastest to three million paid downloads - its significance from a business point of view concerned its publisher Chillingo.

With a reputation buoyed by its on-off relationship with Angry Birds and its developer Rovio, the question of whether lightning could strike twice following its $29 million purchase by EA Mobile was answered effectively by Cut the Rope's immediate success.

Indeed, in this context, it's relevant to note Zeptolab's first iPhone game of 2010 Parachute Ninja, while also reviewing well, failed to make any commercial impact. This further underlines Chillingo's ability to fulfill the potential of select titles that otherwise might not standout from the huddled App Store masses.

3. We Rule

Newtoy/ngmoco

Despite ngmoco deciding it was going free-to-play in summer 2009, it wasn't until February 2010 that it released its first dedicated from-the-ground-up title. We Rule was one of the first social freemium games available on the App Store, and thanks to the then lack of competition and its cute, polished presentation was an immediate success, even if it didn't appeal to the hardcore audience.

Yet it took several months for ngmoco to overcome serious server issues relating to its Plus+ social gaming infrastructure; something key both in terms of the game's stickiness, and the items and levels players were spending their time and money gaining.

Working on a iterative cycle of bug fixes and releasing new items, levels and gameplay, ngmoco eventually solved its network problems, and took the game's ongoing development inhouse from launch studio Newtoy. Indeed, in time it decided to remove We Rule from the App Store entirely, replacing it with reworked We Rule Quests.

The series also expanded with the We City, We Farm and We Farm Safari releases, but the final proof of its success came with DeNA's $403 million purchase of ngmoco in October.

2. Infinity Blade

Chair Entertainment/Epic Games

Sprung as a surprise during Apple's September press conference, Infinity Blade (nee Project Sword), demonstrated what could be done when console technology such as Unreal Engine 3 and the resources, skill and mindset of a console developer were brought to bear on the most advanced iOS devices.

As with id Software's similar Rage project, Chair Entertainment made the most of the available hardware by controlling the player's camera, ensuring it could get the biggest graphical bang possible. Unlike Rage however, Infinity Blade didn't annoy its audience by restricting their actions, instead making the most of its reuse of gameplay, locations and enemies by integrating them within a looping, heroic plot.

The game's pricing strategy was also radically different, with the universal app sold at $5.99/£3.49. Not as much as some developers hoped, but less than many gamers expected, it proved to be a sweetspot in terms of top grossing chart performance, being the fiastest game to gross $1 million.

Epic's Mark Rein also underlined his App Store philosophy pointing out that the game's price wouldn't be cut. Instead additional features and objects would be added via updates. And, cleverly, the first also included in-app purchases.

1. Angry Birds/Seasons

Rovio/Chillingo

Despite being released onto the App Store in the tailend of 2009, Rovio's Angry Birds was far and away the iOS gaming phenomenon of the year. Indeed, such was its crossover cultural appeal, you could argue it was the gaming phenomenon of 2010.

Throw in an HD iPad release, the iPhone and HD release of the Halloween game that became Angry Birds Seasons at Christmas, and a total download of more than 50 million (including Android and Ovi) during the year, and there's no doubt Rovio's humorous reimagining of Crush The Castle has demonstrated the massive breakout potential of mobile.

Significantly though it was the developer's commitment to listen to fan feedback, offer regular and substantial updates, as well as the original game's 99c pricepoint, and the attention to detail that ranged from solid physics to colourful levels and great touches such as the mocking laughter of the pigs, that combined to create what seems likely to go down in history as the most significant game to be launched on mobile.