Top 6 iPhone Games 2019
The iPhone has redefined gaming in the past ten years. Initially, traditional developers were slow to capitalise on the growing ‘casual game’ market. Today most major game studios have ported there best selling console and PC titles to the handheld device.
Even Nintendo has been forced to release games on the Apple app store. In 2016 the Japanese company released ‘Mario Run‘ on the iPhone. To date, it has been downloaded over 200 million times!
So what exactly are the most popular iPhone games? Well, it depends on how you categories the games. You could select the most downloaded, or go with the top paid figures. However, both of these metrics has flaws. Instead, we’re going to look at the ‘top-grossing’ games of 2019. We feel this gives a more accurate reflection of popularity.
Top-grossing games include free to download titles like ‘Fortnite’ but also ranks games by how many people make ‘in app’ purchases. A metric which should correlate to how popular a particular game is with players.
1. MINECRAFT
First up on the list is MINECRAFT, it’s no surprise to find the block-building game at the top of the list. This game is ideally suited to the casual market, and it already had a large fan base on the PC and console.
In 2014 Microsoft announced it was buying Mojang, the Swedish game company that is responsible for Minecraft, for $2.5 billion! Judging by the app store downloads that purchase price tag now looks cheap.
2. HEADS UP!
The New York Times called this game a “Sensation,” and Cosmopolitan said, “will be the best dollar you’ve spent.” Heads Up! is the hilarious trivia game made famous by Ellen DeGeneres. To date, the app has been downloaded over 650,000 times. Between 300,000 and a million games are played on the app a day. However, on the festive holidays such as Thanks Giving, that number can jump to 4.5 million!
3. PLAGUE INC
Plague Inc. is a real-time strategy simulation game, developed and published by UK-based independent games studio Ndemic Creations. The games objectives include: Infecting and killing the world’s population with a pathogen, enslaving the world’s population with the “Neurax Worm” or converting the world’s population into zombies! As of May 2019, Plague Inc. has been downloaded over 120 million times and The Board Game has sold 35 thousand copies.
4. BLOONS TD 6
Bloons is basically a tower defense game, which is still one of the most popular genres in gaming. The title was first developed as a browser-based game, built using Adobe Flash and released in 2007. Lore Sjöberg of Wired described the game as cheerful and addictive, calling it “pop culture at its best”. Since then the game has been played over 1 billion times across web and mobile devices. Think Gamin website has estimated that the game generates daily revenues of $10,000 in the US alone.
5. THE GAME OF LIFE
It’s surprising to see this traditional board game title in our top 6. The game was originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley as ‘The Checkered Game of Life’. In the 1960s the modern version of the game was relaunched as merely ‘The Game Of Life’. In 2016 Marmalade Game Studio released the iPhone version of the board game on the app store. Since then ‘Game Of Life’ has remained at the top of the charts. It costs $2.99 to download and offers in-app purchases.
6. POCKET BUILD
Pocket Build is an open-world game where you can build with no limitations or restrictions. Build whatever you like, whenever you like; however you like. The game has been described as a mashup between Minecraft and CityVille. It cost $1.99 and also offers in-app purchases. This month alone the game has been downloaded 10,000 times. Generating worldwide revenue above $30,000.
