Welcome to another YvoCaro Plays! If you like these bits of gaming thoughts, you can find the previous ones here.
Ever since I found my love for video games relatively late in life, I haven’t been without at least one game grabbing my attention. But somehow, in times when I have most free time available for gaming, I never do. During holidays, my Switch ( or 3DS/DS before that) always travels with me. And ends up being unused for those weeks.
Somehow, playing games on mobile is much easier during those times. I’m talking about the little games you can play anywhere and anytime, but also about full games that earned our highest rating. Games that aren’t limited to gaming consoles, but are also available in the AppStore or Google Play Store.
Here’s a list of 10 games that got Two Thumbs Up in the past year, that could be your travel companion!
Forest Golf Planner
Somewhere in suburbia is an unspoiled patch of greenery, a little slice of paradise… And starting today, it’s your very own golf course! No experience in golf or business? No problem! It’s easy to get started building new fixtures and attracting your first customers. Rise through the ranks, and you’ll be able to expand your course to include new holes. Change the landscape and add unique decorations to make the course your own! This simulation/ management game is available on mobile for a slightly lower price than the Steam and Switch version.
Lynne reviewed this Kairosoft game, and wrote in her conclusion:
Forest Golf Planner scores a hole-in-one! The familiarity of cute pixelated characters and a straightforward, well-guided structure make this Kairosoft offering a truly delightful and enjoyable game.
Terra Nil
Terra Nil is a reverse city builder with an environmental strategy about transforming a barren wasteland into a thriving, balanced ecosystem. This game is available on mobile but for Netflix members only. If you do have Netflix, the game is free!
Paula gave the game our highest score and wrote this in her conclusion:
Terra Nil is a game that will make you aware of how important the balance of nature is. And how each living thing on the earth connects to each other. It doesn’t lecture, but its gameplay does make you think about the environment. It is a well-thought-out restoration game with relaxing gameplay, gorgeous visuals, and a nice challenge.
Rytmos
Developed by Danish independent game developer Floppy Club, Rytmos is a musical puzzle game that is great fun and educational too. You create music by solving maze puzzles. Travel from planet to planet and discover new music.
Solve the puzzles on each side of the cubic planets and create small musical loops that slowly evolve into full music compositions.
You can download Rytmos on mobile for free, but there are in-app purchases.
Paula gave the game Two Thumbs Up and wrote this in her conclusion:
Overall, I really enjoyed playing Rytmos. While I cannot play a musical instrument in real life, I don’t think that matters when playing Rytmos. The developers have made the game so that it is educational, entertaining and, most of all, fun. Puzzle fans should enjoy this musical trip worldwide; you never know, you might even learn something new.
Jumbo Airport Story
Can you tell we love Kairosoft games? Jumbo Airport Story is another one that got our highest rating. Make your fledgling airport into a world-famous international landmark jam-packed with entertainment. First, build facilities such as Bistros and Bookstores to make visitors comfortable. Satisfied customers make your airport more popular and will attract even more visitors!
Again, the price for the game is mobile is slightly lower than on Switch and Steam. Lynne reviewed the game and wrote this in her conclusion:
Jumbo Airport Story is great fun to play. There is something amusing about seeing little pixelated characters weave between the airport terminal buildings, sweating as they rush to get to their planes. There is a constant flow of activity, which is a very enjoyable and slightly addictive way to spend some time.
LEGO Bricktales
LEGO Bricktales is an adventure game set across several different dioramas in LEGO-themed biomes. The game starts with you receiving a letter from your dear grandpa, a genius inventor. Grandpa has a problem he needs some urgent help with. You see, Grandpa’s beloved amusement park is under threat of closure by the Mayor. The amusement park has been somewhat neglected and needs repairs. If the repairs can’t be completed to bring the amusement park up to code, the Mayor will shut it down and seize the land! We can’t have that, of course.
To restore the amusement park, you must use a mysterious device based on alien technology. First, however, the device requires a power source: Happiness Crystals that can be harvested by making people happy and solving their problems. So, with the help of Rusty, a robot Grandpa invented years ago, you set out on a grand adventure in a world built entirely of LEGO brick. LEGO Bricktales is crammed with puzzles around every corner. You’ll use the new brick-by-brick building mechanic to construct items using LEGO bricks to solve the puzzles.
The price for this game on mobile is only a fraction of the full price on Steam or Switch, so it does sound interesting. Paula loved the game and wrote this in her conclusion:
LEGO Bricktales is suitable for all ages to play; children and adults alike will love being able to play with LEGO bricks in the game. The story is charming; I really enjoyed it. In addition, each diorama is unique; brightly coloured and full of LEGO bricks. The puzzles are very enjoyable and challenging. The game encourages you to be creative, especially in the sandbox mode. I like the freedom the game offers in the puzzles, as there isn’t just one way to solve a puzzle. It’s great fun thinking outside the box and finding your own solution to the puzzles.
Lost Amulets: Four Guardians
Lost Amulets: Four Guardians is a puzzle game with an ancient Chinese theme. This game has just about every type of puzzle, from hidden items to jigsaws and more.
The game is a little cheaper on mobile than on Steam, where Mina reviewed it on, and wrote this in her conclusion:
I love Lost Amulets: Four Guardians a lot. It has a couple of little things that bug me. But overall, they were so small that they didn’t ruin the enjoyment of this title. If you love hidden object puzzles, matching puzzles, and others, you will almost be guaranteed to love this game.
Windosill
A very surprising little game. It won’t keep you occupied for long, but it is sure innovative! The game is the cheapest on Steam, with mobile coming close, and way more costly on Switch. It is, however, made with a touch-screen in mind, so right at home on mobile.
When I reviewed it, I wrote this in my conclusion.
Windosill is fun and unexpected and you can let your imagination run wild. Don’t rush through it to solve the puzzles but take time to try it all. It’s short, if you rush through it, very short. But as I already highlighted that’s not the point of Windosill. Your child in your lap, trying it all out together and marvelling at what you see, hear and feel. That’s how it should be played.
Haccer
Haccer is a 2D arcade game which can be played on your IOS device with one or two hands or maybe your feet if you’re really skilled. It is a fun pick-up-and-play mobile title that can be enjoyed by absolutely anyone. This game comes at a low price with not a single microtransaction or gatcha mechanic in sight.
Other than the other titles on this list, Haccer is only released on mobile! James reviewed it and wrote this in his conclusion:
Haccer is simple to the point and fun. An excellent game to pull out and have a few rounds of, even if you only have less than a minute to spare. On top of all the praise, this game deserves that I rate it even higher because this is an example of a mobile title restoring my faith in the platform. With a sea of zombie apps and free-to-play nonsense, Haccer rises up as a game well worth your money and time.
The Battle of Polytopia
The Battle of Polytopia is a 4X strategy genre. 4X in the strategy genre stands for Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. It’s a simplified 4X game that removes most of the difficulty related to the genre and brings it down to the basics. As a result, you have a 4X game that can be beaten in half an hour and is friendly to newcomers without being too easy. It’s the perfect mix of fun and difficulty.
In the game, you take on the role of ruler of a tribe and attempt to build a civilization and conquer the map. But you aren’t on your own on the map, as there are other tribes who you will attack in turn-based battles.
As expected, being originally released on mobile, it’s perfectly at home on that device. It’s free to download with in-app purchases, which makes it on par with what it costs on Switch and Steam.
Paula reviewed it and wrote this in her conclusion:
The Battle of Polytopia would make an excellent starting ground for players who want to get into the 4X strategy before taking on other games in the genre similar to Civilization and such. The game is suitable for all ages and is family-friendly, a great starting ground to teach youngsters the skills of strategy gaming.
Lucy Dreaming
Lucy Dreaming is a retro-looking, Sierra-like game with a lot of heart and a ton of humour. This quirky little point-and-click game is hilarious and very, very British in a very funny way. It makes fun of Great British Baking Show. It has a joke about how the local fair successfully “installed the rain” just over its location and nowhere else. There are weird puzzles with fun locations.
It’s available on mobile at approximately the same price range as on Steam and Switch. Mina adored the game and wrote this in her conclusion:
Everything I love about Sierra games is in here, and the devs didn’t include all the stuff people don’t like about them. Overall, I can’t say too much more without spoiling the whole thing, but if you love point-and-click, Lucy Dreaming is a game you cannot miss.