Top 5 Most Addictive iOS Games

I remember lounging on my dorm-room futon, clutching my cherry red Nokia brick phone, playing Snake for hours upon hours upon hours. “Just one more time,” I’d say to myself, fully aware of the bold-faced lie I was telling. It’s a totally simple game – you lead an ever-growing, always hungry, pixilated snake around the screen to help it eat food-cube after food-cube – but it kept me mesmerized for embarrassing amounts of time. But, simplicity seems to be a common element of addictive games. Cell phone gaming has definitely evolved since Snake, but most of the games that are popular today still utilize very basic premises to draw players in and hook them. Here are five games on Apple’s iOS platform that I’ve found to be highly addicting:

Angry Birds

Let’s just get this game out of the way first. As of May, Angry Birds and its two spinoffs have been downloaded over 200 million times. The game is currently in the top spot of iTunes’ most popular paid apps list and is sitting at a 4.5 star rating. I think it is safe to say that Angry Birds will go down in history as one of the most popular and well-known iOS games ever. In Angry Birds, a group of mean pigs steal eggs from your flock and you must do what you can to destroy them. You use a slingshot to fling birds at the pigs and the forts they are hiding in. There are multiple stages and a handful of different types of birds with unique abilities used to break down the structures the pigs are in. The number of birds you get is limited, which creates the challenge of how to best use what you have to beat the level. Some levels are pretty easy, but some left me stumped for a few days. But, man, it is so worth it to see those green pigs finally get crushed. Angry Birds is available for $0.99.

RunStickRun!

When I first played RunStickRun!, I first thought of that flash helicopter game that I always spied on people playing during class. The concept is pretty similar – the world around you keeps moving and you have to keep up with it. The official app description states, “Stick runs and runs and just can’t stop.” All you are responsible for is telling your stick-man when to jump by touching the screen. There are holes in the platform to jump over and you can get your guy to jump into a car or attach to a plane. Everything about this game is simple – from the stick-man drawing to the crumpled up graph paper background image – but it is still hypnotizing nonetheless.  RunStickRun! is available for $0.99.

Shibuya

Shibuya is a fast-paced and original puzzle game named after a ward in Tokyo, known for bright lights and exciting video game arcades. The premise of Shibuya is kind of like Tetris mixed with Puyo Puyo or Dr. Mario. Rectangle boxes fall from the top of the screen and the player must assign them different colors, which is previewed in a sidebar. Once two or more of the same color blocks are touching, the player can tap them to remove them from the screen, earning points and making room for more blocks. If the blocks reach the top of the screen, the game is over. What makes this game not just simple and addicting is the level of strategy players can apply to the game if they want. Combos and patterns earn more points, which are recorded on Apple’s Game Center leader boards. The game also has an endless mode, for maximum “zone-out” playing. Shibuya is available for $1.99.

Words With Friends

Words With Friends is basically Scrabble for your iPhone. Players can sign up to play matches with random opponents or connect through Facebook to find friends to play against. Up to 20 games are allowed at once, (I think my most is eight). For me, the most addictive part of Words With Friends is the use of “push notifications,” which is basically a text from the game, letting the player know when it is his or her turn again. I can be doing something totally different, but when I see that little message pop up, I drop everything and go straight to the game to play my turn. The convenience of playing just a turn at a time, as opposed to committing to an entire game, makes Words With Friends a game that everyone should download. Words With Friends is available for $2.99.

Zombie Farm

Oh, Zombie Farm! This cute iOS game is mix of Farmville and Night of the Living Dead. In Zombie Farm, you grow all the usual crops, like onions and corn, but you also can plant different types of zombies, who are eventually used in an army to fight various groups of enemies. (Think “Zombies vs. Lawyers” or, a little more surreal, an ice cream truck driver who kind of looks like the Burger King.) The game is silly, but charming, and I’ve logged more time into it than I care to admit. You can spend quite a bit of time in the game buying decorations and customizing your farm, but if you need a quick-fix for your cartoon bloodlust, invasions take less than three minutes and then you’ll be back to the real world as good as new. Zombie Farm is available for free.

About the Author
MaDonna Flowers is a PR and Social Marketing Specialist at HalloweenCostumes.com where video game related costumes are worn on a daily basis.

All images from Apple.

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