So, what will the year 2013 be remembered for, huh? The death of a cultural icon? The revelation that the NSA knows everything about you (and me)? The all-conquering Bayern Munich football team? The ridiculous rise of selfies?
Who knows. Who cares!
Some things we DO care about, though, are the best-reviewed mobile games of last year. Ah, seamless. What were they, then, eh?
To answer that very question and the similarly themed ‘Which were the best reviewed apps?’, here’s the Android Quality Index
(Qi) round-up for 2013.
Aggregating the reviews from the world’s best websites, such as Android Rundown, Pocket Gamer, and Gamezebo, the Quality Index uses a unique metric to create a single definitive score for each Android title.
Without further ado, here are the best of the best, the cream of the crop that made it into the Android Quality Index of 2013…
Qi Top 10 Android games of 2013
GAME NAME PUBLISHER Qi
1 Reaper Hexage 9.5
2 Time Surfer Kumobius 9.5
3 You Don’t Know Jack Jackbox Games 9.5
4 Ending Aaron Steed 9.4
5 FlowDoku HapaFive 9.3
6 Spaceward Ho! Ariton Games 9.2
7 Slingshot Racing Crescent Moon Games 9.2
8 Super Grid Run Refresh Creations 9.2
9 Plants vs Zombies 2 EA 9.1
10 Freeze! Frozen Gun Games 9.1
Qi Top 10 Android apps of 2013
APP NAME PUBLISHER Qi
1 Black Magic Removal GlossyMob 10
2 Jyotish Tools JyotishTools 9.7
3 AP Tuner Joseph Broms 9.7
4 Quran Amir Quran 9.7
5 Origami Live Wallpaper Vectors and Pixels 9.6
6 Notes Widget HD Free Stickies Jakob S. Harteg 9.6
7 Islam – Azaan, Haadith Qudsi Ruth Technogies 9.6
8 Duolingo: Learn Languages Free Duolingo 9.5
9 Greenify *ROOT Oasis Feng 9.5
10 Buzz Launcher Homepack Buzz Team 9.5
According to the Android Qi spider-bots, Reaper was the best-reviewed Android game of 2013. For this one, the action-RPG genre is given the proper idiosyncratic Hexage treatment, with typically stunning results. Following closely behind at #2 is Time Surfer. Here, Kumobius takes the established Tiny Wings endless-runner template and stirs in psychedelic visuals and a time-warping mechanic. Trippy. Plants vs Zombies 2 has managed to shuffle into the top ten at #9, with its somewhat controversial IAP structure failing to spoil an otherwise-excellent tower defence follow-up. Finally, the maker of Freeze! solidified its position in 10th place through some clever screen-twisting puzzler gameplay and a moody monochrome art style.
APTuner is the third-best-reviewed Android app of 2013 on Android Qi. It’s a popular tool for musicians, enabling them to quickly and accurately tune their instruments using a smartphone mic. At #8, the creator of Duolingo has set tongues wagging with its clever gamification of the language-learning process. Practising your French (or German, or Spanish) was NEVER this much fun at school. Just behind that is Greenify, a brilliant tool for rooted Android devices. It enables you to hibernate those system-hogging apps, making your phone or tablet feel as good as new. Special mention also needs to be given to Buzz Launcher, the brains behind which have turned the competitive world of Android launchers on its head with a fresh, stylish, and democratised take on home screen design.