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 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 iPad Quality Index
(Qi) round-up for 2013.
Aggregating the reviews from the world’s best websites, such as Pocket Gamer, 148Apps, and Gamezebo, the Quality Index uses a unique metric to create a single definitive score for each iPad title.
Without further ado, here are the best of the best, the cream of the crop that made it into the iPad Quality Index of 2013…
Qi Top 10 iPad games of 2013
GAME NAME PUBLISHER Qi
1 Asphalt 8: Airborne Gameloft 9.4
2 D&D Lords of Waterdeep Playdek 9.4
3 The Silent Age House on Fire 9.4
4 Perfect Hit! Avalon Dream 9.4
5 Ridiculous Fishing Vlambeer 9.3
6 DEVICE 6 Simogo 9.3
7 Ending Aaron Steed 9.3
8 4 Pics 1 Word LOTUM 9.3
9 Drive on Moscow: War in the Snow Shenandoah Studio 9.2
10 Tiny Games Hide and Seek Productions 9.2
Qi Top 10 iPad apps of 2013
APP NAME PUBLISHER Qi
1 Discworld: The Ankh-Morpork Map Random House 10
2 John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes Why Hunger 10
3 Crowded Fiction Vidya Gamer 10
4 Le CITY deluxe magazine Vip Media Press 10
5 FHub Ngan Tran 10
6 The Orchestra Touch Press 9.8
7 Plex Plex 9.8
8 Jamaroos Musical ABCs Iggy Learning 9.8
9 Snappn Snappn 9.7
10 Sky Guide Fifth Star Labs 9.6
According to the iPad Qi spider-bots, Asphalt 8: Airborne was the best-reviewed iPad game of 2013. In Gameloft’s latest tire squealer, the French studio manages to get to the heart of the arcade racer experience right there on your tablet. Close behind is D&D Lords of Waterdeep, a marvellous conversion of a quirky fantasy boardgame. It’s deep, alright. Sorry, folks, we didn’t have to go fishing for compliments concerning Ridiculous Fishing. It seems everyone has just fallen for Vlambeer’s casual classic hook, line, and sinker. At #6, meanwhile, is Simogo. With DEVICE 6, the Swedish team straddles the divide between ebook and video game like nothing else we’ve ever seen. The writing was on the wall that this was going to be great, and so it proved.
Discworld: The Ankh-Morpork Map is officially the best-reviewed iPad app of 2013 on Qi. This first-ever Discworld app didn’t disappoint with this interactive map of Terry Pratchett’s rich fantasy world. Just behind at #2, John Lennon: The Bermuda Tapes is a slickly produced album app for which the dev has gathered rare audio snippets from the former Beatle’s trip to Bermuda in 1980. Groovy. With Crowded Fiction, Vidya Gamer (Hah!) showcases one of 2013’s top trends: marrying the worlds of fiction writing and video games. As a solid platform for a continual supply of interactive stories, we reckon this one’s going to be tough to put down. Finally, The Orchestra is an extraordinary app by a team that breaks down the workings of a full orchestra with specially crafted videos, visualisation software, and stunning performances from London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.