TouchArcade’s Giant List of the Best Mobile Games of 2023

News

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Jared Nelson

Howdy folks, and welcome to the end of 2023! What a year it has been for mobile gaming, but that’s pretty much true for every year. As I’ve said before, there are so many new games hitting the App Store each and every week throughout the entire year that if even just one or two of those games are good each week that’s still a whole heck of a lot of great games that pile up by the end of the year. Throw in the subscription services like Apple Arcade and Netflix, and newcomer Crunchyroll, and the quality and quantity of premium mobile games has only risen during the course of 2023.

That being the case, it’s always tough to come up with these “Best Of" lists. We are a tiny staff of just three people, and trying to corral the sheer number of releases throughout any given year into some sort of manageable list is a daunting task for even a well-staffed outlet. It’s also tough because so many of the games released during the year, while maybe not being the greatest games ever made, do at least exhibit some noteworthy qualities that are worth highlighting. So it can be painful to leave certain games off because you feel like, gosh darn it, they deserve to be noticed!

Well, all this is to say we’ve followed our formula from last year’s Best Games of 2022 list. Starting out you’ll find each of our Game of the Week picks from the entire year, which if you’re familiar with how calendars work gives us just over 50 great games to check out. Of course there are almost always more than just one good game released each week, so beyond those Games of the Week picks you’ll find our honorable mentions broken down by Apple Arcade games, Netflix games, and regular old App Store releases. And while this specific article is mobile focused, do check out our Best of 2023 picks for both Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.

Games of the Week for 2023

McPixel 3
Ridiculous Fishing EX (Apple Arcade)
Geo Gods
Return to Monkey Island

August

Stone Story RPG
Molecano
Gorathar
Pizza Hero

September

Undead Horde 2
Pirate’s Boom Boom
Grab The Apple
DERE Vengeance
Cypher 007 (Apple Arcade)

October

IGNISTONE
Subpar Pool
Kingdom Eighties
(Netflix)

November

Wizard of Legend
Tiny Connections
Gubbins
Coromon

December

Hitman: Blood Money — Reprisal
Sonic Dream Team (Apple Arcade)
Little Nightmares
Grand Theft Auto Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (Netflix/Standalone)

Best Games on Apple Arcade in 2023

Best Games on Netflix in 2023

Best App Store Games of 2023

Conclusion

Well, there you have it. Hopefully this directs you towards some good games that might have slipped past you over the course of 2023, and since it’s impossible to list each and every great game that came out feel free to list anything you think we missed down in the comment section below. I’ll also take this opportunity to direct you towards our Patreon page where you can choose to support us financially for the work that we do here. It’s our main source of keeping the site going, and the only reason we have been able to remain a wholly independent outlet over the course of our 15 year existence. I’ll also list all of our previous Game of the Year articles down below if you want to go through and relive some mobile gaming memories. Thank you very much to everyone who has read and supported our site in any capacity over the years, we wish you a very Happy New Year and can’t wait to see what’s in store in 2024!

Previous Best of the Year Round-Ups:

The Best Games of 2022
The Best Games of 2021
The Best Games of 2020
The Best Games of 2019
The Best Games of 2018
The Best Games of 2017
The Best Games of 2016
The Best Games of 2015
The Best Games of 2014
The Best Games of 2013, Part 2
The Best Games of 2012
The Best Games of 2011
The Best Games of 2010
The Best Games of 2009
The Best Games of 2008

TouchArcade’s Giant List of the Best Mobile Games of 2023 – TouchArcade (2024)

References