Glu Mobile LLC is an American developer and publisher of mobile games. It was founded as Sorrent in 2001 and acquired Macrospace in 2004. Both companies collectively rebranded as Glu Mobile in 2005. In April 2021, the company was acquired by Electronic Arts.
Sonic Jump is a 2005 vertical platform game developed by AirPlay and Sonic Team, and published by Sega for the digital distribution service Sonic Cafe, initially only available in Japan for mobile phones before being ported to iOS and Android and released in other regions in 2007. Unlike other games in the series, Sonic Jump doesn't involve running from left to right, but instead, Sonic automatically jumps up the screen, with the player needing to tilt the phone to move him from left to right. The original game's graphical style is based on the Sonic Advance series, which had ended shortly before Jump's release.
Temple Run is an endless runner video game developed and published by Imangi Studios. The player controls an explorer who has obtained an ancient relic and runs from demonic monkey-like creatures chasing him. The game was initially released for iOS devices on August 4, 2011, and later ported to Android systems and Windows Phone 8.
Plague Inc. is a real-time strategy simulation video game, developed and published by UK-based independent video game studio Ndemic Creations. The game was inspired by the 2011 film Contagion and the 2008 Adobe Flash game Pandemic 2. The player creates and evolves a pathogen to annihilate the human population with a deadly pandemic. The game uses an epidemic model with a complex and realistic set of variables to simulate the spread and severity of the plague. It was released on 26 May 2012 for iOS, 4 October 2012 for Android and 13 May 2015 for Windows Phone.
10000000 is a hybrid puzzle-role-playing game developed by Luca Redwood under the company name EightyEightGames, released initially for iOS in August 2012, and later for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X via Steam in January 2013, and to Android and Linux systems in March 2013.
Sonic Dash is a 2013 endless runner mobile game developed by Hardlight and published by Japanese game studio Sega. It is Hardlight's second Sonic the Hedgehog game, the first being 2012's Sonic Jump. The game was released in March 2013 for iOS, November 2013 for Android, and December 2014 for Windows Phone and Windows, along with an arcade release in November 2015 as Sonic Dash Extreme. It was initially released as a paid application, but was made free-to-play a month after its iOS release.
Candy Crush Saga is a free-to-play tile-matching video game released by King on April 12, 2012, originally for Facebook; other versions for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 followed. It is a variation of their browser game Candy Crush.
Rymdkapsel is a 2013 minimalist real-time strategy video game by indie developer Grapefrukt, the studio of Martin Jonasson. Players build a space station using tetromino pieces while managing resources and minions, defending against attacks, and extending the base towards four monoliths at the edges of the level. The game was built over a year and a half and was inspired by the base-building aspects of the Command & Conquer series. It was Jonasson's first full game as an indie developer. Rymdkapsel was released on May 7, 2013 for PlayStation Mobile, and was later ported to iOS, Android, Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux. Reviewers gave the game generally favorable reviews, where they appreciated its simplicity and challenge, but not its brevity and slow start.
QuizUp is a discontinued mobile game originally developed and published by Iceland-based Plain Vanilla Games and later operated by Glu Mobile. The game was a mobile trivia app similar to the game Trivial Pursuit. QuizUp was a multiplayer game where one user competes against another in seven rounds of timed multiple-choice questions of various topics. There were over 1,200 total topics available to users to choose from, and all the questions were voluntarily submitted by content contributors. Most topics were available in several different languages.
Monument Valley is a puzzle and indie game by Ustwo Games. The player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms. Monument Valley was developed over ten months beginning in early 2013 based on concept drawings by company artist Ken Wong. Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Sword & Sworcery, and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome. The art was designed such that each frame would be worthy of public display.
Blek is a 2013 puzzle video game for iOS and Android by Kunabi Brother, a team of brothers Denis and Davor Mikan. The player draws a snakelike black line that recurs in pattern and velocity across the screen to remove colored dots and avoid black dots. It is minimalist in design, features excerpts of Erin Gee, and takes inspiration from Golan Levin, the Bauhaus, and Japanese calligraphy. The brothers designed the game as a touchscreen adaptation of the Snake concept and worked on the game for over six months. It was released in December 2013 for iPad, and was later released for other iOS devices and Android.
Monster Strike is a mobile Japanese role-playing physics game with elements of puzzle, strategy and cooperative multiplayer. It is developed by Mixi for iOS and Android platforms. The game was created by former Capcom game designer Yoshiki Okamoto. In Japan, its name is often shortened to MonSt. The game can be summed up as a cross between Nintendo's Pokémon and Capcom's Metal Walker; the former in that it centers around monster collecting and the latter in that battles take place using catapult mechanics.
Crossy Road is an arcade video game released on 20 November 2014. It was developed and published by Australian video game developer Hipster Whale and originally in collaboration with yodo1, with the name and concept of the game playing on the age-old joke/anti-joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?" The game has also been described as endless runner version of Frogger. It is also worth noting that after June 2017, the publisher for Crossy Road was changed from yodo1 to Hipster Whale.
Pokémon Shuffle is a freemium puzzle video game developed by Genius Sonority and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo 3DS. The game, which is a spin-off of the Pokémon series and is similar in gameplay to Pokémon Battle Trozei, was released worldwide on the Nintendo eShop on February 18, 2015. Pokémon Shuffle Mobile, a version for Android and iOS devices, was released in August 2015.
Alto's Adventure is a 2015 endless runner snowboarding video game developed by Team Alto and published by Snowman (iOS) and Noodlecake Studios (Android). The player-character automatically moves to the right of the screen through procedurally generated landscapes. The player taps the screen to jump and perform tricks (backflips), and works towards goals, competitive high scores, and upgrades. Snowman, a Toronto-based, three-person indie development team, previously worked on productivity apps before Alto's Adventure. The game was made to emulate the ethereal atmosphere of snowboarding, and was inspired by Ski Safari (2012), Tiny Wings (2012), Jetpack Joyride (2011), Journey (2012), Monument Valley (2014), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), and Windosill (2009).
Kendall & Kylie is a casual free-to-play role-playing game that was released on iOS and Android in February 2016. In the game, the player's goal is to increase their fame and follower count, starting at the 100 follower club to 1 million follower club. The game was officially shut down on September 12, 2022.
Super Mario Run is a 2016 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for iOS and later Android. It is Nintendo's first mobile game that is part of one of the company's long-running and major franchises.
The Elder Scrolls: Blades is a free-to-play action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is a spin-off of The Elder Scrolls series, set following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and preceding The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Following over a year of early access on Android and iOS devices, the full version of Blades was released for Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch in May 2020. The game received generally negative reviews from critics.
The popularisation of mobile games began as early as 1997 with the introduction of Snake preloaded on Nokia feature phones, demonstrating the practicality of games on these devices. Several mobile device manufacturers included preloaded games in the wake of Snake's success. In 1999, the introduction of the i-mode service in Japan allowed a wide variety of more advanced mobile games to be downloaded onto smartphones, though the service was largely limited to Japan. By the early 2000s, the technical specifications of Western handsets had also matured to the point where downloadable applications could be supported, but mainstream adoption continued to be hampered by market fragmentation between different devices, operating environments, and distributors.
