US & UK – PopCap games (publishers of Bejewelled, Plants vs. Zombies, etc.) has reported this week that a massive one third of US and UK adults are regular mobile gamers. It’s the Brits that seem to have most time on their hands (literally) with almost three-quarters of adults admitting to having played at least some games on their mobiles. But the States is catching up fast, and across both nations, a third of those who admit to having ever played a mobile game (33.6 per cent) have played games in the last month. Will the next generation of human evolution lead to massive thumbs and nimble fingers? Read on to find out more.
When it comes to Nokia, games account for nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of all paid downloads from Ovi Store. UK users are the biggest mobile gamers, accounting for over 13 per cent of all game downloads on new Symbian devices. This is followed by India (10 per cent), Italy (nearly 8 per cent), Germany (over 6 per cent), China (over 5 per cent) and Russia (5 per cent).
Among all mobile gamers, a half said that the time they spent on such games had increased over the last year.
So which are the top ten downloaded games on new Symbian devices? Look no further. Here’s the list, with the links you need, plus my one-sentence review.
- Need for Speed Shift HD (a must-have, even if you hate racing games).
- Angry Birds Lite (Try it and then immediately upgrade to the paid version. ‘Seasons’ is for the elite, though).
- Marble Maze Classic (A good way to show off the accelerometer on your device, and entertain younger kids).
- Galaxy On Fire (Vast gameplay, looks great, fun and free – what more do you want?).
- Skiller WallBall (It’s breakout. ’nuff said).
- KORa Deluxe (GAH! – still not available in the UK – readers, what is this?).
- Bounce Boing Battle (Too energetic for me – use your device as a virtual bat).
- Cube Touch XXL (Match-three game. This is OK, but there are better match-3s if you’re prepared to shell out for a game).
- Air Hockey Touch (You remember Air Hockey from the arcades? Same, but smaller).
- Soccer Bounce (Really, really hard; but really, really addictive – especially as a pass-around game).
The top ten only represents a tiny fraction of the games that are available, of course. Which are the hidden gems you’d recommend to other users?