My Top 5 Mobile Games of 2024

This year has seen the return of my efforts to treat my bilateral epicondylitis, which has been haunting me since my very first GOTY roundup back in 2020.

After a year of putting off treatment for my bilateral epicondylitis, which has plagued me since my first GOTY roundup in 2020, it finally made a comeback in my efforts to cover my top picks for 2024.

But despite this persistent injury celebrating its fifth anniversary, 2024 has been an amazing year for mobile, in my opinion, mainly because I’ve seen so many pleasant surprises that remind me all the more how incredibly blessed I am to be in this industry.

Obviously, picking just five from the plethora of quests I’ve embarked on this year is no easy feat. There are capybaras and husbandos, coin-flipping Lickitungs and HoYoverse hijinks, dancing pirates and a literal 400-day wait.

But what especially made this year a standout for me are the friendships I’ve nourished along the way - more specifically because we’ve kicked off a new season of our wild and tangent-filled podcast this year, which, albeit chaotic and rambly, is one of the highlights of my week just because I get to chat with my teammates about…anything, really.

Because what are video games if not our weird and wonderful human souls' desperate attempts to connect with other equally weird and wonderful souls at the heart of it all? Whether it’s urban fantasy adventures in monstrous Hollows or stray cats idling in backyards, all these games really mean is that we’re making connections with the people we play them with.

And no, I don’t just mean multiplayer adventures and PvP battlers - even single-player RPGs can forge bonds between us whenever we gush about them to our friends or glory in shared experiences at the water cooler at work the next day (or, in our case, in the group Slack).

But before I start getting all mushy about the amazing year that’s been, here are my top picks without further ado.

Capybara GO

It’s exactly this kind of idling along that makes mobile such a forgiving space for busy adults trying to do some necessary adulting - and when you add ridiculous pets, a giant snail mount, and enemies that cry when you hit them, there’s just no possible way not to get hooked.

Pokemon TCG Pocket

If I manage to complete the Kanto Pokedex and earn my Mew, will I finally give it a rest? Methinks no, not by a longshot.

Zenless Zone Zero

This is the main reason why I’ve decided to finally get treatment (again) for my arm injury - because I can’t seem to enjoy Zenless Zone Zero’s exhilarating combat for more than ten minutes without my arms growing sore and getting decommissioned for the rest of the day. That means no typing, no texting, no cooking or even hanging clothes up to dry - all because Sixth Street’s Bangboos are just too cute to resist.

Here’s hoping that, once my injuries have fully healed in 6-8 weeks, I’ll be able to dive back into this urban adventure again without sacrificing my real-world chores.

Wildfrost

While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to the genre’s mechanics, its strategic depth simply blew my mind, and I couldn’t help but keep playing like - as my review says - "a masochistic fool". Sign me up!

The Longing

I can’t praise this game enough - you’ll just have to play it yourself to see what I mean.

That said, I don’t want to ramble on for too long about my own GOTYs - what are yours? Any standouts this year, or any good ones you’ve been meaning to play but just can’t seem to give a go whenever life gets in the way? I’d love to know - and with that, thank you for journeying with us over here at Pocket Gamer all this time. Here’s to bigger and better things in 2025 and beyond!