Mini Motorways + Mini Metro
They cast you as a road or metro manager trying to help people of a city get from point A to point B. The visuals are gorgeous, and the short-spurt gameplay is addictive for your own commutes. The best part of this game is the total absence of microtransactions, meaning you can play as much as you want for as long as you want. (Mini Motorways is included in Apple Arcade.)
Mario Kart Tour
with mobile gaming, and while Mario Kart Tour got some flak for microtransactions, it's honestly not as bad as all that. Mario Kart Tour is an absolute blast to play, and it now even features online multiplayer so you can race your friends—especially those friends who love casual gaming but don't invest in consoles. While it may not come close to the quality of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch, it's still a lot of that relationship-ruining Mario Kart fun that we love to see. The game is free to play, and can remain free to play unless you opt to buy gems to purchase characters from random pipes. While this loot box system is inherently flawed, the game does a solid job of reigning in the odds. It's nowhere near the most offensive microtransaction system we’ve seen.
Exit the Gungeon
The sequel to the stellar Enter the Gungeon, Exit the Gungeon hails from the unparalleled indie publisher Devolver Digital. It is a self-proclaimed “Bullet Hell Dungeon Climber,” meaning it features an array of shooting and slashing, with tons of loot and fast-paced progression. I’ve played the hell out of this series on consoles, and now to have it anytime on my phone is a dream come true. Exit the Gungeon is currently only on Steam, Switch, and Apple Arcade, but chances are it’ll grace Android and Google Play in the near future.
Hatoful Boyfriend
in which you can fail at love and die, and really feel like shit about it. It is also from the aforementioned Devolver. If the whole "pigeon dating simulator" thing didn't sell you, I’m not exactly sure what will, but it has phenomenal writing and works as sort of a puzzle game, challenging you to unlock all the different endings. It’s hilarious and does not take itself seriously in the slightest—ideal for picking up and putting back down when you need a good laugh.
Fortnite
You can quite literally play Fortnite on anything. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they ported it to a Speak & Spell. The best part about Fortnite mobile is that it is cross-platform and enables cross-play, meaning you can play alongside your console and PC friends on your tablet or phone, and all your progress, skins, and other in-game assets will unite so you're always making headway. This game is a little tougher to play without a controller extension, and the mobile version is nowhere near as polished as the console and PC versions, but it’s still Fortnite at its core.
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