This is a playful game that blends genres in an unexpected way.

ItвЂ™s simple, engaging, humorous, and super-addictive. Should any one aspect be neglected too much, your reign ends, and you must pick up as the next monarch in a seemingly never-ending line of succession. Billed on its own app page as a chance to sit on the throne as a benevolent or malevolent leader and вЂњswipe your royal fingersвЂќ to impose your will on the kingdom, itвЂ™s a blend of card game, text adventure, and quirky narrative.Д®ssentially, youвЂ™re presented with scenarios over and over again, swiping left or right to respond to them in different ways, and always trying to balance different aspects of your kingdom (the church, the people, the army, and the treasury).

ReignsДЄnother popular pick as one of the yearвЂ™s best mobile games, Reigns might just be the most unique selection on this list. ItвЂ™s smooth, deep, and attractive, and the playing mechanics are surprisingly intuitive. Real Boxing 2 ROCKY is a terrific mobile boxing game that allows you to play through RockyвЂ™s career (and all his legendary opponents) or start out on a career of your own. Though filled with iconic clips from the movies and imagery of multiple fighters, that game is primarily a slot arcade, which left a gap in modern gaming for a true boxing experience. There have been a couple of attempts through the years as the Rocky films have stayed relevant, but before this came out, we were pretty much down to an online casino reel at various sites online. Now itвЂ™s been re-branded as a Rocky game, which is wonderful because there arenвЂ™t enough of them.

This annoyingly titled game (why canвЂ™t it just be Real Boxing ROCKY 2?) has actually been around, but in 2015 it was Real Boxing 2 CREED. The visuals are wonderful, the physics of speeding through the water are smooth and satisfying, and the combination of a challenging career mode and several multiplayer options makes for a ton of gaming content. With that in mind, Riptide GP: Renegade almost seems like a finished (and perfected) product. As one review pointed out, Vector Unit has excelled in the genre of aquatic racing through multiple titles over the years. This is already looking like a popular pick as one of the yearвЂ™s best mobile games, and itвЂ™s easy to see why after just a few minutes handling it. Ultimately, itвЂ™s one of those games thatвЂ™s a little bit hard to properly explain in words вЂ“ you simply get it when you play it. You need only a thumb to guide a pioneer through unexplored lands toward Eden Falls, collecting resources, unlocking new features, and meeting interesting characters along the way. Vaguely reminiscent of The Oregon Trail (which incidentally has its own app these days), The Trail is a beautiful yet minimalistic game about frontier exploration. The Trail emerged fairly recently, as perhaps the last great game of 2016 (barring a certain adventure featuring a mustachioed plumber that weвЂ™ll get to in a bit). These are always fun lists to debate, add to, or reshape, so to get in on the action hereвЂ™s a quick round-up of five mobile games that stand out as perhaps the yearвЂ™s very best releases. ItвЂ™s about that time of year! With just a few weeks remaining in 2016, recaps of the вЂњyearвЂ™s best everythingвЂќ are starting to pop up everywhere.

Best mobile games of 2016