The best mobile game of the year - Mobi Awards 2023 Results

Last year was full of big licence releases and collector's indie games. After weeks of voting on our social networks, the mobile community has finally voted for the best mobile game of 2023, as well as the winners in 9 themed categories. Whether you're here to find out if your favourite game has won or to enjoy the list of memorable titles of 2023 to try out on Android and iOS, you're in for a treat.

The best TCG/Roguelite of 2023

The first poll to enter the Mobi Awards 2023 arena is for the best TCG and Roguelite on phones. This category includes Breach Wanderers and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, which we streamed on Twitch to find out more about. Mighty Quest: Rogue Palace and Vampire Survivors were also competing in this round.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened

Google Play App Store

Whether on YouTube, Discord or Instagram, you've largely preferred Harry Potter with Vampire Survivors hot on its heels. This collectible card game and RPG set in the universe imagined by J.K. Rowling took us by pleasant surprise with its unique artistic direction and dynamic combat. It was an opportunity to immerse yourself for several hours in this cult licence, with paper character silhouettes and a good dose of magic. At the start of the game, you can choose your appearance, house, wand and outfit at Chemin de Traverse.

Then things start to pick up for this game, which took the title of Best Mobile TCG 2023 at the Mobi Awards, as the title invites you to act like a real student at Hogwarts. Between classes, you'll face off against other wizard players in solo or duo duels, complete missions in the Forbidden Forest and progress through the chapters of the story. What's more, HPMA is available in several languages and offers a unique adventure, 10 years after the death of Voldemort, that has delighted the Potterheads among you.

The best mobile RPG of 2023

Here we see Black Clover Mobile, Volzerk, Honkai: Star Rail and Aether Gazer go head-to-head in the category of top mobile RPGs. Team Mobi.gg's predictions have worked. We all thought that Black Clover Mobile would come out on top in this category, as it was recently released and eagerly awaited, and that's exactly what happened. It really crushed the competition.

Black Clover : Rise of the Wizard King

Google Play App Store

Rise of the Wizard King has lived up to its promise as an immersive RPG with lots of content. 5 million pre-registrations later, Garena is publishing a hit game featuring the voices and famous characters from the Black Clover anime. The place of the Emperor-Mage has never looked so good. If you haven't already done so, consider trying out turn-based combat by creating your own hero line-up in this comprehensive 3D gacha RPG. In addition to the various combat modes, you can fish, cook and explore the world of Black Clover M: Rise of the Wizard King for free on Android and iOS.

The best skill and reflex game of 2023

Next we move on to the category aimed more at tryharders or those with 22 levels of tension. We're talking here about skill and reflex games like A Slight Chance of Sawblades, Rotoforce, Daily Dadish and Ninja Must Die. Once again, you've shown no mercy by making Ninja Must Die the winner in this category with 66% of the votes.

Ninja Must Die

Google Play App Store

The hyperactive and the most skilful among you couldn't miss it. Ninja Must Die confirms its position as the current leader in reflex games by offering a free, ultra-dynamic runner.

In-game, you find yourself in the tabi of a young ninja in conflict with the samurai and the Onis, Japanese demons. Dodge your enemies' blows or retaliate with your skills without stopping to run. Original and effective, Ninja Must Die richly deserves its success and its place as the best skill game of 2023 on the phone in our Mobi Awards. If you're a hardcore try-harder, the multiplayer mode is just what you need, with bosses and intense gameplay.

The best mobile shooter and action game of 2023

The next category in the Mobi Awards 2023 is for a genre that's very popular with our community: shooter and action games. Here you could choose between the battle royale Farlight 84, the team game Star Wars Hunters, the extraction shooter Arena Breakout or the famous Resident Evil Village.

Farlight 84

Google Play App Store

Arena Breakout was a strong contender for us, but Farlight 84 is the one that really won over the mobile community after 2 years of testing. Available free on Google Play and Appstore, this 3rd-person shooter is a breath of fresh air in its category. It places you in a post-apocalyptic world, with several game modes ranging from battle royale to rally multiplayer. It's shooting from every angle, it's colourful and it's packed with content, and with the expertise of Lilith Games it'll last for years to come.

Fans of competitive action can fire up their jetpacks and choose from over a dozen characters with special skills to take to the battlefield, on foot, flying or at the controls of deadly military vehicles.

The best classic gacha of 2023

One of the most popular categories at the Mobi Awards was classic gacha, after RPGs. This category saw Brown Dust 2, a game with an endearing retro cartridge system, Coromon, the heir to Pokémon, compete against each other; Tower of God: New World, an adventure based on the successful webtoon; and Reverse 1999, a game whose story revolves around time travel and which delves as deeply as possible into its narrative.

Tower of God: New World

Google Play App Store

I'm a bit surprised to see that Brown Dust 2 only received 11% of the votes. Tower of God: New World came out on top with almost half the votes. I can't even imagine what would happen with a Berserk gacha, there'd be no competition.

In any case, it's a good choice on the part of the community, who particularly enjoyed the world of the Tower in 2023. This gacha RPG takes the story and the iconic characters from the webtoon and adds some compositional theorycraft. The game remains solid on its foundations, drawing its inspiration from a very classic format with Adventure, Arena, Conquest and Story modes in which you can switch compo easily thanks to the level links between characters.

This free-to-play revival of the original story of Bam, Rak and Khun on Android and iOS has won over fans of Korean animation and gamers alike, who have been able to enjoy a complete PvE and PvP experience. The best gacha of 2023 is therefore ToG: New World for the Mobi.gg community.

The best narrative and puzzle game of 2023

Here we come to an area I'm particularly fond of, that of quality narrative games. Vying for the trophy for best narrative and puzzle game at the Mobi Awards 2023 are: Return to Monkey Island, for real freshwater sailors; Underground Blossom, a multiplayer experience in the Ruty Lake series; Lost in Play, with its atmosphere worthy of the fairytales of our childhood; and Lost Words Beyond the Page, which uses words to change the environment, in the manner of a more poetic Baba is You.

Return to Monkey Island

Google Play App Store

To my delight, Return to Monkey Island came out on top with more than a majority of the votes. I was a little disappointed not to see more votes forUnderground Blossom, given that Rusty Lakes is a mobile classic, but Return to Monkey Island more than deserves its title, especially for its final game.

The iconic Monkey Island saga finally comes to a close with a chapter featuring Guybrush Threepwood telling his story to the child he had with Elaine. It's the perfect return to its roots. The soundtrack, the characters, the catchphrases, the insult duels, it's all there. And even for those who don't know it, it's a real pleasure. This point-and-click puzzle game, with its humour as silly as it is clever, takes you back to Monkey Island, the island of Mêlée and even the boat of the villainous Le Chuck, your sworn enemy. On hard mode, it's pure bliss.

The nostalgia is there, the puzzles are all logical and your quests may lead you to Monkey Island's ultimate treasure, its best-kept secret. Return to Monkey Island lives up to its name: it's a welcome return for Elaine, The Chuck, the Scum Bar boozers, Skull Murray and the rest of the cast of characters who are here for one last round before the end.

The best strategy game of 2023

The Strategy category was a tight one in 2023. Based on your feedback and our tests, we nominated Narcos Cartel Wars Unlimited, a Netflix game, Call of Dragons, Lilith Games' fiery baby in the fantasy and strategy category, Grand Cross Age of Titans and its isekai universe, and Watcher of Realms by Moonton. Once again, the voting was close, but one clear winner emerged from the pack, and that was Grand Cross: Age of Titans.

Grand Cross: Age of Titans

Google Play App Store

This large-scale RTS from Netmarble propels you into the magical world of Skyna. It features real-time PvE and PvP combat, a huge server with a large number of players, resources to harvest, a personal city to build, heroes to collect and an extensive alliance and conquest system.

Grand Cross: Age of Titans is a classic mobile MMORTS format and your favourite mobile strategy game of 2023. Where the game really stands out is in its artistic direction and storytelling, with a truly original anime style. The game even features a webtoon story with full voice over in English. Grand Cross Age of Titans is available in French and free-to-play on Android, iOS and PC, with unique graphics for an RTS, an advanced decoration system and mechanical titans to exploit on the battlefield.

The best MMORPG and multiplayer game

If you like competition and interaction between players, now's the perfect time to dive into the MMORPG and multiplayer games category, in which Dawnlands, Last Ultima, Summoners War: Chronicles and Undawn went head-to-head. After the success of Summoners War: Chronicles at launch, we might have thought it a winner, but that would have been without taking into account the Dawnlands phenomenon that is sweeping through the mobile community.

Dawnlands

Google Play App Store

Despite an initial lack of preparation, Dawnlands has a lot of charm and is your favourite MMO for phones this year. Its colourful world, sandbox opportunities, crafting, building and action options have clearly delighted some of the audience. The bugs and free-to-play grind shook up the game's release, but Dawnlands, whether single-player or multiplayer, is an opportunity to build your own world, venture into others' and unlock hundreds of items in a sublime open-world. Seasun Games ' game is full of qualities and is clearly inspired by Genshin Impact, so congratulations on this victory.

The best casual game of 2023

Competitive engagement is all well and good, but there are also casual gamers who want to enjoy games that are accessible, easy to learn and pretty cool. That's why the best casual mobile game category is represented at the Mobi Awards 2023 by : Monopoly GO, Life Makeover, Monster Hunter: Now and Ace Racer.

Monster Hunter: Now

Google Play App Store

Life Makeover had trouble convincing against the success of the racing game Ace Racer and the addictive dice rolls of the slot machine Monopoly GO. But it was Monster Hunter: Now that won the battle with a KO, taking 55% of the votes on its own.

Results of the Mobi Awards 2023 semi-finals

Now that the pool stages are over and each category has a winner, it remains to be seen who will be voted best mobile game of the year by the community. The 9 champions in their respective categories share the semi-finals. We start with the first match, which pits Harry Potter Magic Awakened, winner of the TCG category, against Ninja must Die, on the reflex side, and Farlight 84 for the shooter and action games.

On our networks, you've all agreed to give the first runner-up spot to Farlight 84. Although it's off to a good start for this game, which is one of the big favourites for the Mobi Awards, the competition is just around the corner.

The next two semi-finals saw Black Clover M and Dawnlands book their places in the final.

Results of the Mobi Awards 2023 final

Here we have a fine top 3 of the best mobile games of the year, full of colourful, dynamic games. After counting your votes, we've got Dawnlands in third place and a big duel between the last two finalists.

Top 3: Dawnlands takes the final step on the podium.

Top 2, Farlight 84 takes second place.

And top 1, you've voted Black Clover Mobile as the community's best mobile game of 2023.

On behalf of the whole team, I'd like to thank everyone who's been keeping the event alive over the last few weeks, whether on our YouTube channel, our Instagram account or our Discord server.