ALTO ADVENTURE
There are quite a few endless driving, running and snowboarding (or skiing) apps out there for Android and iOS, but few manage to mix together the audio and visual quality of Alto's Adventure. The music, the slickness of the gameplay, the gradually changing weather and lighting, it all adds up to a superb gaming experience. There are enough mini-challenges, characters and level goals to keep it interesting for hour after hour, as well. [£1.49 (US$2.25) on iOS]
PRUNE
Prune is an absorbing, meditative game of skill that avoids easy categorisation, but that's certainly a plus point in this case. Your task is to quite literally prune trees as the levels progress, making sure your growing plants reach their goal before getting stuck with nothing more than a few carefully placed swipes across the screen. It works like a more grown-up, less frenetic take on Fruit Ninja, and is well worth checking out. [£2.99 (US$4.51) on iOS]
DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
Down The Mountain definitely has a bit of a Crossy Road feel to it, but we can forgive a lack of originality when the gameplay and the graphics are this good. Your aim is to quite simply get down the mountain while grabbing as many power-ups and stars as you can, and steering clear of the various enemies and obstacles that are going to try and get in your way. There are a total of 300 missions to complete in the game. [Freemium on Android and iOS]
TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS
The latest in Telltale's seemingly neverending series of great tap-and-click story-driven adventure games, Tales From The Borderlands is a game in five episodes. It's based on the futuristic sci-fi franchise it shares its name with, but you don't necessarily need to have played Borderlands before to enjoy this — like Telltale's other episodic games, it has the production values of a full-scale animated movie. [Freemium on Android and iOS]
LARA CROFT GO
Hitman GO turned the stealth-driven first-person-shooter into a compelling puzzle experience for mobile, and Lara Croft GO does the same for the eponymous raider of tombs. Your moves are more restricted than in the franchise's main games, and the challenges are undertaken at a slower pace, but this is still a top-quality addition to the series — and it should appeal whether or not you've played the earlier games. [£3.99 (US$6.02) on Android and iOS]
SIMCITY BUILDIT
You're no doubt familiar with the classic SimCity city-building game, and this is the latest incarnation of the series for mobile devices. Not all SimCity purists are happy about the revised gameplay mechanics, but if you take BuildIt on its own merits then you'll find a polished, engrossing and rewarding game that makes the most of the limitations of mobile gaming rather than trying to push up against them. [Freemium on Android and iOS]
FALLOUT SHELTER
A spin-off from the successful Fallout series of console games, Fallout Shelter is set in the same post-apocalyptic wasteland: your task is to manage a vault full of survivors, making sure they stay alive, protected from external dangers and able to repopulate the world, and you can send some of your Dwellers outside to explore what's left on the surface as well. Think The Sims, but set in the aftermath of a nuclear war. [Freemium on Android and iOS]
ALPHABEAR
A smart and colourful word puzzle that harks back to a time of more traditional board games but adds a modern twist (and a few cartoon-style bears) on top. You make up your words as you progress through the levels, getting Scrabble-style scores for each one, but the extra challenge is trying to avoid letters from becoming stale and turning into rocks (and thus impeding the progress of your bears). [Freemium on Android and iOS]
FINAL FANTASY VII
Final Fantasy VII is a game that launched back in 1997 — way before we were all gaming on smartphones and tablets — but the iOS port that launched this year has been worth the wait. A masterpiece of the role-playing game genre, the mobile version should satisfy both series veterans and newcomers to the Final Fantasy world... even if the touchscreen controller interface could've been improved, and the price is rather high. [£11.99 (US$18) on iOS]
ANGRY BIRDS 2
The first proper sequel to Angry Birds (as opposed to a spin-off), this captures everything that made Angry Birds great in the first place and adds some extras goodies. In this game you get to choose which birds to fire next, which makes working out your strategy all that more difficult, and there are some impressively complex multi-stage levels to work your way through too. It's the same formula, but it's a good one. [Freemium on Android and iOS]
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