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Top 20 best iPhone and iPad games of 2016 so far

Mud! Goblins! Slowpoke! Limbs! Golf! Tentacles!

Top 20 best iPhone and iPad games of 2016 so far
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iOS

It's time to take stock. How has 2016 been going for mobile games, so far?

Here are the 20 best iPhone and iPad games that money can (or can't) buy.

We'll add a few more games, and narrow it down even further, come December.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered
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One of the best point and click adventures ever - a barmy time-travel adventure with frozen hamsters and talking horses - gets a terrific touchscreen remake, complete with new art and director's commentary.

Crush Your Enemies
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That's an order, not a suggestion. Crush Your Enemies is an easy-going, retro-style strategy game with a lot of heart, plenty of jokes, and a deep well of tactics to use when, you know, crushing your enemies.

Crashlands
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Buttersquash Shenanigans brings its warped sense of humour to the survival genre, for this whacked-out tale of intergalactic killing and crafting. Murder weird animals, take their stuff, build a cool house. Repeat.

Super Stickman Golf 3
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The App Store doesn't have as many franchises as other consoles, but you can see why Stickman Golf has stuck around for three entries. Still brilliant fun, still full of silly shenanigans, still packed with stuff to do.

Samorost 3
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Czech studio Amanita Design has perfected the art of trippy, wordless point and clicks. Case in point: the dreamlike Samorost 3 which takes you through space to the weirdest planets you're ever gonna see.

Severed
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Some games struggle to work on touchscreens. Severed was born to take advantage of the technology. It's a dungeon crawler with sharp, scrappy brawls all handled through swipes, taps, and rubs. Lovely.

Space Marshals 2
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If you're looking for XCOM on your iPhone… well, you should probably download XCOM for iPhone. Once you've finished that, though, give Space Marshals 2 a look - it's a tactical shooter with lots of strategy and a quirky wild-west / sci-fi look.

Chameleon Run
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This auto-runner can be like trying to rub your tummy while patting your head. Trying to pull off the pixel perfect jumps while switching between two different colours is tough, but ultra satisfying when you pull it off and earn a new high score.

Heroes of Loot 2
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OrangePixel has a habit of making crunchy little bite-size gaming snacks, and Heroes of Loot 2 is no different. This one's a dungeon crawler that offers short, sharp bursts of carnage that make for a rather compulsive little treat.

Deus Ex GO
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First Agent 47, then Lara Croft, now Adam Jenson. All with clever, turn-based puzzle games to their name. Deus Ex isn't the best of the bunch, but it's still a terrific collection of conundrums dressed up in familiar black-and-gold garb.

Pokemon GO
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2016 will be defined by Brexit, Trump, and Pokemon GO. This landmark location game had millions out hunting for 'mons, trading advice, and getting in car wrecks. And even beyond the phenomenon, it's a clever little augmented gem.

_Prism
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Prism is basically an abstract version of The Room. Where Fireproof's standout puzzler is based in the real world (well, with some supernatural weirdness), Prism is played on weirdo boxes that morph and mutate in empty space. Good, though.

Hyperburner
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Forget No Man's Sky's attempt to simulate an entire sci-fi universe: Hyperburner goes hyper focused, and is only interested in the thrill of threading a spaceship through asteroids, turbines, crashing spaceships, and other such needles. Thrilling, fast, electric.

Redungeon
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You didn't think we'd get through this list without a Nitrome game, did you? This is a dungeon crawler that doesn't let you mess around, turning a slow and stoic genre into the sort of fast-paced sprint we've come to expect from the studio.

Warbits
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No prizes for guessing what classic Nintendo game Warbits is trying to capture. It's more than a cheeky knock-off though: this is a tight and taut strategy game with quick matches for mobile and even online multiplayer - take that, Advance Wars.

Telepaint
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A lovely little game about a teleporting paint bucket, with gorgeous music and some fine puzzles. The paint splatters - that coat the world in colour every time you teleport - don't add much but are a cute gimmick.

Clash Royale
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It's the game that threatened to destroy the Pocket Gamer team's productivity. A sharply made MOBA, card battler, strategy game thing with an evolving meta, anxious online battles, and goblins. So many goblins.

Dungelot: Shattered Lands
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Dungelot was great. A clever mix of dungeon crawler and Minesweeper that had us hooked. The sequel, which went all freemium, was less great. Shattered Lands brought it all back, and came packed with good ideas and stuff to do.

Final Fantasy IX
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The Final Fantasy port train keeps on running. This time, it's the PS1 game that hearkened back to the good old days of classic FF, before the series got obsessed with giant swords and anime haircuts and emotions. It's a good'un.

Rush Rally 2
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Rush Rally doesn't mind if you take a few bumps and scratches. In fact, it practically encourages carnage and chaos. This is a filthy rally game that offers arcade thrills mixed with messy, muddy spills.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer