Top 5 Competitive App Games

We tend to hear quite a bit these days about the increasingly integrated nature of gaming. Online multiplayer has become one of the busiest avenues of gaming, whether you're playing on the Internet, on a console, or even through a mobile app. And along with this trend, competition has become more important than ever. Where we once played games primarily to reach milestones, beat bosses, and the like, we now play just as frequently to beat each other or to match our skills against family members and friends.

Naturally, game developers have taken note of this development and are now catering to multiplayer crowds. This is why you hear more about the multiplayer capabilities of a title like Call Of Duty: Black Ops III than you do about its actual story mode or gameplay style. And the same has become true in the world of mobile apps. While a huge variety of games now allow for some level of online interaction, there are many that are specifically designed to allow players to compete with other players anywhere in the world. These are a few that any mobile multiplayer fan can appreciate.

Street Fighter IV Volt

No style of gaming lends itself quite as directly to one-on-one competition as the fighter genre, in which you can control a single player in hand-to-hand combat against another user. Capcom's Street Fighter series perfected this style long ago, and the upcoming release of Street Fighter V will bring it to life in stunning new fashion for the PS4. But for mobile users, the Street Fighter IV Volt game is the best there is, featuring console-quality graphics and online multiplayer capability, as well as a satisfying array of characters to embody.



Deadlock: Online

The shooter genre can be tough to get right on a touchscreen, which is why sometimes a simpler game like Deadlock: Online can be just the thing for those in search of multiplayer combat options. Developed by Crescent Moon Games, it's what's often referred to as a dual-stick shooter, meaning you have one control for movement and one for aiming your weapon. Beyond that, it's basically an arcade-style melee in which you can play online in battles with up to eight people. There are also single-player missions.

Betfair Casino

Multiplayer gaming isn't always about combat, and another popular genre for it is that of casino gaming. There are innumerable options for poker players, slot machine lovers, etc., as plenty of apps bring these experiences to mobile platforms. But this app is one of the more professional of the bunch, and it also includes an array of casino gaming options as opposed to a single type of game. Betfair's casino card games are available in the app just as readily as basic slots and jackpots, and the card games in particular make for nice competitive options for mobile users.

Bloons TD Battles

Ninja Kiwi's Bloons Tower Defense series has been a hit online for many years now, and it just so happens that the games translate pretty well to mobile platforms. Bloons TD Battles proves that they also work very nicely in a multiplayer capacity. Your task in any Bloons TD game is to stop balloons from advancing along a path, by way of popping them with any one of a number of weapons launched by cartoon monkeys. In the Battles version, you play one-on-one against an online opponent with mirrored paths to see who can defend the path more successfully.

Words With Friends

It may not be a surprising inclusion on this list given its popularity, but Words With Friends remains one of the simplest and best multiplayer gaming experiences for mobile devices. Zynga designed the game as an adaptation of Scrabble, and it ended up being a fun way to keep a running game going with a friend or family member. It's also one of the best mobile multiplayer games at facilitating social interaction, as there's a built-in chat feature.

With a few of these games on your mobile device, you should be able to address pretty much any multiplayer need you may have.