We have all heard of the huge and incredibly popular casual genre. It covers pretty much everything from endless runners to logic-based puzzles, from blackjack to the slot machines you can play at Netbet. In our world with an even shorter attention span, though, not even casual games are fast enough. This is where hyper-casual games come in: they provide their players with instant access to a fast-paced, easy-to-learn action that they may set aside after just a few minutes of play – but always return to it.
The first hyper-casual game to make the headlines was Flappy Bird that became viral and grew to the Apple App Store’s most downloaded game in January 2014. Since then, the genre became massive, with countless developers churning out hyper-casual titles as we speak. And these might be the most popular hyper-casual games today.
Hair Challenge (Rollic Games)
Built by Turkish game developer Rollic Games, Hair Challenge turns a bad hair day into an action-packed endless runner adventure. Players have to navigate through countless obstacles, all of them out to cut their hair while preserving as much of their priceless strands as possible.
The game made it to the top spot in Apple’s US App Store (it has since been overtaken by new releases) and amassed more than 45 million downloads in the third quarter of the year.
Destiny Run (VOODOO)
The company behind such hits as Helix Jump and Paper.io brought us a game where endless running becomes the protagonist’s destiny. During the game, the protagonist has to choose the pathway which to take, and this has serious implications on the environment.
The game has been downloaded more than 46 million times since its release.
Bridge Race (Supersonic Studios)
Bridge Race comes from publisher Supersonic Studios that gave the world hits like Join Clash, Stacky Dash, and Sort It 3D. This game, while it’s past its prime (and lost some download growth in the last quarter) is still among the top free games to play, with more than 52 million downloads.
Its gameplay is as simple as it gets: collect tiles, build bridges/stairs, and be faster than your opponents.
Count Masters and Fidget Toys (Freeplay Inc.)
Finally, here are the two top-rated hyper-casual games in the last quarter, both of them released by Freeplay Inc: Count Masters, Pop It Games, and Fidget Toys. Both games have seen their downloads skyrocket, reaching top spots in-app marketplaces around the world.
The publisher’s games have been downloaded more than 100 million times in total (some of them around 80 million times alone) over the summer, making them the most popular hyper-casual games in the world.