Huh, people seem to like massive free-to-play action role-playing games with serious The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild vibes. miHoYo’s Genshin Impact came out on top of both Google and Apple’s official game of the year lists, beating out whatever the Candy Crush people are doing and all of those games advertised in other games that aren’t actually the games advertised. You know the ones.
Genshin Impact might be a greedy free-to-play grind with big opportunities for players to overspend on special characters, but it sure is pretty, isn’t it? Seasoned console gamers and people sitting on toilets with their phones alike fell in love with the world of Teyvat and its various nations, which include Monistat and Subaru. I didn’t get very far in the game when I played, but I can see the appeal.
I’m also not sure who judges the Apple and Google Play awards and how winners are chosen, but I like to think each game had a small chance of being picked that could be made larger by investing gems or crystals purchased with real money.
Note that Genshin Impact only received iPhone game of the year from Apple, with the iPad GOTY going to Legends of Runterra from Riot Games. Sneaky Sasquatch won Apple Arcade game of the year, meaning Apple liked paying for it the best out of all the Apple Arcade games. Check out all the Apple awards here.
Meanwhile, at Google Play’s 2020 awards, Genshin Impact is the big winner but the “Players’ Choice” award goes to Spongebob: Krusty Cook-Off, a clone of so many different games it’s gone full circle and become original again. That’s mobile gaming, folks!
