Apple Chooses Clash Royale, Not Pokemon Go, as iPhone Game of the Year

By Rae Gabriel
Clash Royale
Huge update coming to Clash Royale on May 18 Supercell

Apple released their top 10 games in iPhone and named Clash Royale as iPhone Game of the Year. Pokemon Go is nowhere near the list despite the sheer number of downloads it accumulated this past year.

Supercell's Clash Royale is a free real time multiplayer game which stars the Clash of Clans characters. It enable users to battle each other through collectible card games, defending towers, and destroying the enemy's towers.

Supercell's superb and fun graphics that mainly characterizes the famous Clash of Clans mobile game contributed to Apple's decision to name it as the Best Game of the Year. Pokemon Go, despite the unexpected and speedy popularity because of its new take on augmented reality, did not make it in Apple's top ten list.

Niantic's brainchild of producing Pokemon by the use of location-based augmented reality simply isn't polished enough to make it to the top. In the past months, the game suffered a loss of millions of users because of connectivity, downloading, and upgrading problems.

The sudden interest of people playing the game on a daily basis also wavers and eventually is brought to a stable level. Despite that, Pokemon Go is a step forward for the development of augmented reality games and its introduction to handheld devices.

Even though it missed Apple's best iPhone games of 2016, Pokemon Go is given the "Breakout Hit" recognition by the company. It is also included in Apple's most popular apps of the year, which makes it the only game included in the apps list along with Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, according to Develop.  

The other games included in the top ten list of best iPhone games are Reigns, INKS, FIFA Mobile Football, klocki, Rodeo Stampede, PKTBALL, Crashlands, Leap Day and The Trail.

Reigns, which holds the second place, adopts the swiping style of Tinder where the player gets to decide and choose an option to solve requests from the people of his kingdom. It provides dark consequences regarding every decision that leads to death of several characters. Reign continues to be one of the leading games that are purchased and downloaded from Apple and is named the "Best Runner-up Award" next to Clash Royale.

  • ‘Wang Mingdao’s Diary’ reproduction highlights complexities of contemporary Chinese Christianity

    On December 9, the China Graduate School of Theology (中国神学研究院) hosted a public lecture titled “A Courageous Witness in the Times—Launch of Wang Mingdao (王明道)’s Diary.” The lecture, themed “Faith Patterns in Beijing’s Christian Churches Through the Lens of Wang Mingdao’s Diary,” featured Dr. Ni Buxiao (倪步晓), Associate Director and Assistant Professor at the Christian Faith and Chinese Culture Research Center of Alliance Bible Seminary (建道神学院), as the keynote speaker.

  • Floating library ‘Doulos Hope’ arrives in Taiwan; spreading love and hope from a former cruise ship

    Doulos Hope, the international floating book fair ship, has returned to Taiwan and is now docked at Kaohsiung Port, open to the public from December 18, 2024, to January 12, 2025. Originally built in 1991 and renovated in 2022, the ship features over 2,000 books on various topics, including faith, science, and art. It is operated by a diverse crew of 140 volunteers from 25 countries, offering services such as education, healthcare, and community outreach. The ship's mission is to spread hope and

  • Chinese Online School of Theology publishes annual ministry report: Expanding Chinese theological education through new strategies

    In the 2023-2024 academic year, New York-based Chinese Online School of Theology (COST) has seen significant development in expanding its ministry in theological education and mission outreach. They have promoted a series of new events and projects to explore different strategies that expand theological education for Chinese ministers. The following are some highlights from the 2023-2024 annual report:

  • Dr. Fenggang Yang: How foreign forces transformed traditional Chinese legal systems

    In a recent lecture to Chinese Christians, scholar Dr. Fenggang Yang (杨凤岗) gave an in-depth analysis of the historical evolution and contemporary significance of the modern legal system in Chinese society. He explored the tensions and integrations between traditional law and modern rule of law, highlighting the distinctive characteristics of China’s traditional legal system and emphasizing the role of foreign influences in introducing modern legal practices into Chinese society.