Subway Surfers was the most popular game for three consecutive years, with 218 million downloads in 2023, 304 million in 2022, and 191 million in 2021. (Source: Business of Apps)

Subway Surfers, an endless runner game, was released by Kiloo Games and SYBO studio in May 2012. It is an action-packed game with colorful graphics, intuitive swipe controls, top-notch sound effects, different themes and characters, and challenges. The features were reason enough for the wide popularity of the game shortly after its release. 

What is an Endless Runner Game?

Endless Runner Games or Infinite Runner Games is a game genre with one continuous level with no pauses, no levels, and no end. The level of difficulty starts easy and slow. As the game speeds up, the character’s pace also keeps increasing with obstacles approaching on the way. The player’s objective is to survive for as long as possible to reach a high score.

Core Mechanics of an Endless Runner Game

Game mechanics make a video game engaging and challenging for players. They are used in a way to differentiate a game from others and make it stand out. The core mechanics involved in an Endless Runner Game include -

Player Actions

The player interacts in an endless runner game by jumping, sliding, or shifting sideways to avoid obstacles. There are no levels and no finish lines so the player has no option of taking a break. The game is continuous and involves the player to stay focused to avoid mistakes and crashing into something.

Game Goals

As the name suggests, the goal of the game is that the player has to run endlessly for as long as they can avoid the obstacles and survive in the game. The player has to obtain the highest score possible and that indicates the player's achievement. 

Points & Rewards

Endless runner games offer points for distance traveled, collectibles gathered, and surviving the game longer. Various rewards can also be offered, including coins or soft cash, that the players can use to unlock new characters, avatars, and attributes. Some games reward players with lives or currency boosts for watching ads. 

Level Design

ER games have just one level that never ends. This type of level designing involves procedural generation where reusable tiles (including power-ups, obstacles, and aesthetic features) are randomly assembled. This is integrated in a way that it creates a balance between randomness and structure, making each run feel new and unpredictable.

Obstacles

In an Endless Runner game, obstacles determine the player’s behavior as to whether the player must jump over, slide beneath, or leap left or right in response to a barrier. These simple movements at the right time are required to move ahead in the game.

Sitting with an endless runner game idea in mind? Sit no more! Get in touch for 20-mins of free consultation.

Best Endless Runner Games In The Market 

Some recent and popular trends in Endless Runner Games include strong themes and concepts, multiplier mechanics with more characters on-screen, Virtual reality and Augmented Reality integration, procedural generation that dynamically generates the level layout and obstacles, and character models that can reflect futuristic designs. These trends have risen to this game genre’s popularity. Let’s talk about a few most-played Endless Runner Games and what made them so popular.

Temple Run

Temple Run was released in 2021 by Imangi Studios. It is a simple-to-play game. The goal of the game is easy to understand, game controls are straightforward to execute, and the game keeps becoming challenging as the player moves ahead in the game. Moreover, the game has a highly addictive quality that comes from its never-ending features and constantly rewarding nature. It involves fast-paced running, ancient temple exploration, and strategic decision-making. 

The first Temple Run game was a huge hit among mobile gamers and has been downloaded more than 1 billion times! The sequel, Temple Run 2 was equally as successful. It got to 20 million downloads in just 4 days of its release and surpassed 700 million all-time downloads. (Source: Udonis)

Super Mario Run

Super Mario Run was revealed on September 7, 2016, by Shigeru Miyamoto at the Apple press conference. This game uses elements from the main Super Mario series. In this game, Mario can get power-ups and coins, jump on enemies, and run through a platform-style world with just a few taps. One of the best things about this game is that Super Mario Run is a totally addictive game. The goal of the game is to run and jump to collect 3 different types of colored coins until you reach the castle to save Princess Peach from Bowser’s clutches. There are 24 exciting courses to reach Princess Peach. 

Super Mario Run was downloaded 2.85 million times on its first day. (Source: The Verge)

Alto’s Odyssey

Alto's Odyssey is the sequel to Alto's Adventure released by Noodlecake Studios Inc. on Jul 25, 2018. The environment of the game has the player’s character sandboards through the desert which features rain and thunderstorms. What’s said to be different about Alto’s Odyssey is that it manages to keep the excitement of the player alive throughout. The game has features like water physics, tornadoes, falling platforms, power-up, and balloon bouncing; with mechanics such as a day-night cycle, weather, and the wingsuit. 

Sensor Tower's Store Intelligence data shows that, in the time since its launch, the adventure game has grossed more than $1 million worldwide across the App Store and Google Play. (Source: Sensor Tower)

Sonic Dash

Sonic Dash is a parkour game developed by Hardlight and published by the Japanese game studio Sega in 2013. A part of Sonic the Hedgehog series, Sonic Dash has gameplay where the player controls various Sonic the Hedgehog characters while running across various locations of the series and avoiding obstacles by jumping, rolling, and using the quick step. The obstacles in this game include bottomless pits and Badniks which can be destroyed with a roll. 

SEGA’s Sonic Dash has passed a major download milestone on mobile devices, as the Endless Runner starring the famous blue hedgehog has been downloaded more than 100 million times since its release in March 2013. (Source: Adweek)

Conclusion

Logic Simplified is a Unity Game Development Company with the finest, most creative game concept artists, 2D and 3D game designers, and UX designers. As a top game development company, we build interactive, human-centered, and exciting games and make your dream project a reality. If you have any more questions regarding game design and development, or want to know about our Endless Runner Game portfolio, please get in touch with us at enquiry@logicsimplfied.com.

HTML5 is now widely used for game development as it allows to create  video games that can be easily played through web browsers of smartphones and desktops. HTML5 games are cross-platform and cross-browser enabled, hence developers get the freedom to write one code and conquer all, with just a bit  of personalization in the code for each platform. So, using HTML5, developers can build games much faster than native game apps. Developers initially used Adobe Flash Player to build online games but after the release of HTML5 in 2014 there was no looking back to Flash. Developers quickly moved from Flash to HTML5 conversion services for its cutting-edge functionalities, major browsers stopping support for Flash and Flash plugins becoming too heavy to get the desired results. Rise of smartphones is also a big reason why Flash became redundant (most smartphones don’t support Flash and simply cannot display web games). Today’s gamers look for games that are accessible and connected, and what could be better in that regard than a web browser? However, if you want you can also port HTML5 games as native mobile game apps (iOS, Android) by using technologies like Apache Cordova (formerly Phonegap) and CocoonJS. Other technologies like Javascript and CSS enhance HTML5 to create interactive and engaging game content. Let’s get to know more about the tech stack often used in HTML5 game development.

Canvas and Web Graphics Library (WebGL) are the core technologies used in HTML5 game development. Developers heavily rely on these two technologies to create advanced games for web browsers. Using Canvas element, developers do scriptable rendering of 2D shapes and bitmap images, whereas WebGL (a JavaScript API) is used to draw and convert any shapes into 2D/3D images and render them within web browsers. The beauty of WebGL is that it paves the way to create high quality, hardware accelerated 3D graphics without having to use plug-ins. Now, have a look at popular HTML5 game engines.

If you also want to build for platforms other than the web, the game engines below are among the best for cross-platform HTML5 games.

Now that we know what HTML5 game development is, let’s look into 5 HTML5 games which gamers enjoy the most.

HexGL is a futuristic, fast-paced racing game inspired from Wipeout and F-Zero. HexGL was created by Thibaut Despoulain, a software engineer at Artillery Games and WebGL aficionado, using HTML5, Javascript, WebGL and  three.js. The game requires you to glide and control a spaceship to avoid walls on tight turns by using your keyboard or touchscreen device or even a leap motion controller. HexGL is an online web browser game that truly shows the power of HTML5 to build high-graphics games. Depending on the hardware capabilities of your device, you can choose from three different graphics quality settings. You can play HexGL for free to become the greatest space racer and win the hearts of millions of racing game fans around the world. HexGL is a great example that shows what is graphically possible with HTML5. Just like HTML5 is used for building immersive browser games, ReactJS can also be used for developing impressive web games.

Bejeweled is a classic puzzle game that uses  WebGL for accelerated 2D graphics. The HTML5 version of the game has a smooth gameplay and subtle effects, making it stand out. Players enjoy playing this game for hours where they keep matching three gems to make them burst. Players get bonus points when they form chains of more than three identical gems and also when they form two chains in one swap.  Bejeweled shows how classic games can be built using HTML5 with enhanced graphics and gameplay. The creator PopCap Games tried hands at HTML5 to offer the title across a wide range of devices and platforms. The leading global developer, publisher and operator of casual video games said that the potential of HTML5 gaming is very interesting and holds a great promise for cross-platform development across all browsers and mobile devices.

Gamentio is an online 3D casino game built by Logic Simplified, an HTML card game design studio based in Dehradun, India, to transform the way card game fans play online. Gamentio was initially built using Adobe Flash but due to stopping of support by major browsers, the whole technology was eventually migrated to HTML5. Players across the world enjoy playing Poker, Teen Patti, Rummy and Auctions on Gamentio as it gives them a real feel of playing card games in a brick-and-mortar casino. Gamentio is available to play across all major browsers and is a prime example of how HTML5 games are not restricted to just 2D games. The game was also ported to iOS and Android using Apache Cordova. You can choose 3D avatars of your choice, chat with other players, create a private room, invite friends and enjoy many more exciting features on Gamentio.   

CrossCode is a very popular 2D game that entertains players for hours. The game is a retro-inspired 2D action role playing game (RPG) that showcases scenarios of the future with a gripping sci-fi story. Players solve different sets of puzzles and take on different quests to entertain themselves for hours. Radical Fish Games started the development of CrossCode back in 2011 as a small experiment using impact.js HTML5 game engine. The game was finally released in Q1 2017 and also sought funds through a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for further development. The game developers said that the game was 100% written in HTML5 and used regular JavaScript and canvas 2D. They also said that the overall experience of working with HTML5 was very positive and they look forward to continue working with the technology to build future games.

Gods will be watching, a free online browser game, was created by a Spain-based indie development studio Deconstructeam. The game is a point-and-click adventure, puzzle video game that gives you 40 days to survive and make tactical decisions to prevent a paralytic virus from falling into the wrong hands. Players take on the character of Sgt. Burden and interact with other crew members to survive after being ambushed while researching for the deadly virus. You must make right decisions, fix your radio and send signals to your convoy for help before things take an ugly turn. This HTML5 game was made using GameMaker and in no time won the hearts of millions of gamers across the world. 

There are many more HTML5 games that are highly popular among gamers world over. However, with the five games mentioned above, I hope you have got a good idea of the potential of HTML5 game development service to build cross-browser and cross-platform games. With HTML5, you write once and run everywhere, which makes it easier to build, maintain and update video games. HTML5 is also a boon to game projects on a lean budget as you can build a game with a small team and in less time, which saves significant costs that goes in building different versions of mobile games for different operating systems. HTML5 game development also helps you quickly test your game idea and if successful, you can go ahead with native app development and even for consoles. Nevertheless, HTML5 is popular in the first place because it lets today’s gamers what they want from video games - easy accessibility and connectivity from anywhere. And the best way to fulfill that intent is to build browser games. So, do you also want to get started with HTML5 game development? Logic Simplified can help!

Logic Simplified offers HTML5 game development services to clients of all cultures across the globe. We are in the game design and development space for more than 8 years now and have successfully built many HTML5 games using robust technologies such as Phaser, PixiJS, WebGL, BabylonJS, PlayCanvas, GameMaker and many more. Our own game Gamentio speaks volumes about the expertise we hold in HTML5 game development. We just don’t offer you HTML5 development services, but consulting too as we have learnt from our successes and failures and know what exactly works in the gaming industry and what’s not. If you have a game idea but are still on the fence for any reason, we encourage you to write to us at enquiry@logicsimplfied.com so that we can understand your vision and see how we can help you turn your amazing idea into a reality. We understand how badly COVID 19 pandemic has affected the gaming industry or any industry for that matter, but the good news is that we are still very much in the business and can help you fight this battle together by continuing your gaming business operations. We are all ears to hear you out and offer you gaming solutions we are proud of. Get in touch with us to find out how we can help.

Fortnite Battle Royale for mobile is the same game which is already very popular on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Mac and Switch. Epic Games’ launch of Fortnite on mobile is certainly a big gift to the gaming community.  All console options and gameplay features are available on mobile, which makes Fortnite an amazing 3D game to enjoy everywhere you go. But yes, Fortnite is not compatible with all smartphones as you require an Android 7.1 or above or an ioS 11 or above to play the game. Fortnite is free to play (F2P) and offers various exciting in-app purchases, but the game is still amazing even if you don’t buy anything. The game is set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world and inclined towards comic mischief and customizable whimsy, which sets it apart from other shooter games. According to a recent report by Sensor Tower, the mobile version of Fortnite alone has generated over $1bn on the App Store and Google Play in just over two years after its release. Fortnite’s mobile version is a great example of how large games can be effectively brought into the mobile space as well. This also shows that following the right mobile game development process is paramount for any game dev studio to make a mark out there.

Call of Duty: Mobile is another very popular shooter game which brings together the fun of Modern Warfare and Black Ops map. Activision, the publisher of Call of Duty, brought CoD to mobile and it provides the same flow and cadence of combat  as you get while playing on consoles and PCs. The touch controllers are impressive when compared to the familiar controller or keyboard/mouse, whether it’s about aiming, shooting, navigating the terrain or popping off shots. You can imagine the popularity of CoD by the fact that it had more than 170 million downloads and earned nearly $87 million in global player spending in its first two months only. CoD: Mobile falls in the category of F2P and revenue is earned from in-app purchases. When we talk about sophisticated 3D games for mobile, CoD makes a big mark for sure. 3D Shooting game developers are doing a great job to get players hooked to action games on their smartpones. 

Also read new trending technologies mobile game studios are currently using to create modern video games.

Rockstar Grand Theft Auto San Andreas was first released for iOS and later for Android. GTA is a mission-based 3D game that gives you  cars, bicycles, motorcycles, guns, and sometimes some NPCs. You can also buy houses, visit businesses, pick up hookers, and do all the other things GTA is popular for. Touch controls are available in three types so as to provide players the flexibility to tweak settings according to their taste. But it will still take a little bit to get used to the touch controls. GTA is not a free game and there are no actual in-app purchases. Yes, you can buy merchandise by visiting Rockstar’s website but there are no in-app purchases. With Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar Games has brought its biggest release to mobile yet with a large open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas. Rockstar has done a really good job in making a console game look and play great on mobile with flexible graphical settings, all the various control settings, the updated graphics, and more. GTA: San Andreas has 1,000,000+ downloads on Google Play alone. 

Gamentio is a very popular 3D casino game for mobile (iOS and Android). Logic Simplified, a mobile game development studio based in Dehradun, India, created Gamentio to let the fans of card games enjoy playing on mobile like they enjoy playing in a brick-and-mortar casino. Gamentio offers Poker, Rummy and Teen Patti in 3D and various customizable 3D avatars. You can also participate in Auctions (Android only) to do live bidding and take away great products at rock-bottom prices. While playing card games, players can also chat with other players on the table and make thousands of friends across the globe. You can also create a private room to invite and play only with your friends in case you aren’t comfortable playing with strangers. The best part is that Gamentio consumes very less mobile data and you can play for hours without having to worry about buying data boosters frequently. Gamentio is a free-to-play 3D app and offers in-app purchases. Gamentio is a solid attempt at revolutionizing card game mobile apps which are mostly available in 2D formats and look bleak. Gamentio has over 50,000 installs on Google Play. Card game development has become very popular in the past few years and as we are writing this, so many fans out there are sitting glued to their smartphones playing their favorite card games.

Subway Surfers is an endless runner game available on Android, iOS, and Windows. Players take on the role of a graffiti artist and run to escape from the grumpy inspector and his dog after  being caught while applying graffiti to a metro railway site. While running on railroad tracks and dodging collisions with trains and other objects, you get chances to grab gold, coins, powerups and more items. In March 2018, Subway Surfers became the first game on the Google Play Store to reach one billion installs. Subway Surfers comes for free and earns it revenue from in-app purchases. Subway Surfers is similar to Temple Run (TR) but is much more lighthearted and shows no blood and gore, which makes it stand apart from TR. You can also play as other characters but they have to be unlocked either through game play or in-app purchase. Subway Surfers is undoubtedly one of the most popular 3D games that bring the magic of arcade-style games on mobile. From 2010-2019, Subway Surfer was the top-downloaded title on mobile, with more than 2.5 billion downloads.

There are many other popular 3D mobile games as well, such as Minecraft, PUBG Mobile, Monument Valley and more, but couldn’t include all as the list was aimed at 5 best 3D games that can be downloaded and streamed on mobile data. The idea was to let you know how 3D games are impacting the future of mobile gaming industry and you can also successfully build a 3D game for mobile with our help and earn big.

Why Choose Logic Simplified to build 3D Games for Mobile

Logic Simplified, a game app developers company for over 9 years now, has built several 3D games for mobile. Logic Simplified has also built its own 3D game called Gamentio, which we have already discussed above. Hire game designers, artists and developers who are adept at using the latest tools and technologies, such as Maya, Blender, Unreal Engine, Unity and many more, to convert 3D game ideas into a reality. We also use revolutionary technologies like AR/VR and AI in game development to meet the requirements of modern-day gamers. You can count on us when it comes to outsourcing game development services, as games are all we think of every day. We are a team passionate about gaming and committed to help game visionaries, whether it’s building a game from scratch or building new features for an existing game. If you have any game related query, you can reach out to us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com, and we will get back to you shortly to hear from you and provide a tailor-made solution for your game idea.

Note: The list is based on the information recently revealed by NPD (an American market research company) and is only for the United States games market. Also, the list is for YTD ending February 2020.

Here are Top 10 Best Selling Games of the Year so far

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is an action RPG game published by Bandai Namco.  Inspired from Dragon Ball Z sagas, Kakarot is a high-quality Dragon Ball adaptation that tests your combat skills and surprises you with story moments never seen before in any of the previous Dragon Ball video games. This game was released on January 17, 2020, for  Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Epic boss battles across vast battlefields with destructible environments are catchy in the game, along with the storyline that keeps players engaged. Relive the life of Goku and other Dragon Ball Z characters as you fish, fly, eat, train, and battle to level up your power and rise to the challenge. Of all the video games released in 2020 so far, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is the only one currently on the list, with over 1.5 million copies sold in just its first week of release. 

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a first person shooter (FPS) game that was released in October 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game was the 16th overall in the series of Call of duty, but the first to support cross-platform multiplayer and cross-platform progression. The FPS game, which was published by Activision and developed by Infinity Ward, follows a storyline in which a CIA officer and British forces team up to combat against Russians forces to save the fictional country of Urzikstan from invasion. Although the game got some criticism over the handling of the campaign's subject matter, it managed to generate a staggering $600mn within three days of its release and is still among the top 10 grossing video games of 2020.

NBA 2K20

NBA 2K20 is a basketball simulation game based on the National Basketball Association (NBA). This game is the first in NBA 2K series to include all twelve teams from the WNBA. The game was released in on September 6, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It also came out on Google Stadia on November 19. NBA 2k20, which was published by 2K and developed by Visual Concepts, became the best-selling game of 2019 during its first month on the shelves. It was later dethroned by Call of Duty in October 2019.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V, an action-adventure game published by  Rockstar Games, was released in 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One and Microsoft Windows. The video game still rocks the gaming charts with over 120 million copies sold so far. Rockstar’s epic gangland adventure offers a vast, beautiful open-world environment to players to commit crimes (in a fictional world obviously) and use their skills to evade authorities. Grand Theft Auto V, which is also supported online with regular updates, is rated very high on its engaging narrative, anarchic humour and several sub-quests, side-missions and secrets. The December 2019 NPD report also established Grand Theft Auto V as the best selling game of the decade.

Madden NFL 20

Madden NFL 20 is another sports game that made headlines for being one of the best selling games in 2019. Madden 20, published by Electronic Arts and developed by  EA Tiburon, is a football video game that simulates National Football League (NFL). Madden 20 was released in August 2019 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. Unfortunately, no information is available on the revenue and number of copies sold of Madden NFL 20 so far, but NPD’s analysis currently puts it among the top five best selling games of 2020. 

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

This video game sets you in Stars Wars universe, with action-adventure ensured. Players take the role of  Jedi Padawan who fights with his lightsaber to kill slain enemies and improve his abilities to move further in the game. Follow Jedi as he completes his training, masters his lightsaber skills and develops new powerful Force to toss back rocket launchers. Stars Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, which was released on November 15, 2019, and published by  Electronic Arts, had sold eight million copies by the end of January 2020. This new 3rd person action-adventure title from Respawn Entertainment got favourable views from critics and seems deserving to be one of the best selling games of 2020.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

The eighth in the Mario Kart series, this new game lets you participate in kart racing, with 42 characters to choose from. The Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy from Splatoon are the new additions as playing characters to Mario Kart 8, along with a new battle mode, “Renegade Roundup”.  The Nintendo Switch game was released in 2017 and had sold more than 22 million copies worldwide by the end of 2019. The success of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe made it the system’s best selling game ever and it is still played by millions around the globe. 

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a crossover fighting game, published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. The fifth in the Super Smash Bros. series, this game comes with a big gamut of game modes, including a campaign for single-player and multiplayer versus modes. Adding more playable characters to the previous version, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate takes the roster to over 40. Developed by Bandai Namco, the game was released worldwide on December 7, 2018. As of September 2019, the game had already sold nearly 16 million copies worldwide and became the best selling fighting game ever released.

Ring Fit Adventure

Ring Fit Adventure is an RPG game that allows players to convert their real-world actions into in-game movements to battle against a bodybuilding dragon and his minions. The game comes with two accessories (Ring-Con and Leg Strap) and these are must to play the game as your interactions would be tracked by the motion controls. You jog, sprint, high knee and even make some yoga poses to level up and unlock more exercises to cause even more potent damage. Developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch, the game was released worldwide on October 18, 2019. For the number of copies sold, the game touched the over-two-million mark by the end of 2019. 

Minecraft

Having sold more than 176 million copies worldwide and surpassing 1984’s Tetris, Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time, with over 112 million monthly active players by 2019. The sandbox game was developed by Mojang and released worldwide in November 2011. Microsoft purchased Mojang and the ownership of the Minecraft intellectual property for US$2.5 billion in 2014 and has ported the game to various platforms since then. By default, the game is a person first shooter, but you can also choose the option to play from the third-person perspective. The gameplay involves mining and placing 3D objects, such as dirt, stone, ores, tree trunks, water, and lava, to build things.

With this, we have come to an end of the top 10 best selling video games of 2020 so far. The global list may vary slightly as the data provided by NPD was mostly for the US gaming market. The video game industry is expected to grow over $180bn by 2021, which means game businesses will only bolster their coffer going forward, be it for mobile phones, consoles and PCs. The new revolutionizing technologies, including AR, VR and AI, will also add to the impetus the gaming industry is witnessing for the past few years. For all the dreamers and visionaries who want to build on their game development ideas, Logic Simplified is a go-to game studio even to build from the ground up. We provide Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning game development services as well to bring the smart factor in your game and keep players highly engaged. Game development is in our DNA, and we have already served various happy clients from different cultures world over. You may visit our website to learn about the range of game development services we offer or get in touch with us for any sort of game-related query by writing to us at enquiry@logicsimplified.com.