Game-changing games that broke the mold

Every once in a while, a game comes along that’s so innovative and fun that it inspires a new genre or sparks a fundamental shift within an established one. Within a short time, it’s hard to imagine a world before these instant classics.

Here are just a few of the games that made such a splash that they truly changed the game.

By fusing revolutionary AR technology with Niantic’s location-based game play, Pokemon GO took the world by storm. Within days of release millions of people were walking around achieving their Pokemon trainer dreams, causing a global phenomenon in the process.

Few games showcase the benefits of mobile play like this one, inspiring multiple games and genres to make use of AR and real world exploration to aid immersion.

League of Legends became a household name in games due to popularizing the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre. WIld Rift took things a step further by successfully translating LoL to phones, bringing with it shorter matches and intuitive controls. Now, some of the most popular games on mobile are MOBA titles.

Battle royales are now one of the most popular game genres on Earth thanks to their thrilling high-stakes survival format. PUBG was arguably the genre pioneer and breakout hit, with PUBG Mobile demonstrating how well this style of game translates to phones and tablets. Now you can win your chicken dinner anywhere you play.

Bejeweled may have risen to popularity long before smartphones were a thing, but its simple yet captivating game play went on to inspire one of mobile’s most iconic genres. Casual gaming would look a lot different without match-3 games and its many sub genres, and we have this classic to thank for one of mobile’s most successful games ever: Candy Crush Saga.

This award-winning indie darling turned a genre on its head and smashed expectations with its fairly simple premise – move your vampire around the screen to avoid enemies and don’t die. It’s a rogue like meets a bullet storm shooter but you’re dishing out the screen-filling damage.

Despite being the newest title on this list, it’s already inspired a ton of copycats. It just goes to show that while the classics are classics for a reason, you never know what will be the next genre trailblazer.