There’s no denying the mobile market’s reach when it comes to gaming. While not everyone owns a gaming computer or a console, even average smartphones can playwonderful games from all genres. Yet, many gamers still think mobile is a secondary platform, more suited to pay-to-win titles and ports.
It might surprise you that some incredible PC games and series were actually born on mobile. In fact, a few of the most successful titles of the past decade have been conceived as mobile experiences before making the jump to PC. With that in mind, let’s look at the ten best mobile games ported to PC.
10Summoners War
Summoners War
Summoners War is a mobile-based MMORPG for Android and iOS that has been operating since 2014, and boasts over $2bn in lifetime earnings. Players build teams of monsters in order to battle through dungeons and challenges.
Summoners Waris a captivating strategy RPG first launched on mobile platforms in 2014. The game quickly became a hit thanks to its blend of monster collecting, team building, and strategic combat set in a beautifully crafted fantasy world. The transition of Summoners War to PC broadened its reach and accessibility, inviting a more extensive player base to join the fun.
With over 1500 creatures to mix and match on the path of victory, enhanced graphics, and a smoother multiplayer experience, the PC port of Summoners War can be considered the game’s definitive version.
9Raid: Shadow Legends
Raid: Shadow Legends
Raid: Shadow Legends is a mobile game you’re bound to have heard of. Developed and published by Israeli studio Plarium Games, it is a free-to-play role-playing game with microtransactions. Players build armies of characters, gained through a gacha system, to defeat the Dark Lord and bring order to the land of Teleria.
Raid: Shadow Legendsoffers a complex narrative-driven RPG experience set in the dark fantasy world of Teleria. Known for its vast roster of champions and strategic gameplay, the game’s port to PC brought it into traditional gaming with enhanced visuals and more nuanced controls.
One of the main reasons for Raid: Shadow Legends' continuous success comes from the game’s cross-platform play, allowing players to switch between devices while maintaining their progress seamlessly. That means PC players can enjoy the enhanced version of the game at home but can also keep playing it on the go.
WHERE TO PLAY
Expanding Blizzard Entertainment’s iconic Diablo seriesDiablo Immortalbrought the series' signature dungeon-crawling gameplay to mobile devices, an extremely controversial decision that shook the fanbase. Yet, the popularity of Diablo Immortal eventually led Blizzard to port the game to PC, showing that even mobile-focused games can become highly successful across multiple platforms.
Set between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3, Diablo Immortal delivers a full-fledged Diablo experience with new stories, characters, and challenges. The PC port offers enhanced graphics, traditional controls, and cross-play features, ensuring that players can enjoy the game’s action-packed gameplay and cooperative multiplayer on their preferred platform.
7Badland
Released on mobile in 2013, Badland is an atmospheric side-scrolling action-adventure game that gained critical acclaim on mobile for its innovative use of physics-based puzzles and striking art design. The game’s definitive edition was ported to PC, adding brand-new level and enhanced graphics.
The PC version of Badland keeps the game’s minimalistic controls, though each you have to control flying creatures as they evade deadly traps in a hellish gauntlet. The one-button setting is perfect for mobile touch screens. However, Badland still found a huge audience on PC, where it was praised as a creative adventure built over the concept of the hit game Flap Bird.
6Pocket City
Pocket City reimagines the classic city-building simulator for a modern audience, betting on a user-friendly interface and the absence of microtransactions to suck you into a cozy neverending experience. Thanks to its mobile design, Pocket City allows you to easily construct, manage, and grow your cities, being more inviting to beginners than other city-building sims.
After becoming a huge hit on mobile, Pocket City got a PC port that carries over all the elements that make the original game unique. Because of that, Pocket City keeps charming the PC audience looking for a fun and relaxing sim title to play.
5Geometry Dash
Geometry Dashrhythm-based platforming became a hit thanks to itsextensive library of user-generated content. Since you may build and share your own levels, there’s endless content to keep you engaged in Geometry Dash’s musical experience.
The PC port of Geometry Dash quickly became viral by giving its community easier access to its vast library of custom levels. The PC version also boasts sharper graphics, and the variety of controls you can use allows more precision to conquer the game’s most devilish challenges.
The success of Geometry Dash allowed developers RobTop Games to release three spinoffs: Geometry Dash Meltdown, Geometry Dash World, and Geometry Dash SubZero. All the games are currentlyavailable to play directly on browsers.
4Angry Birds
TheAngry Birdsfranchise catapulted into fame with its initial release on mobile platforms, offering players a simple yet addictive gameplay mechanic of slinging birds at structures to defeat pigs. The game’s transition to PC not only brought it to a broader audience but also enhanced its visual appeal and introduced precise mouse control mechanics.
Over the years, Angry Birds became a money-making series, with each installment adding new birds, abilities, and gameplay twists. The series' success on PC helped cement its status as a cultural icon, with merchandise, an animated series, and even feature films further broadening its reach. Even people outside gaming recognize the Angry Birds brand, proof that some mobile games can become classics.
3Monument Valley
Monument Valley, renowned for its serene puzzles and optical illusion-inspired architecture, significantly impacted mobile gaming after its release in 2014. Defying your perception of tridimensional spaces, Monument Valley asks you to manipulate impossible structures to guide the main character through a surreal world that laughs at physics.
Monument Valley became so successful that the mobile title spawned a series of games, eventually making the jump to PC. With a bigger screen at its disposal, the PC port of the Monument Valley games allows you to appreciate the cleverness of each level and the attention to detail of this exquisite puzzle game.
2The Room
The Room series is praised for its intricate puzzle boxes and atmospheric storytelling. Each game in the series invites you to manipulate objects filled with secret compartments and moving parts while trying to uncover why you’ve been transported to strange places.
While each installment of The Room series was developed for a mobile environment, which lets you manipulate each puzzle box with touch controls, the game got ported to PC, allowing you to marvel at the intricate designs of each level. The PC port of The Room franchise is more than just a hard copy of the mobile game, as the models are enhanced to create a stunning visual experience that helps this puzzle series resist the test of time.
The series' fifth game, The Room VR: A Dark Matter, was released directly on PC.
1Florence
Florence is an interactive story that explores the highs and lows of a young woman’s first love through minimalist gameplay mechanics. It’s a bittersweet tale of young love, capable of gut-punching you right in the feels until tears roll from your face.
Florence’s port to PC retained the emotional impact of Florence’s journey, offering enhanced audio and visuals to immerse players further in its intimate story. Florence might be short, taking less than an hour to take you to the credits. Yet, it’s an experience that lingers long after it’s over, proving theincredible potency of interactive stories.
