Two incredibly ambitious games with very similar playstyles have come to iPhone and iPad after recent successes on other platforms. They’re probably unlike anything you’ve seen on iOS before, and – partly because the two are competing for your attention – they’re both entirely free.
These are full, console-quality games that pit you against other players in a huge online arena. It’s incredible to think that our mobile devices are capable of supporting this kind of thing, and it’s an amazing world to dip your toes if the current “battle royale” craze has passed you by! Here’s the lowdown on each one.
PUBG Mobile
PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds, or PUBG for short, has taken the world by storm over the past year on PC and now makes its way to iOS. It’s a competitive survival game with a single winner from a whopping 100 human combatants each round. It’s essentially an interactive Battle Royale or The Hunger Games, and it has the ability to create some truly memorable moments of chaos and brilliance.
Will you hide in the bushes, scavenging for supplies until your competitors slowly die off, or run all-guns-blazing into the thick of things? One thing you can’t do is stay still for too long, with the arena slowly shrinking over the course of the game until it forces the final few together. This is one of those rare games that’s just as good to spectate as it is to play, so don’t worry if you’re knocked out early!
Fortnite
Fortnite is a pretty similar proposition to PUBG, and that the two have launched in the same month is no coincidence – the games themselves are embroiled in their own battle for supremacy. This one came after PUBG but has already clocked up world record viewing figures for a live stream of a video game on YouTube.
Fortnite differs from PUBG in that the matches are slightly shorter, the graphics slightly less realistic, and most importantly it adds a significant fort-building element to the game. Here, building and destroying cover is just as important as tracking your opponents across the map, and it’s crazy fun.