Shacknews Best Brickbreaker of 2017: Ballz

What makes a great mobile game? It isn't necessarily all about graphics and pushing smartphones to the limit. At their core great mobile games are efficient and fun ways to waste time. This truly was the year of the brickbreaker on mobile. Both the App Store and Google Play were flooded with countless games that were all trying to capture lightning in a bottle similar to Breakout or Arkanoid in the past. At the end of the year, Ballz stood above their competitors and it is our pleasure to award the mobile game our title of Shacknews Best Brickbreaker of 2017.

Ballz is exactly what I want in a mobile game. It allows for one-handed gameplay, you don't have to always be looking at the screen while you play it, it waits for you to take your next turn, the game is easily suspended, but at the same time players could end up playing on game for 40 minutes to an hour. The high score gameplay mechanic adds to the addiction as you will want to outdo your friends. Ballz has an attention to detail that shows up across the entire game. The sound design is excellent and the idea to increase the number of balls with pickups definitely adds to the game experience. The numbered blocks also create a much more challenging game. Ketchapp and the game's developer may not have invented these gameplay mechanics, but they truly shine in Ballz. It allow players to set and forget during turns once you get over a certain amount of balls. The game keeps you coming back for more. 

I love Ballz. I travel a lot for work and Ballz was my go to mobile game all year. My brother and I would keep sending screenshots of our high scores to each other and there were even threads about the game on our Shacknews Chatty forum. It is a delightful game that is worth honoring with the title of Shacknews Best Brickbreaker of 2017.

Be sure to keep up with the rest of The Shacknews Awards as we celebrate the Year of the Games: 2017.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.