Best Platform Games of 2021

After searching for the highest-ranking games on the market, I tested the top 10 to see how they compared. I was trying to find the game that would give me the best bang for my buck, something that was reasonably priced but gave me a lot of value in return. 

I wanted a game that was engaging, fun to play, and challenging. It had to be able to keep my attention and make me want to come back and play again. I also thought about the type of game and how I would play. For example, some games require one hand, some require two, and others have very sensitive touch control systems that some smartphones simply can’t keep up with. 

Once I’d downloaded all the apps (most were pay to play), I then proceeded to test each one over the next 10 days, spending an hour or so a day on all of the games. However, I quickly found that an hour wasn’t quite enough, and with some, I would keep playing over and over again until multiple hours had passed. 

As the days passed, some games revealed the extent of what they could offer, and I began to get bored, but others, mainly those with multiple levels and variations in gameplay, kept me coming back.

The controls are so easy to use that whether you’re a regular gamer or a first-timer looking for something fun, you won’t struggle with the gameplay or with completing the different levels.

Everything about Oddmar, from the graphics to character animations, has been thoroughly developed. Whether you’re looking for something to pass the time every now and then or a more extensive game that will keep you engaged but doesn’t break the bank, Oddmar has you covered.

This game is so impressive that it’s difficult to point to anything it could improve; however, we would love the ability to mute the music or sound effects when playing the game. They aren’t too annoying or distracting and do add nicely to the world-building, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to turn off some of these sounds without having to put your phone on silent. I also found that scrolling up on my Android phone would often drag the notifications down, although this may just be my phone. It didn't stop me playing but was frustrating. 

Taking on the form of a dead prisoner, you try to escape from the dungeon by fighting your way to the top. You pick up weapons along the way and do your best to survive. But here’s the catch: there are no checkpoints. So when you die, that’s it. You go back to the beginning and start again. 

It sounds frustrating, but it’s surprising how quickly you become addicted to this game. You learn from your mistakes, develop a better strategy, and try to go further on your next attempt, that is, until you die again.

The game truly is addictive, and you’ll get so much time out of it you’ll quickly forget about the price. It’s a two-handed game that you’ll fall in love with and one that has just the right amount of challenge to make you work and stay engaged.

It’s a great way to switch off and relax, and it’s an ideal option if you like quick, fast-paced games that accomplish a lot in just a matter of minutes. It's affordable at only $2.99, and although there are a few things it could do better, it delivers a lot for such a reasonable price.

As the lowest price game of all our top picks, it just doesn't quite beat out Oddmar or Dead Cells as far as story and overall game graphics. But it is still ridiculously satisfying to run through the levels at a breakneck speed while crashing through coins to the finish line.

You'll get a lot of wear out of this game, and with different challenges, missions, and levels to beat, you'll want to keep coming back to improve your results.

It takes a lot of the fun out of the game, and although it's ok at first, you quickly lose interest. 

The levels are also quite repetitive, which doesn't help, and although it's free to play initially, it's $10 to continue, making it the most expensive game by quite some distance while not being as enjoyable to play.

Dandara has picked up quite a cult following, but unfortunately, we weren't impressed. It was slow starting and took quite some time for things to heat up, meaning we spent a lot of time moving through corridors, unsure if we were going the right way or even doing the right thing. 

Playing games on your phone should be quick, easy, and fun, but we felt that with Dandara, we needed to spend hours at a time to really get into this game. 

Priced at $2.99, the idea behind Castlevania was ok, but we found the gameplay too clunky. The buttons were often unresponsive, and the main player continually got caught in the game with no way of getting him out. This caused us to die, very quickly, every time we played. 

Unfortunately, this game didn't work. We paid $4.99 to download and play the game but didn't get any further than 30 seconds in as the game crashed and shut down every time. Given the other ratings and reviews, it seems that this may be a common issue for some, which is unfortunate because others have gotten it to work and seem to genuinely enjoy it. But we just can't recommend paying to download a game that may or may not work for you.

We found Levelhead quite tricky to use. We felt the controls weren't as straightforward as we'd hoped, causing delays as we tried to move through the game, and we also felt that, at times, the game wasn't very clear. It often used pictures to describe what to do, which didn't always help make things clearer and just resulted in us getting stuck and bored. 

Ordia was an ok game, but there wasn't enough variety to make it interesting for us. We also had trouble aiming and found that even when we created a straight line to jump from each point, it would move off course, and we would die. This was extremely frustrating. 

Suzy Cube was fun to play and could be a nice option for people that are new to mobile games. It's not as action-packed as something like Dead Cells and not as fast as a game like Sonic. It's just a nice, middle of the road game for people looking to dip in and out of their phone when they have time.