I would say that the top games have good gameplay process, nice graphics and good art.
I've played some where I've thought - "oh, this game would be so much better if it wasn't stuck in a IAP addiction mode".
I never get very far in these games due to the artificial IAP barriers.
I've pretty much given up on mobile gaming. People just aren't willing to pay money for a quality game. These days if I play a game on my phone or tablet it's usually a board game (one of the few genres that's mostly free from exploitative IAPs) or an emulator.
You're thinking of free to play games, or games with IAP. While they may be less successful, there are plenty of paid mobile games that are great.
Re:So You Want to Make Games
by JabavuAdams on Friday May 05, 2017 @10:19AM
(#14273588)
> Mobile games are focused on exploiting addiction on people vulnerable to them.
True.
> There are no interesting gameplay process.
Maybe.
> [...], no nice graphics, no art.
False.
Traditional games vs mobile is the same as journalism vs clickbait. Mobile games are in the same league as downloaders, browser toolbars, doorway pages.