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Top Mobile Games of 2010: Part Two

The other day we took a look back at three of the top gaming apps of last year. Today we review some of your favorite guilty pleasures to round out our Top 10 of 2010:

Fruit Ninja. 2010 may have been the year of the zombie, but secret ninjas everywhere rejoiced when Halfbrick came out with this game in April. I’m not really sure why ninjas hate fruit, much less how the fruit came up with bombs to defend itself, but I can’t stop slashing and chopping. And yet I still buy pre-cut apples at the grocery store.

Cut the Rope. This puzzle game gives Fruit Ninja a run for its money in colorful cuteness and swiping action, and also involves food. The object is simple: feed an adorable candy-loving monster named Om Nom by not only cutting ropes but popping bubbles and avoiding nasty spikes and spiders. It may not make any sense whatsoever, but you’ll be too obsessed with earning a perfect three star rating each level to care.

Call of Duty: Zombies. Because shooting regular Nazis wasn’t exciting enough, Activision brought us COD: Zombies. Playing this game is like eating a Reese’s peanut butter cup, or watching that episode of The Office where Jim and Pam finally get together. When two of your favorite things become one, it just feels right. Although the debut $9.99 price tag was unpalatable for many users, this title is now a much more reasonable buy at $4.99 for iOS users.

Words with Friends. Everybody knows that one person. He (or she) corrects your grammar in conversation, schools you in Scrabble, and completes the New York Times crossword puzzle each day -- in ink. Now, thanks to Words with Friends, you can challenge your lettered nemesis to a virtual battle of the wordsmiths. You can also cheat and gleefully picture your opponent exploding with rage when you beat them with well-placed words like “qi” and “qat.” And when your real friends get sick of losing, you can always challenge and chat up random players.

Skee-Ball. I don’t know about you, but every time I hit the arcade, I bypass Mortal Kombat, Dance Dance Revolution, and Pac-Man, and grab some balls. Skee-balls, that is. For someone as awful at this game as I am, the cost of playing can add up quickly. But with this app available at just $0.99, I can play whenever and as long as I want without spending all of my laundry money for the week.

The Sims. Remember the Sims? Of course you do. They were like a Tamagotchi you actually cared about -- unless you were the kind of sick jerk who took the ladder out of the pool while your Sim was swimming or initiated “woo hoo” with the next-door neighbor just as their spouse came home from a hard day at work. Well, now you can murder innocents and wreck homes on the go with one of the many excellent Sims apps by Electronic Arts for Android, Palm webOS, Blackberry, and Apple iOS. Each incarnation maintains a high level of fidelity to the original, while being adapted for touch screen users. It may not have all of the functionality of the PC version, but it’s a satisfactory substitute.

Angry Birds. Many of you were disturbed that this app didn’t make the cut in Part One. But really, what can I say about Angry Birds that hasn’t already been said? Yes, this multi-platform app has taken the mobile gaming community by storm, and consumed far more hours of my life than I would ever care to admit. No contest, Angry Birds was the most ridiculously addictive mobile game of 2010, and I both look forward to and fear the app that will topple it in the year to come.

Which new apps are you most excited about this year? Did I leave off one of your favorite gaming apps from last year? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.