40 Best iOS Games Of All Time

26. Tiny Wings HD

Release date: July 12, 2012

Developer: Andreas Illiger

Publisher: Andreas Illiger

More often than not, any game that slaps “HD” into its title is just receiving the digital equivalent of a fresh coat of paint. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you learn over time to temper your expectations accordingly.

That certainly could have been the case with Tiny Wings HD, especially because the original version was the product of a one-man development team (and my high school English teachers can chime in here if they want and let me know if that’s even grammatically correct). Instead, the HD edition released one year after its predecessor managed to delight critics and players even more thanks to new game modes, including local multiplayer.

And without question, the original gameplay wasn’t too shabby either. Tiny Wings was kind of like a much more polished, more intricate take on Flappy Bird, except if its creator had used a time machine to put it out well before Dong Nguyen’s infamous creation ever saw the light of the App Store. For all we know, maybe he did.

In any case, simple but challenging gameplay and procedurally generated levels continue to be a big part of mobile gaming to this day, and we have this game to thank for that.

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