Game teardowns
The top-grossing mobile games, decoded
For each of the 25 biggest-grossing games, we read hundreds of real App Store and Google Play reviews and count what players actually praise and complain about: why it wins, how it makes money, whether it's pay-to-win, and the gap a builder could take. Ratings and install ranges are the stores’ own figures. We never invent installs or revenue.
- #1 grossing4.8
MONOPOLY GO!
Scopely, Inc. · Board / Dice
The dice game that turned Monopoly into the #1 top-grossing title in the US App Store, and a social-casino loop players either can't put down or call rigged.
Read the teardown - #2 grossing4.69
Royal Match
Dream Games, Ltd. · Match-3 Puzzle
The match-3 game that quietly became the #1 top-grossing puzzle title in the US, almost entirely without in-game ads.
Read the teardown - #3 grossing4.63
Gossip Harbor: Merge & Story
Microfun Limited · Merge Puzzle
The merge game behind the ads that are “nothing like the game”, a top-grossing soap-opera merger where 30% of unhappy players feel lied to before they even start.
Read the teardown - #4 grossing4.71
Candy Crush Saga
King · Match-3 Puzzle
The 13-year-old match-3 that still prints money, but a crash-prone update and difficulty walls have its most loyal, 10,000-level players talking about quitting.
Read the teardown - #5 grossing3.99
Free Fire
Garena International · Battle Royale
The lightweight battle royale that owns the low-end phone market worldwide, kept at the top by cosmetics and gacha, and dragged down by hackers and account bans.
Read the teardown - #6 grossing4.62
Kingshot
Century Games · Strategy / 4X Survival
The “pull the pin, save the hero” ads sell an archer puzzle. The actual game is a pay-to-win 4X city builder, and 38% of unhappy players feel tricked before they finish the tutorial.
Read the teardown - #7 grossing4.71
Royal Kingdom
Dream Games, Ltd. · Match-3 Puzzle
Dream Games' second top-grossing match-3 in three years, the polish of Royal Match with the same misleading “save the king” ads and the same difficulty tuned to sell moves.
Read the teardown - #8 grossing4.75
Township
Playrix · City-Building / Farming
The farm-and-city builder that's quietly grossed for over a decade, beloved by millions, and dogged by ads that promise a harvest game it isn't and an economy players call greedy.
Read the teardown - #9 grossing4
Pokémon GO
Niantic, Inc. · AR Adventure
The augmented-reality phenomenon that got the world walking, still top-grossing a decade on, but a rare hit players keep despite openly resenting the studio that runs it.
Read the teardown - #10 grossing4.61
Whiteout Survival
Century Games · Strategy / 4X Survival
The frozen-apocalypse city builder with the most misleading ads on the chart, 45% of unhappy players say the real game is nothing like the rescue minigames they were shown.
Read the teardown - #11 grossing4.72
Toon Blast
Peak Games · Blast Puzzle
The cartoon blast-puzzle that's grossed near the top for years, loved for its comfort loop, resented for difficulty tuned to sell coins and a Toon Cards gacha veterans say ruined it.
Read the teardown - #12 grossing4.45
Fate/Grand Order
Aniplex Inc. · Gacha RPG
The story-heavy gacha RPG that prints money from a small, devoted whale base, carried by writing and character art, dragged down by brutal summon rates and crash-prone events.
Read the teardown - #13 grossing4.74
Last War: Survival
Funfly · Strategy / 4X Survival
The 4X war game behind the “merge your soldiers, dodge the wall” ads, a top-grosser where the fun minigame is a lie and the real game is whale-versus-whale.
Read the teardown - #14 grossing4.78
Coin Master
Moon Active · Social Casino / Casual
The spin-and-raid game that invented the loop MONOPOLY GO copied, wildly addictive (63% of praise), and openly described by its own players as a rigged, pop-up-stuffed slot machine.
Read the teardown - #15 grossing4.67
Call of Duty: Mobile
Activision · Shooter
The console-grade shooter in your pocket, genuinely loved for how it plays and looks, and genuinely hated for skill-based matchmaking, bot lobbies, and cheaters.
Read the teardown - #16 grossing4.8
Match Factory!
Peak Games · 3D Match Puzzle
The 3D matching game with the highest praise share on the chart (67% call it addictive), undercut by fake gameplay ads and a difficulty that hides the last item to run down your clock.
Read the teardown - #17 grossing4.76
Last Z: Survival Shooter
Omnilojo · Survival Shooter / 4X
A stats-versus-stats survival shooter that climbed the grossing chart fast, fun enough to hook players, thin enough that they call it pay-to-win with an AI-generated coat of paint.
Read the teardown - #18 grossing4.57
Tasty Travels: Merge Game
Century Games · Merge Puzzle
The merge game whose “shoot to merge” cocktail ads have almost nothing to do with the game, yet 80% of the players who stay call it addictive, the highest praise share on the chart.
Read the teardown - #19 grossing4.64
Pixel Flow!
Loom Games · Flow / Color Puzzle
The satisfying color-flow puzzle from a Turkish studio that shot up the grossing chart in months, genuinely fun, then buried under some of the most aggressive ads on the chart.
Read the teardown - #20 grossing4.69
Gardenscapes
Playrix · Match-3 / Renovation
The match-3-and-garden-renovation hit that made the notorious pull-the-pin ads famous, beloved for a decade, and dogged by difficulty walls and ads that show a game it isn't.
Read the teardown - #21 grossing4.76
Clash of Clans
Supercell · Strategy / Base Builder
The base-builder that's grossed at the top for over a decade on the strength of its clans, the most socially-loved game on the chart, now testing that loyalty with monetization veterans call greedy.
Read the teardown - #22 grossing4.32
PUBG MOBILE
Tencent (Level Infinite) · Battle Royale
The battle royale that put 100-player PC combat on phones worldwide, still top-grossing years on, and still fighting hackers, lag, and account theft its players never stop reporting.
Read the teardown - #23 grossing4.65
Homescapes
Playrix · Match-3 / Renovation
Gardenscapes' interior-design twin, the same beloved match-3-and-renovation loop with butler Austin, and the same difficulty walls, pin-pull ads, and update bugs its players report.
Read the teardown - #24 grossing4.04
Free Fire MAX
Garena International · Battle Royale
The higher-fidelity Free Fire for better phones, same shared accounts and matches, same cosmetic economy, and the same hackers and account bans dragging its rating down.
Read the teardown - #25 grossing4.9
Disney Solitaire
SuperPlay · Solitaire / Card Puzzle
The Disney-themed TriPeaks solitaire that rocketed to the top with the highest rating on the whole chart (4.9★), adored for its charm, quietly accused of rigging the cards to sell coins.
Read the teardown