Apple has announced the winners of its annual App Store Awards, including the best games and apps of 2024.
Apple honored 17 apps and games that it said helped users ignite their creativity, achieve new milestones, and cherish everyday moments with family and friends. This year’s winning developers have created apps and games that improved users’ lives and impacted culture around the world.
From solo entrepreneurs to multinational teams, these App Store Award winners were chosen from 45 finalists by App Store Editors for demonstrating the highest levels of user experience, design, and innovation. I had a chance to interview a few of the winners.
“We are thrilled to honor this impressive group of developers who are harnessing the power of Apple devices and technology to deliver experiences that enrich the lives of users and have a profound impact on their communities,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “The remarkable achievements of this year’s winners demonstrate the incredible ingenuity that can be unlocked through apps.”
The winning apps and games highlight the endless opportunities across the App Store and the Apple ecosystem.
In Apple’s words, the winner Kino shows users how cinematic life can be through its film-inspired filters and advanced controls.
Moises empowers musicians on iPad to hone their craft with powerful AI tools, and Lightroom excels on Mac with its transformative photo editing capabilities.
Lumy on Apple Watch helps users embrace the patterns of the sun and find the magic in each day, while F1 TV brings immersive race-viewing experiences to fans at home.
In the gaming category, AFK Journey delivers action-packed, tactical adventures and rich storylines to players on iPhone. Squad Busters combines competition with feel-good fun through exciting multiplayer gameplay, and Thank Goodness You’re Here! brings nonstop laughter with fun and silly skits. And on Apple Arcade, Balatro+ reinvents the rules of card games with every new hand.
This year’s inaugural winners of the Apple Vision Pro category pushed the boundaries of spatial computing with immersive experiences and intuitive controls.
What If…? An Immersive Story welcomes users to a world with limitless possibilities in the Marvel Universe. In an interview, I spoke with two of the ILM Immersive spokespeople for the experience, which is not classified as a game: Elizabeth Walker, director of marketing; and Shereif Fattouh, executive producer.
The experience won the Apple Vision Pro App of the Year. It used Apple’s deep-linking feature to let people directly navigate from the series page on Disney+. That helped establish a sense of presence. The aim was make it feel like the Marvel characters were really there. There are ripples in the water and reflections that make it feel authentic, Fattouh said.
“One of the most important feelings that we wanted to create was a sense of agency throughout the adventure,” Fattouh said.
Walker said that a team of over 50 people at ILM Immersive working on the app, which is built with Unity as well as a number of tools from Apple. The app has a 4.9 rating on the App Store.
Meanwhile, the sights and sounds of Thrasher: Arcade Odyssey transport players to colorful, cosmic worlds.
2024 App Store Award Winners: Apps
iPhone App of the Year: Kino, from Lux Optics
iPad App of the Year: Moises, from Moises Systems
Mac App of the Year: Adobe Lightroom, from Adobe
Apple Vision Pro App of the Year: What If…? An Immersive Story, from Disney.
Apple Watch App of the Year: Lumy, from Raja V.
Apple TV App of the Year: F1 TV, from Formula One Digital Media Limited.
2024 App Store Award Winners: Games
iPhone Game of the Year: AFK Journey, from Farlight Games.
iPad Game of the Year: Squad Busters, from Supercell
Mac Game of the Year: Thank Goodness You’re Here!, from Panic
Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year: Thrasher: Arcade Odyssey, from Puddle.
Thrasher: Arcade Odyssey is a game inspired by ribbon dancing and the shape the ribbon takes as a dancer makes it fly through the air. The game studio took this concept and turned it into a beautiful game where snake-like creatures make their way through the virtual reality environment of the Apple Vision Pro, said Doug North Cook, CEO and creative director at Creature, in an interview with GamesBeat.
You start with a tiny space eel and evolve it from a tiny worm to a giant boss of a creature. You take it on a journey through nine psychedelic realms and use your hands to serve as controls for guiding the creature through space.
“The 3D display system convinces you that you are there,” said Mike Mandel, programmer and design, in an interview with GamesBeat. “That core inspiration of ribbon dancing translates into the core controls of the space eel in the game. So players have found this to be one of the most magical things about the experience.”
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Balatro+, from Playstack
Wout van Halderen, communications director at Playstack, said in an interview that Balatro+ was created by a solo Canadian game developer who goes by LocalThunk. The dev happened to play Balatro card games in real life when he was young. Balatro is actually a card game that is more than 100 years old.
LocalThunk wanted to reproduce it as an exciting game in a digital game — something that no else thought about doing. And it managed to win Apple Arcade Game of the Year. In addition to its plays on the Apple Arcade subscription service, Balatro has also sold 3.5 million units to date on other platforms, van Halderen said. One of the keys to the game’s success was an intuitive tutorial.
Playstack has announced deals with a number of intellectual property makers to bring cards with their characters into the game. That will help keep the game going. But LocalThunk is still in charge of all of the development so the updates will come as he can get things done.
Cultural Impact Winners
In addition to recognizing apps and games across Apple devices, App Store Editors also selected six Cultural Impact winners, recognizing the lasting impact these apps and games have made in users’ lives and communities. This year’s winners empowered users to tap into their intellectual curiosity, fostered connection among family and friends, and championed a more accessible world.
Oko from Ayes BV
Oko combines innovation and simplicity to help users who are blind or have low vision navigate city streets with confidence.
EF Hello from Signum International
Powered by AI, EF Hello integrates a systematic learning approach to support language learners of all levels, helping them enhance their communication and better engage with the world around them.
DailyArt from Zuzanna Stanska
By connecting users to exceptional artwork across centuries and movements, DailyArt fuels the intellectual curiosity and wonder of users.
NYT Games from The New York Times Company
Offering a great start to the day, NYT Games connects family and friends across generations with a variety of fun and simple daily games.
The Wreck from The Pixel Hunt
Featuring cinematic scenes and an interactive narrative, The Wreck depicts the mind’s inner struggles when facing a crisis.
Do You Really Want to Know? 2 from Gamtropy Co.
Do You Really Want to Know? 2 explores the nuances of living with HIV, offering users local resources and educational materials to navigate conversations with family and friends.
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