Apple names its Game of the Year picks for iPhone and iPad

By Rick Marshall Published December 9, 2011

The impending end to 2011 means that various outlets have begun the task of categorizing and ranking their favorite projects of the year, but Apple jumped out of the gate early this week and released their own picks for the best iOS games of the year.

The Cupertino crew announced their “Games of the Year” for the iPhone and iPad earlier today, and though there was some initial confusion regarding their picks (the lists differed by geographic region), the results now appear to be in.

Tiny Tower was declared Apple’s favorite iPhone game here in the US, with Tiny Wings and Touchgrind BMX named the runners-up. On the iPad, Apple named Dead Space its top game of 2011 for the US market, with Contre Jour HD and Sword and Sworcery the runners-up for the honor.

It’s worth noting that, while the pool of titles was basically the same, the results differed in the “down under” market. Apple named Tiny Wings the top iPhone game of 2011 for Australia, with Tiny Tower and Jetpack Joyride the runners-up. Real Racing 2 HD was the Aussie iPad winner, with Dead Space and Jetpack Joyride the runners-up.

Sure, there’s no major surprises there — though apparently my obsession with Zombie Highway isn’t shared by my fellow Americans.

(Thanks go out to Kotaku for clarifying the list.)

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