7 Game Apps You Didn't Know Were Made By Malaysians

From the Angry Birds hype and Cut the Rope phase to the Flappy Bird frenzy and Pokemon Go fever, phone gaming is very much a thing. Some have skipped meals, turned anti-social and caused accidents on highways because of it. So, if you're an entrepreneur or business entity looking for an international break, this is a pie that you'd want to get your finger in.

Realising the opportunity that this platform holds, several Malaysian gaming companies have gone on to develop their own addictive game apps. We've listed a few of the made-in-Malaysia games you should try out. And to please the typical Malaysian in you, they are all free!

#1 Alien Hive

Genre: Puzzle Release Date: March 2013 Platform: iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone Ratings: 4.2/5 (Google Play), 4.9/5 (App Store) Downloads (2016): 1,000,000

Alien Hive is a cute match-three game made by Appxplore, a mobile game development studio based in Kuala Lumpur. The main purpose of the game is to match the tiles, or 'eggs', to hatch adorable baby aliens, and help them fully evolve into Supreme Aliens. Since its debut in 2013, the game has been receiving positive reviews from popular sites. It also won the Indie Showcase Top 10 Award and Best Art Award by Casual Connect Asian 2013. Be warned though, this game so addictive you may decide to forgo your sleep for it – as was what happened to yours truly.

#2 Postknight

Genre: RPG Release Date: Official game release date unknown (Early Access in Google Play) Platform: Android, iOS Ratings: Unknown Downloads (2016): 50,000 - 100,000

Postknight is a casual RPG that is currently in development stage. It is developed by Kurechii Studio, an independent Malaysian game company, who is known for developing two known games: King's League and Tiny Guardians (which are really good, by the way). In this game, you play as PostKnight, a postman-knight who battle enemies while delivering letters and packages. By defeating your enemies, you will be able to increase your level and collect points to power up your weapons and buy new armour. What's more interesting is that this game features a dating mechanic system where you can develop a relationship with a female character while on your adventures!

#3 Tap Summoner

Genre: Strategy Release Date: August 2016 Platform: Android, iOS Ratings: 4.6/5 (Google Play) Downloads (2016): 100 - 500

This game was created by OY Games, a Malaysian-based company that is also the creative minds behind Trinity World. Tap Summoner is an RPG action card game and is a combination of strategy and tower defence, where you tap on your monster minions to defeat the baddies. The setting of the game revolves around you, the summoner, who serves the dark lord and must assist him to reclaim the throne from the enemy.

The characters and monsters in the game are based on Asian folktales such as the bomoh, pontianak, toyol and pocong. Despite being in development and a product of a new company, Tap Summoner picked up an award at the Casual Connect Asia event. The game was soft-launched in August this year and will see a global launch by the end of 2016.

#4 Crab War

Genre: Adventure Release Date: May 2016 Platform: Android, iOS Ratings: 4.6/5 (Google Play) Downloads (2016): 1,000,000

Crab War is a simple adventure game where you 'tap' crabs to fight the enemy and reptiles, and to reclaim the homeland. You also get to use power ups to make your crabs faster and stronger. It was created by Appxplore (the same company that created Alien Hive), and was globally released during the end of May 2016.

#5 Sporos

Genre: Puzzle Release Date: February 2013 Platform: Android, iOS Ratings: 4.1/5 (Google Play) Downloads (2016): 1,000,000

Sporos is a simple but challenging and addictive puzzle game created by Appxplore (yes, the creators of Alien Hive and Crab War).The main point of this game is to light up the cells in each level with a special seed known as the ‘sporos’. The player drags each piece to the board and arrange them to fill up every row and column. It takes a lot of skills, luck and logic in order to complete each level. The game starts easy, but gets harder with each level. Think you got the brains for this?

#6 Mobfish Hunter

Genre: Action Release Date: April, 2014 Platform: Android, iOS Ratings: 4.2/5 (Google Play) Downloads (2016): 1,000,000

Mobfish Hunter is an action game created by surprise, surprise, Appxplore. This game is set in the future when the ocean has been severely polluted because a greedy man stripped Earth off its rare elements. During the process, it caused all the fishes to mutate into a new species known as the mobfish. It's your job to hunt these mobfish and kill them with your weapon. It's a fishing adventure unlike any other!

#7 Tappymon

Genre: Casual Release Date: August 2016 Platform: Android, iOS, Windows Ratings: 4.2/5 (Google Play) Downloads (2016): 10,000

Tappymon is a casual action and adventure mobile game created by Mediasoft Entertainment, a digital entertainment company in Malaysia specialising in animation and games. They are known for creating successful games such as Roll Spike Sepak Takraw and LiNing Jump Smash 15 Badminton.