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Pocket Gamer Awards are audience-led mobile-game awards, while Google Play Best of is a platform-curated program. Pocket Gamer opens nominations to the public, builds a shortlist and lets fans vote; Google selects winners for categories tied to its Play ecosystem, devices and services. A game can win both, but the badges answer different questions: Pocket Gamer reflects recognition from a specialist mobile-gaming audience, while Google Play signals recognition within Google’s distribution and multi-device ecosystem.
Quick comparison
| Point of comparison | Pocket Gamer Awards | Google Play Best of |
|---|---|---|
| Organizer | Pocket Gamer, a specialist games publisher | Google Play, the Android and multi-device platform |
| How winners are selected | Public nominations, a shortlist prepared by Pocket Gamer, then fan voting | Google-curated winners announced by the platform |
| Main scope | Mobile-game genres plus updates, ports, community, publishers, developers and esports | Apps, games and books, with game categories connected to Play Pass, PC and multi-device play |
| Eligibility information | For 2024 new releases, 1 October 2023 through 30 September 2024; some awards draw on the wider back catalogue | The 2024 announcement does not state one universal release-date rule |
| What a win primarily communicates | Approval from a mobile-game-focused publication and its voting audience | Recognition inside Google’s Play distribution and device ecosystem |
| Can a title win both? | Yes | Yes |
The table is a guide to what each badge means, not a ranking. A Pocket Gamer award is not a consumer-voted version of Google’s award, and Google Play Best of is not a second round of Pocket Gamer judging. They are separate annual programs with different selectors, category designs and reasons for highlighting a game.
How the Pocket Gamer Awards work
1. Public nominations open the process
Pocket Gamer describes its awards as “a celebration of the best in mobile games” from the publisher of a long-running mobile-games website. For the 2024 edition, the process began by opening categories to public nominations. That gives players and the wider mobile-games community a formal way to put games forward rather than limiting the first stage to an internal editorial ballot.
A nomination is therefore an opportunity to enter the conversation, not a guarantee of a place in the final results. The public stage helps identify the games people want considered, while Pocket Gamer retains responsibility for shaping the eventual ballot.
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2. Pocket Gamer turns nominations into a shortlist
Pocket Gamer then used the nominations to create a shortlist. The published description does not present this as an automatic tally in which the most-nominated title wins. There is an editorial filtering stage between the public nominations and the final vote, so appearing on the shortlist means a game passed that selection step.
This distinction matters when interpreting the award. “Fan voted” accurately describes the final choice among shortlisted titles, but it does not mean every eligible game was placed directly into an unrestricted poll or that nomination totals alone determined the result.
3. Fans vote during November
Fans were given the month of November to vote on the shortlisted games for the 2024 awards. This is why the Pocket Gamer process can accurately be described as fan voted, while still involving editorial curation before the ballot reaches the public.
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The timing also creates a clear sequence: nominate, shortlist, vote, then announce. It is not a continuously changing star rating or an always-open popularity chart. The result belongs to that specific annual edition and its defined voting period.
4. Winners are announced at a live event
The 2024 winners were announced at a live event on 6 December 2024. That date follows the November voting period and gives the awards a defined annual finale rather than a continuously updated ranking.
When comparing a winner with another list, use the edition and announcement date. A game may receive an award in one year and then change substantially through updates, new content or platform releases in the months afterward.
Release timing is category-dependent
For new releases in the 2024 edition, Pocket Gamer specified an eligibility window from 1 October 2023 through 30 September 2024. That date rule should not be applied to every award: the official description says some categories draw on the wider mobile-game back catalogue. Long-running games can therefore appear in awards that are not limited to that one-year release window.
The practical pitfall is assuming that every Pocket Gamer nominee had to launch during those twelve months. A new game and an established live-service game can both be represented, but potentially in categories with different eligibility logic. Check the category before using the release window to explain a result.
What Pocket Gamer recognizes
Pocket Gamer’s 2024 winners index is unusually broad for a mobile-game award program. It is described as covering 19 categories, and the published category names span both games and the people, communities and business practices around them. The listed awards include:
- Best Updated Game of the Year
- Best Multiplayer Mobile Game
- Best Game We’re Still Playing
- Best Digital Board/Card Game
- Best Family Game
- Best Puzzle, Best Action, Best RPG and Best Strategy
- Best Sports/Racing, Best Platform and Best SLG/Simulation
- Best Roblox Game and Best Mobile Port
- Most Anticipated Game
- Best Community
- Best Mobile Publisher and Best Mobile Developer
- Best Mobile eSports Game
- Mobile Game of the Year
The category listing shows the program’s editorial shape: it can reward a particular genre, an update to an established service game, a port from another platform, a player community, an esports scene or the overall mobile game of the year. That is a wider definition of achievement than a single “best game” award.
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It also means two Pocket Gamer trophies are not necessarily comparable. Best Community evaluates a social or player-facing achievement; Best Mobile Developer recognizes a company; Most Anticipated Game concerns expected future performance; and Mobile Game of the Year is the broadest overall label. Readers should preserve the exact category whenever they quote or compare a result.
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- Brawl Stars won Best Updated Game of the Year, highlighting continued post-launch work rather than a new-release debut.
- Eggy Party won Best Multiplayer Mobile Game.
- Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus won Best Game We’re Still Playing, a category explicitly oriented toward lasting engagement.
- Balatro won Best Digital Board Game.
These examples illustrate why a Pocket Gamer win should be read with its category attached. “Best Updated Game” communicates something different from “Best Digital Board Game” or the overall Mobile Game of the Year award.
How Google Play Best of works
A platform-curated annual program
Google’s official Best of 2024 announcement, dated 18 November 2024, presents the program as Google’s selection of outstanding apps, games and books. It names winners for major awards such as Best App, Best Game, Best Multi-device App and Best Multi-device Game, then provides a broader set of game categories. The announcement presents the results as platform-curated winners; it does not describe a public nomination and fan-voting sequence like Pocket Gamer’s.
That does not mean Google supplies no rationale. It means the announcement communicates Google’s choices and explanations rather than a public ballot method, nomination totals or a reproducible scorecard. Avoid claiming that a Best of winner was selected by users unless a separate Google statement explicitly says so.
Google’s Best Game: AFK Journey
Google named AFK Journey its Best Game for 2024. The reasons Google gave were the game’s expansive roster of characters, satisfying tactical battle system, vast explorable world and beautiful art style. Those comments show the type of evidence a reader can safely attach to the award: Google is explaining the qualities it considered notable in that winner, not publishing a universal scoring formula for every title.
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Multi-device recognition: Clash of Clans
Clash of Clans was named Best Multi-device Game. Google’s explanation emphasized that the long-running mobile game expanded to PCs and Chromebooks and was optimized for phones, foldables, tablets, Chromebooks and PCs. This category therefore evaluates reach and adaptation across supported hardware, not only how a game feels on a conventional Android phone.
For a reader deciding whether the category is relevant, the key question is where the game can be played and how deliberately it supports those formats. A phone-only experience and a title designed for several device classes are being recognized for different strengths.
The game categories connect to Play services and formats
The 2024 Google Play game list included Best Multiplayer, Best Pick Up & Play, Best Indie, Best Story, Best Ongoing, Best for Families, Best on Play Pass and Best for Google Play Games on PC. Several labels are genre or play-style judgments, but others are directly tied to Google’s products:
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- Best on Play Pass relates to Google’s subscription catalog.
- Best for Google Play Games on PC relates to playing Android games through Google’s PC experience.
- Best Multi-device Game focuses on a title working across phones, tablets, foldables, Chromebooks and PCs.
Google’s announcement does not state one universal release-date cutoff for all Best of 2024 game categories. A game appearing on the list should not automatically be assumed to have met the same date window used by Pocket Gamer’s new-release awards.
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The category names also prevent a common comparison error. Best Ongoing is about a continuing service, Best Pick Up & Play describes accessibility of play, and Best for Families identifies an audience fit. None is a synonym for Google’s overall Best Game.
The important differences, category by category
Audience versus platform
Pocket Gamer is organized by a specialist mobile-games publisher and asks its audience to participate directly. Google Play is the store and service ecosystem through which Android users discover and play games, so its Best of program frames achievement in relation to that platform. Neither description makes one award universally superior; they measure different kinds of recognition.
Fan ballot versus curation
Pocket Gamer’s 2024 method has an explicit public component at two points: anyone could nominate a game, and fans voted on the shortlist. Google describes its Best of winners as selections made by Google, but the cited announcement does not set out a public ballot, nomination count or published weighting formula. It is more accurate to call Google Play Best of curated than fan voted.
This difference affects how confidently you can generalize from a result. Pocket Gamer’s process demonstrates participation by its voting audience, while Google’s announcement demonstrates a platform decision. Neither method, by itself, proves that every player or every Android user agrees with the outcome.
Mobile-game breadth versus ecosystem fit
Pocket Gamer’s categories reach beyond a game’s store presence. Updates, ports, communities, publishers, developers and mobile esports can all be recognized alongside traditional genres. Google Play’s categories include those kinds of play experiences, but also deliberately call out Play Pass, Google Play Games on PC and multi-device optimization. The former is broader as a mobile-games award taxonomy; the latter is more tightly connected to how Google distributes and extends games.
Different treatment of time
Pocket Gamer publishes a clear 2024 new-release window: 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024. It separately allows some categories to use the broader back catalogue. Google’s 18 November announcement does not publish one equivalent universal cutoff, so its annual label alone is not enough to determine a game’s release eligibility.
Different signals for readers
A Pocket Gamer category tells you what kind of achievement was recognized by a mobile-game publication and its voters. A Google Play category can tell you how Google viewed a game’s fit for a particular audience, service or device context. Reading the category name is essential: Best Ongoing, Best on Play Pass and Best for Google Play Games on PC carry distinct implications even though all are Google Play awards.
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Yes. The programs are independent, so there is no rule preventing the same title from appearing in both sets of results. The 2024 example documented by Pocket Gamer is Eggy Party: it won Pocket Gamer’s Best Multiplayer Mobile Game and had also received a Google Play award.
That overlap is not a contradiction. In Pocket Gamer’s process, the game was recognized through the public-nomination, shortlist and fan-vote route in a multiplayer category. In Google’s program, it was recognized through Google’s own Best of selection. The shared winner shows that the two systems can identify the same successful game without becoming the same award.
When a title wins both, report both category names and dates if accuracy matters. “Won both awards” is less informative than saying which Pocket Gamer category it won and which Google Play honor it received.
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Which award is more important for mobile games?
There is no objective single winner because “important” depends on what you are trying to learn.
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Give more weight to Pocket Gamer when the question is, “Which mobile game did an engaged mobile-gaming audience choose?” Its public nominations and November fan vote provide a visible participation path, and its genre and community categories let you compare games within a specific mobile context.
If you want a Google ecosystem signal
Give more weight to Google Play Best of when you care about the Android distribution environment, Play Pass availability, Google Play Games on PC or play across phones, tablets, foldables, Chromebooks and PCs. The category itself may be as informative as the winner: Best Multi-device Game says more about cross-device execution than a general genre award does.
If you are evaluating a game, not a trophy
Use either award as a discovery clue rather than a substitute for checking the game. Confirm the platform you use, the current update state, multiplayer requirements, family suitability, controller or keyboard support and whether a service category such as Play Pass or Google Play Games on PC applies in your region. An award records recognition at a particular time; it does not guarantee that every device, market or current version offers the same experience.
Also separate the award’s scope from the game’s present condition. A title honored for an update may receive later changes, and a game recognized for multi-device play may have different controls or performance on a phone, tablet, Chromebook or PC. The badge is useful context, not a technical compatibility promise.
How to read an award claim accurately
- Identify the program. “Pocket Gamer Awards” and “Google Play Best of” are separate programs with different selectors.
- Read the exact category. “Best Updated Game,” “Best Ongoing,” “Best on Play Pass” and “Best Multi-device Game” are not interchangeable with an overall best-game title.
- Check the edition and date. The facts above refer to Pocket Gamer’s 2024 awards, announced 6 December 2024, and Google Play Best of 2024, announced 18 November 2024.
- Check eligibility context. Pocket Gamer’s stated new-release window was 1 October 2023–30 September 2024, while some Pocket Gamer categories use the back catalogue and Google’s cited announcement gives no single universal cutoff.
- Separate recognition from current availability. A winning game can change after the awards, and a service-related category can depend on the device, subscription or region you use.
- Describe the selector correctly. Say “fan voted” for the final Pocket Gamer ballot after shortlisting; say “Google-curated” for Best of unless a specific Google announcement supplies additional selection details.
Frequently asked questions
Are Pocket Gamer Awards fan voted?
Yes, for the 2024 process, fans voted during November on a shortlist created after public nominations. It is fan voted at the final stage, not an unrestricted poll in which nominations alone determine every finalist.
How does Google choose Best Game on Google Play?
Google’s Best of announcement presents the winners as Google’s curated selections. It names AFK Journey Best Game and explains the choice using its character roster, tactical battle system, explorable world and art style, but it does not publish a universal scoring formula or public voting process.
Can the same mobile game win both awards?
Yes. Eggy Party won Pocket Gamer’s Best Multiplayer Mobile Game and had also received a Google Play award, showing that independent programs can recognize the same title.
Which award is more important?
Neither is universally more important. Pocket Gamer is more useful for a specialist mobile-player and community perspective; Google Play Best of is more useful for Google’s Android, Play services and multi-device perspective.
Does Pocket Gamer’s release window apply to every category?
No. Pocket Gamer gave a 1 October 2023–30 September 2024 window for new releases in its 2024 edition, while noting that some categories draw on the wider back catalogue.
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Does Google Play Best of have the same release-date rule?
Not according to the 18 November 2024 announcement. It does not state one universal release-date cutoff for all Best of 2024 game categories, so do not assume Google’s timing rule matches Pocket Gamer’s.
Bottom line
Pocket Gamer Awards are the better indicator of specialist mobile-game audience enthusiasm because the 2024 process explicitly combined public nominations, a shortlist and fan voting across a wide range of mobile categories. Google Play Best of is the better indicator of Google’s own view of standout games within its Android, Play services and multi-device ecosystem. When a title wins both, the strongest conclusion is not that one award validates the other; it is that the game satisfied two different kinds of recognition.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Pocket Gamer Awards fan voted?
Yes. In the 2024 process, the public nominated games, Pocket Gamer created a shortlist, and fans voted during November. The final vote was public, but the shortlist was editorially prepared.
How does Google choose Best Game on Google Play?
Google presents Best of winners as platform-curated selections. AFK Journey was named Best Game for 2024, with Google citing its character roster, tactical battle system, explorable world and art style; no universal public scoring formula was published.
Can one game win both awards?
Yes. Eggy Party won Pocket Gamer’s Best Multiplayer Mobile Game and had also received a Google Play award.
Which award is more important for mobile games?
It depends on the question. Pocket Gamer reflects a specialist mobile-gaming audience, while Google Play Best of reflects Google’s Android, Play services and multi-device ecosystem.
Does Pocket Gamer use one release-date rule for every category?
No. Its 2024 new-release window was 1 October 2023 through 30 September 2024, but some categories used the wider mobile-game back catalogue.
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Does Google Play Best of publish one universal release cutoff?
The 18 November 2024 Best of announcement does not state one universal cutoff for all game categories.
The Bottom Line
Pocket Gamer measures specialist mobile-game audience recognition through nominations, shortlisting and fan voting. Google Play Best of measures Google’s curated view of games across Android, Play services and supported devices. Compare the exact category, edition and date before treating either badge as a general verdict.
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