Apple names Ridiculous Fishing iPhone Game of the Year

Free-to-play may be the dominant business model on mobile devices, but Apple singled out a pair of premium priced apps for its Game of the Year honors. As revealed through an Editor's Choice Best of 2013 section on iTunes, Vlambeer's Ridiculous Fishing: A Tale of Redemption was named Apple's iPhone Game of the Year, while Frogmind's Badland was named the iPad Game of the Year.

Ridiculous Fishing won praise for "great controls, hugely rewarding challenges, and vibrant retro-style graphics," while Badland was singled out for "haunting visuals and great controls," as well as cooperative play and well-designed challenges.

Ridiculous Fishing currently sells for $3, while Badland commands a $4 price of admission. The emphasis on paid apps extended to the runners-up in both categories as well. Apple's iPad runners-up were Take-Two's XCOM: Enemy Unknown ($20) and Kevin Ng's Impossible Road ($2). As for iPhone, the two runners-up were Simogo's Device 6 ($4) and the only free-to-play game to be honored, EA's Plants vs. Zombies 2.