Ahead of the 2025 rendition of The Game Awards, the full list of nominees has been revealed. In a series of posts to social media, The Game Awards laid out the contendors for every category this year, from Game of the Year to Best Narrative and beyond. In prior years, I haven’t put much stock in the Best Mobile Game category, but this year has forced me to make a notable exception. In 2025, I definitely have a horse in this race. Or should I say, a group of horse girls?
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There are 5 games in the running for Best Mobile Game in 2025. And there are some heavy hitters on this list, including the surprisingly solid Destiny Rising spinoff and beloved free-to-play fantasy RPG Wuthering Waves. But in my heart, and in the eyes of many fans sounding off on the initial announcement post, there can be only one winner. And obviously, that’s got to be Umamusume: Pretty Derby.
Fans Celebrate Umamusume: Pretty Derby’s Best Mobile Game Nomination
Once upon a time, I didn’t think I’d ever be a mobile gamer. When Pokemon Go arrived back in 2016, I assumed it’d be my one and only exception. And for many years, it was. But in this line of work, I often wind up testing things out to keep abreast of trends. And that was the case with Umamusume: Pretty Derby. The horse girl game raced onto the scene and quickly dominated the Steam charts with its PC release. One PC download later, I realized it simply felt too much like a mobile game not to live on my phone.
Fast forward five months, and I’ve yet to miss a day of ticking off my daily rewards in the game. All these months later, I’m still checking in on my team of racers and training them up to reach new heights. So when I saw Umamusume on the list for Best Mobile Game, I felt almost proud, as if I had trained the game itself for this momentous occasion. And if the responses to the announcement are any indication, I’m not alone.
Although fans of other contenders are certainly making themselves known, the replies are full of people cheering for Umamusume to snag the win. As one response puts it, Umamusume “is the only game of its kind worth playing right now.” Many of the other responses are just adorable gifs of iconic characters from the game and anime getting ready for a showdown. It’s clear that I’m not alone in being absolutely certain that Umamusume: Pretty Derby is my mobile game of the year.
There’s Just Something Special About Umamusume: Pretty Derby
I don’t only think Umamusume: Pretty Derby deserves the win because it’s the only non-Pokemon game to earn a spot in my daily rotation. The mobile game is genuinely offering something unique compared to many of the games in the free-to-play mobile market right now. There’s a reason fans keep coming back to it, and it’s not just for lovable characters like Rice Shower, Special Week, and El Condor Pasa.
When it comes to the gacha mechanics, Umamusume is definitely pretty punishing. There are both support cards and trainees to pull for, making it hard to keep a competitive team going without paid Carats. But the core mechanics of the game are robust, giving you a lot of game to dig into without any paywalls or ads. It’s hard to hit the highest echelons without buying more pulls, but it’s not impossible to enjoy the game as a free-to-play gamer.
Umamusume offers multiple game modes to put your trainees to the test, from Career storylines to build up their skills to simple daily races. There’s a good variety of in-game rewards and events to keep you feeling rewarded for daily activity, and the stories that come with them are actually pretty involved. You feel like you’re really getting to know the characters, even if you haven’t pulled them for your team just yet.
The game is easy enough to get started with, but offers surprisingly in-depth strategy if you want to get good. There’s a lot of complexity to the Career mode, and your choices can impact your Umamusume’s chances of success. Plus, the characters are based on real-life race horses, so you pick up some accidental horse racing lore along the way.
Compared to many other mobile games out there, this game just feels different. It’s a refreshing take on what the free-to-play gacha model can be, and it’s got great artwork and a good sense of humor to boot. Although the nominees are all solid contendors, I’m putting my money on my horse girls for the win in 2025.
Do you have a favorite to win Best Mobile Game in the 2025 Game Awards? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
