Kairosoft owns the management sim category on both the iOS App Store and Android's Google Play Store. That's a fact.
You'd be hard pushed to find a mobile gamer who doesn't own at least one Kairosoft title. Each title is very similar to the other, yet there's something just so addictive about the company's tried-and-tested formula that we can easily see past this.
There's a serious amount of depth to each game, too, and delving deep to find all the goodies will result in many a 'just one more go' experience late at night.
Picking the top ten Kairosoft games was tough, then, but we eventually got there. Don't agree? Feel free to mouth off in the comments. Be reasonably polite, though. Please.
Epic Astro StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
Kairosoft took its management formula out of this world with Epic Astro Story, which tasks players with building up a city for alien tourists to visit and enjoy.
Keeping those tourists happy is only one half of the game, however, as you also need to grab a gang of your city dwellers and head out into the unknown, slicing and dicing nasty creatures and uncovering treasures.
Venture TownsBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone
Ever since Kairosoft began churning out games, we've been frequently asking ourselves the same question: 'What if the studio attempted its own interpretation of the classic SimCity?'
Venture Towns is pretty much exactly what we were looking for, as you turn a tiny village into a bustling city and watch as your little people go to and from work every day.
Pocket AcademyBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
Listen up: there's going to be a test on this soon. In Pocket Academy, you enter the unforgiving world of the classroom and everything that surrounds it. Basically, you're charged with running a school and keeping all your pupils in check.
This release is also one of the only Kairosoft titles to actively encourage relationships between characters, so pupils can fall in love with each other, for example. Young love: so sweet.
Pocket League StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
The thing about Kairosoft is that it always tries to walk it in - especially so with this football-oriented little number.
You're handed the reins of an amateur team in Pocket League Story, and challenged to train it up to be the best in the league. It's like Kairosoft's own version of Championship Manager 2011.
Grand Prix StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
Maybe football isn't your kind of sport? Perhaps Formula 1 tickles your fancy? Should that be the case, Grand Prix Story will be right up your street, for it invites you to assemble a crack racing team and win tournaments all around the world.
It's all about constructing the best cars from the best parts, and training your drivers to take those corners swiftly and cleanly.
Mega Mall StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
Like, OMG, am I totes right?! Kairosoft heads down to the mall and puts you in charge of the whole thing - from which shops are available to the stock on display.
You're only going to see shopping sprees if you can reel in the customers and make their shopping experience a blissful one. Cue cash register noise now!
Hot Springs StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
Hot Springs Story is one Kairosoft title that definitely draws attention to the company's Japanese roots. You take control of a hot springs inn, making sure your customers (and their wallets) are relaxed.
Bringing in a wide variety of customers is the key to this game, and if any of them enjoy themselves enough, they may well choose to stay an extra day or two.
Game Dev StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone or buy on Android
The game that really started it all off. Game Dev Story allows you to develop that video game you've always wanted to play, then send it out into the world and see what critics and customers alike think of it.
Beat-'em-up text-based adventure games may not be popular in real life, but in the world of Game Dev Story, anything goes. Maybe.
Dungeon Village
By Kairosoft - buy on Android
The closest thing to a Kairosoft RPG that you're going to get, Dungeon Village explores the role-playing genre from a unique perspective - YOU control the shops and YOU watch the heroes go out and slay beasts. None of that traditional role-playing heroism for you this time around, sir.
Instead, you direct the heroes and tell them where you think they should be battling. So, in the main, you act as their supplier, giving them weapons, armour, and magic for their fights.
World Cruise StoryBy Kairosoft - buy on Android
Coasting in at the bottom of our list (see what we did there?) is World Cruise Story, Kairosoft's take on cruise liners and round-the-world trips.
With multiple levels of your ship to stock up and rooms needed for each of your passengers, it can get a little stormy at times. As long as you keep your bank balance in check, however, it's plain sailing all the way.
