Today, we’re officially announcing our Google Play 2021 Best of the year winners to honor apps and games that make positive cultural contributions. To spur innovation across the Google Play ecosystem, we’ve expanded this year’s awards to include apps and games on tablets, as well as apps on Wear OS and Google TV. The winners of these Best of the Year awards challenge the conventional wisdom and bring unique game design to audiences that have never been experienced before. Without a doubt, these great games represent the future of app and game development.

Apps that focus on self-improvement continue to be popular in 2021, as they were in the best of 2020. This year’s winning entries help users understand themselves on a deeper level through creative, often meditative approaches. For example, Balance, which won the app of the Year award this year, encourages people to reach their hearts through personalized meditation. Moonly provides users with rich experience and guidance according to the lunar calendar; Laughscape had an innovative way of inducing people into a meditative state — through laughter.

“We are honored that Balance has won Google’s 2021 App of the Year award,” said Jesse Pickard, Founder and CEO of Elevate Labs. “We built Balance with the individual user in mind. Everyone is unique and we want to create personalised mental health programmes that reflect and support the particular differences between users. I also want to thank each and every one of our users for helping us along the way. “It’s the participation and feedback that helps us create a truly beautiful product.”

On the gaming side, Pokemon UNITE won game of the Year and Game of the Year for its dynamic gameplay and cross-platform experience. We’re also seeing indie game developers create creative and personal experiences. Indie developer George Batchelor has brought us Bird Alone, a game where you try to befriend “the loneliest Bird in the world.” In Donut County, a physics-based puzzle game developed by Annapurna Interactive, you play as a growing hole.

The following list covers the winners of this year’s Google Play Best of the Year awards in the US, from large development teams to emerging indie developers. You can also check out the winners by country and region in the Play Store’s Best of 2021 list.

The most popular apps and games of 2021

  • App of the Year: Paramount+
  • Favorite game of the Year: Garena Free Fire MAX

App of the Year

  • Balance

Game of the Year

  • Pokémon UNITE

The best apps of the Year

Best social contribution app of the Year

  • Empathy
  • Mentor Spaces
  • Speechify

Best life helper app of the Year

  • blossom
  • PhotoRoom
  • Rabit

The most entertaining app of the year

  • Clubhouse
  • Noobly
  • Whatifi

Most promising applications of the year

  • Laughscape
  • Moonbeam
  • Moonly

Best self-improvement app of the Year

  • Balance
  • Clementine
  • Uptime

Tablet app of the Year

  • Canva
  • Concepts
  • Houzz

Wearable app of the Year

  • Calm
  • MyFitnessPal
  • Sleep Cycle

Google TV App of the Year

  • Disney+
  • ESPN
  • Tubi

Best games of the Year list

Battle game of the Year

  • League of Legends: Wild Rift
  • MARVEL Future Revolution
  • Pokémon UNITE
  • Rogue Land
  • Suspects: Mystery Mansion

Most innovative games of the year

  • Inked
  • JanKenUP!
  • Knights of San Francisco
  • Overboard!
  • Tears of Themis

Indie game of the Year

  • 7 Billion Humans
  • Bird Alone
  • Donut County
  • My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge
  • Puzzling Peaks EXE

Casual game of the Year

  • Cats in Time
  • Crash Bandicoot: On the Run!
  • Disney POP TOWN
  • Switchcraft
  • Towers

Tablet game of the Year

  • Chicken Police — Paint it RED!
  • League of Legends: Wild Rift
  • My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge
  • Overboard!
  • The Procession to Calvary

Special congratulations to miHoYo Limited (Tears of Themis) and Inked! We will also share with you in the near future the Chinese mainland developers who have won the best of the year awards in each region

Congratulations again to all 2021 Best of the Year winners, and special thanks to the Google Play community for their participation and support. I look forward to seeing your wonderful works next year!