Top iPhone and iPad games of 2014: Apple names Monument Valley & Threes

Apple have named their games of the year for iPhone and iPad as Sirvo's Threes and UsTwo's Monument Valley.

The two paid-for apps will enjoy a significant boost in sales during the Christmas period as a result of Apple's decision.

Both games appeared in our own list of the best games of 2014.

For the developers of Threes - a maths-based sliding tile puzzle game - the award will be a moment to savour after a year that has seen their own success diminished slightly be a slew of free-to-play clones of their original title.

Chief among those clones was 2048, which became so successful that some players criticised Threes for being a clone of it. Safe to say however that Threes is the original, and the best.

As for perspective puzzler Monument Valley, the award comes not long after developers UsTwo suffered a small but vocal backlash from some gamers for charging money for new in-game content.

On their blog UsTwo thanked Apple for the "tremendous honour".

Earlier in the year both games won Apple design awards.

Apple's decision is also a victory for quality over quantity, as both paid-for games don't come close to the free-to-play install-base success of other games like Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft was runner-up in the iPad category, while Leo's Fortune came up just short for the iPhone crown.