Italy is one of the biggest gaming markets, both in Europe and in the world, with more than $1.2 billion spent in the last year. When it comes to games, it’s always been more of a nation of consumers rather than creators. But this is changing.

Why is this happening now? A number of factors exist, but two of the most important are a more mature game-developer community and a growing startup scene. And this is influencing the entire Italian game industry: Universities are introducing design courses, and VCs are investing in gaming startups.

Recently, many Italian games have received international recognition. The creativity that defines the “Made in Italy” when it comes to clothing, automobiles, and food is now becoming recognizable in games.

Italy has over 100 game development studios, and mobile development has significantly increased in the last years, involving half of the total Italian games production.

Here’s a showcase of 10 great mobile games Made in Italy, released in the last couple of years:

Sleep Attack TD

Developer: Bad Seed

Genre: Tower Defense

Download: iOS | Android

Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf

Developer: Forge Reply

Genre: Role-playing game

Download: iOS | Android | Amazon

Dengen Chronicles



Developer: Mangatar

Genre: Trading-card game/RPG

Download: iOS | Android | Windows Phone

From Cheese

Developer: SpinVector

Genre: Puzzle

Download: iOS | Android | Windows Phone

OverVolt Crazy Slot Cars

Developer: Interactive Project

Genre: Racing

Download: Android | Windows Phone

SBK14

Developer: Digital Tales

Genre: Racing

Download: iOS

Syder Arcade

Developer: Studio Evil

Genre: Shoot ’em up

Download: iOS | Android

Haunted Manor 2

Developer: RedBitGames

Genre: Adventure

Download: iOS | Android

Bubble Fish Party

Developer: Xplored

Genre: Party

Download: iOS | Android

Fotonica

Developer: Santa Ragione

Genre: Runner

Download: iOS

Keep an eye on the Italian gaming scene — this is only the beginning.

Raffaele Gaito is the cofounder of Mangatar and BizDev. A game developer, he writes about startups and gaming, both in Italian and English, on several blogs.