While gaming phones are picking up steam, there’s no better phone to buy than the iPhone if you’re a mobile gamer. With more than a million iPhone apps available in the Apple App Store, the gaming options on the iPhone are nearly limitless. But finding the best iPhone games isn’t always easy. Not every game in Apple’s massive library is worth $1 — or your time, for that matter.
Luckily for you, we’ve taken on the burden of sorting through the heaving sea of titles to bring you some of the best iPhone games. So, whether you’re looking for a casual puzzler or something a bit more epic, take a look at our list of the best games you’ll find on your iOS device.
Subscribers to Apple’s library of games — which we think contains enough gems to justify the price of membership — should check out our picks of the best Apple Arcade games. For more ideas, check out the best Android games, because many of them are available for the iPhone as well. And if you want to switch off that screen, the best board games could offer a welcome alternative.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Based on the popular manga/anime of the same name, The Seven Deadly Sins is a full-blown RPG set in the world of Britannia, where humans take on demons in the relaunched Holy War. Build your very own team based on the characters of the series (always pair Ban and Melodias, they’re best friends), and defeat demons to defend the kingdom. There’s even a two player co-operative mode. It’s a surprisingly big game for the platform, and it comes with a bunch of fun extra, like character models rendered in AR.
FIFA Football
Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, so it makes sense it has a strong showing on iOS. The FIFA Football game puts you in charge of your Ultimate Team, as you build your own team from players from around the world. Build your team to take advantage of various bonuses from theming around country, team, or league, and use your players to take on computer-controlled teams or players in leagues. Train up your players, and even take part in special live events timed to coincide with real world matches.
Big Farm: Home & Garden
We love match-3 games, but they’re a dime a dozen. Therefore, any match-3 game that changes the formula even slightly is worthy of our attention. In Big Farm: Home & Garden, you solve match-3 puzzles to design and renovate old farm buildings, whether your own or your neighbors, and slowly build up your own special space. It’s not exactly what you’d call deep, but it’s a fun distraction, and it gives you a good amount of control over the look and style of your home.
Ingress Prime
Most of us are only allowed out for a limited time at the moment, so make the most of your time outside with a game that’s best played on the move. Ingress Prime is the second game in the Ingress series, and the spiritual brethren of Pokémon Go. But the two games couldn’t be more different, outside of a need to be played outdoors. In Ingress Prime, you’re tasked with collecting as much Exotic Matter as possible, in order for your faction to gain supremacy over the world. Take over Portals and link them together to create Control Fields, which you’ll need a lot of to gain absolute control.
Pokémon Go
We knew it wasn’t going to be long before this classic was back on the list. It’s getting on a little now, but Pokémon Go remains a firm favorite for many. You know the drill: Head outdoors, catch Pokémon, train them up, and take on nearby gyms. If you’re successful, you can even out them under new management — yours! With a massive catalog of monsters to choose from and catch, there’s always something new to find, and if you’ve lapsed a little, maybe take this chance to regain your love for Pokémon.
Star Wars: KOTOR II ($15)
The original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a port of one of the best story-driven games of all time, and now the sequel is also available. The initial asking price is a fairly steep $15, but this is a full PC game running on your iPhone, and like other ports of that nature, you get a lot of game for your money. The story is set thousands of years before the main Star Wars storyline, and tells the story of the warring Jedi and Sith. In KOTOR II, the Sith have almost succeeded in crushing the Old Republic, and now, as a lone Jedi struggling with the Force, you’re the Republic’s only chance.
League of Legends: Wild Rift
League of Legends is one of the world’s biggest games, and you can now play it on your iPhone. If you’ve played LoL before, then you know what to expect — choose your champion and join your team of four other players in a five-on-five battle to push up the map and into your opponent’s base. It’s a simple formula, but the mobile online battle arena (MOBA) is also cunningly deep, and you’ll be looking up tactics for your chosen champion in no time at all. It’s free to play, so you don’t need to pay to access any of the champions. Instead, you can unlock them over time by playing the game.
Orwell’s Animal Farm ($4)
So, this is a weird thing to see on the App Store under “Games,” but it’s surprisingly good. George Orwell’s classic tale Animal Farm translates well into a gaming medium, and you can now play Orwell’s scathing critique of corruption and totalitarianism in the Soviet Union. Alright, so it’s less of a game than an interactive experience, really, but there’s a lot to enjoy here, and while the $4 price tag is a little bit of a barrier to entry, if you think of this as an alternative to reading the book, this isn’t a bad price at all.
Chess — Play & Learn
If you’ve always wanted to play more chess but have been put off by the rather intimidating atmosphere around it, then give Chess — Learn & Play a try. It has a huge range of opponents to play against, both human and artificial intelligence (A.I.), and if you pick a computer-controlled opponent, then you can make sure to pick an easy opponent (if you’re just starting), an adaptive opponent (who’ll change their difficulty to try and give you a challenge), or a grandmaster (if you’re looking to stretch your skill). You can play for free, but you can pay for different tiers of membership, which offer unlimited puzzles, more lessons, and game analysis, amongst other bonuses.
Legends of Runeterra
It seems like every game has to have a trading card game spin-off these days — but while they’re as good as Legends of Runeterra, we’re not going to complain. Set in the world of League of Legends, Legends of Runeterra has you collect classic LoL champions and new characters alike, as you battle other players. Unlike other collectible card games, there’s a heavy emphasis on dynamic gameplay that has you counter your opponent’s play with your own, so you’re not just sitting back and watching as someone else takes their turn. Like most other games in the genre, you can pay to increase your collection, or earn cards as you play.
Subway Surfers
The “endless runner” genre is a mobile gaming staple, and Subway Surfers is the best current game in the most casual and fun of genres. The premise is simple — run along the subway, jump between cars, collect coins, and avoid falling off. It’s simple, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Ink Inc.
You need a special skillset to become a tattoo artist, but not so in Ink Inc. Fill in your customer’s desired tattoos and grow your business, with hundreds of potential stencils to tattoo onto waiting skin. It’s certainly a chill game at heart — each tattoo has been stenciled in, and your job is simply to color between the lines and make sure you don’t mess it up. So really, it’s a paint-by-numbers simulator, but if you’re fine with that, then you’ll love this.
Genshin Impact
It’s the unexpected hit of 2020 that’s taken the world by storm and introduced the “gacha” genre to a wide audience. Essentially an open-world, free-exploration action game in the same vein as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Genshin Impact adds a large roster of unlockable characters, a wide range of magical powers, and a more populous world. Climb, fight, and glide your way across the massive map as you plunge into the game’s deep RPG elements and further the engaging story. This is no Breath of the Wild copy, Genshin Impact deserves to be thought of as a legitimately great game in its own right, and you can play it from your iPhone.
Rome: Total War ($10)
One of the biggest PC games of all time and the engine behind a popular British TV show, it seems crazy that Rome: Total War is available to play on your iPhone — but it is. It’s not the same game that you might remember, of course, and the UI and controls have been adapted to allow it to work properly on a smaller screen, and while that may fill you with some trepidation, don’t let it. While there’s a small learning curve to get over, it’s fast and easy to use once you get used to it. Play as any one of many different civilizations at the time of Rome’s ascendancy, and lead them to greatness. Will you follow in Rome’s footsteps, or substantially change history? It costs $10, but if you love strategy games, it’s well worth the investment.
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
If you spent countless hours locked into The Witcher 3, then it’s likely you also sunk far longer than you should have into the addictive Gwent side game. Well, Gwent is now available as a standalone game for your iPhone. Collect your favorite Witcher heroes, and battle with the computer, or other players. The base game is free to download, but you will have to pay if you want to buy additional card packs.
Among Us!
Every few months, we get a game of the moment that sets the internet alight. Among Us! is firmly on that list of games. The simple game based on the well-loved Werewolf/Mafia format has become a cultural icon, and it’s easy to see why. The game sees between four and 10 players on a spaceship, working together to keep it running in the vacuum of space. But not everyone is as they seem, and a certain number of those players are actually Imposters, placed there to sabotage the ship and kill as many players as you can. With no-one able to know who to trust, can you figure out who the imposter is, and can you trust your friend when they say they saw that person sabotaging the ship, or are they lying to you … ? Intrigue at its finest, Among Us! features crossplay between Android, iOS, and PC, and you can play on the internet or locally.
Bullet Echo
Bullet Echo is a player-versus-player tactical shooter where you play in the dark. All you have to see is your trusty flashlight, attached to the front of your gun, and your job is to sneak around the arena, taking out opposing team members. Your sight may be limited by the flashlight’s beam, but your hearing is not — your enemies will give themselves away with footsteps and gunshots, so make sure to use all the tools at your disposal to find them. You can play with friends or drop into a game, and there is a range of heroes with unique abilities to unlock.
Ministry of Broadcast
A game in the vein of classic adventures such as Prince of Persia and Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus, Ministry of Broadcast drops you into the shoes of a man who has been separated from his family by The Wall. To get back to his family, he agrees to take on The Wall Show, a state-sponsored TV show where the contestants compete for freedom. But is this promise what it seems on paper? Jump, climb, and swing through various levels and precarious puzzles with our protagonist to find out the truth.
EVE Echoes
EVE Online is one of the world’s biggest and most engaging MMOs, and now you can finally play a similar game on your smartphone. EVE Echoes brings a lot of what made the PC MMORPG amazing — the open-ended player interactions, skill trees, and the enormous amount of risk — and transplants it into your iPhone. Start your EVE career however you fancy, whether that be by mining, trading, or hunting pirates, and work your way up, banding together with other players into Corporations and galaxy-influencing Alliances. Take part in massive PVP fleet wars, and leave your mark on New Eden’s history. EVE Echoes takes place in a completely separate parallel universe from the main EVE Online game, so you don’t need to worry about bumping into PC players who have had years to build up their powerbase.
The Sims Mobile
It’s not hard to guess what this game is — it’s The Sims and it’s on mobile. If you’re a fan of the long-running life simulator, then it’s likely you’ve already dived into this game and played the heck out of all its levels. But if you’re a newcomer to the Sims franchise, then all you need to know is The Sims lets you live another life by bossing around tiny people. It’s up to you to make sure they eat, sleep, work, and look after themselves. That may seem boring, but generations of gamers would be happy to let you know how wrong you are. The Sims Mobile is a chilled out and fun mobile game that you can sink time into without worrying too much about needing split-second reflexes. It’s free to play, but keep in mind it has a number of microtransactions available in the in-game store.
Brawlhalla
According to its description, Brawlhalla is a “platform fighting game,” which isn’t much of a description at all, if we’re honest. What it is, as far as we’re concerned, is a pretty strong Smash Bros. clone. Select a character, and take on up to seven other player-controlled characters in a 2D-style brawl where the objective is to be the last to be kicked off the stage. It’s an awful lot of fun, and not as intimidating as it initially seems.
F1 Manager
If you’ve ever dreamed about managing your very own F1 team — and we’ll be honest, we hadn’t — then F1 Manager is the game for you. Sniping aside, this is actually a really fun game. Managing your F1 team is as in-depth as you want to make it, and you’ll be putting together pit stop strategies and deciding whether to sneak the lead at the end of the race in no time. It looks great and plays excellently — though keep in mind it has some items for sale, so lock down your account if you’re handing control over to a child.
Minecraft ($7)
If you don’t know what Minecraft is, well, you’re about to have a very good time. Minecraft is, without a doubt, one of the biggest games of the last decade. Essentially kickstarting the survival genre’s mass popularity, Minecraft drops you into a box-based world and tells you to survive and build. From modest beginnings of creating your first pickax and punching trees, you’ll soon be building yourself a house, starting a farm, and even adventuring into creepy other dimensions. Just watch out for Creepers — you’ll know when you find one.
Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom
While his games may not have made the lasting impression of long-time rival Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog is still a hot topic, thanks in large part to his recent film adaptation. Sonic Dash 2: Sonic Boom is an endless runner in the vein of games like Temple Run, and it’s really the most natural fit for everyone’s favorite hedgehog. You’ll play as Sonic characters from the recent popular Sonic Boom TV show, including Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, and more.
Crying Suns ($9)
Space empires are cool, but fallen space empires are even cooler. Crying Suns puts you in the boots of a spaceship fleet commander, and your task is to explore the remnants of a fallen empire, all while taking part in tense battles with other fleets. It borrows heavily from sci-fi classics like Foundation and Dune, but that’s no bad thing, and Crying Suns goes all in on world-building with over 300 story events, and six chapters of space-based drama. It is a rogue-lite, which means you should expect to die quickly and a lot — but every mission gives you the chance to learn more about the procedurally generated universe around you.
QuestBall
Our British and Irish history is a little hazy, but we didn’t remember much tennis. Regardless of historical accuracy, it turns out fantasy tennis is a lot of fun, and it means QuestBall thrives. Play as up to eight characters (including Boudica) with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, and a variety of power-ups and special shots to exploit in your battles with royalty, outlaws, giants, and gods. A fun little time-waster.
Vía (free-to-start/$1)
If you’re looking to relax a little, settle down with Vía‘s collection of maze puzzles. It may seem like a simple premise to go from A to B, but hurdles will jump in the way, forcing you to think carefully about the choices you make while playing. It’s difficult enough to be challenging, but not too tough to put you off — and it’s oh-so addictive as well. The first 30 paths are free to play, but you’ll need to purchase the full game for access to all 10 journeys. However, it’s well worth your dollar.
War Tortoise 2
War Tortoise 2 is something of a genre defier. It styles itself as an idle shooter, but that’s not entirely correct. Loaded up on your War Tortoise, you shoot down bad guys that approach, gaining money and buying followers as you defeat them. Miniature army in tow, you trek off at a slow plod to the next area, fending off attacks as you go. It’s simple to control — just drag your finger to move your gunsights, and your pilot will shoot automatically. Upgrade your tortoise’s weaponry and armor, add to your army and upgrade their abilities, and keep plodding on. There are a few nice graphical touches too, like droplets impacting on the screen during the rain. A fun little time-waster.
If Found … ($5)
Another game from those who like stories to really make them feel things, If Found …‘s story centers around the diary of protagonist Kasio. It tells the story of her return to the west of Ireland, her conflict with friends and family, and the challenges she comes across — but it all leads up to one fateful night, where a black hole is set to destroy the world. Can Kasio stop the black hole from eradicating everything she holds dear? Stunning hand-drawn art and some storytelling that’s truly emotional means this game is an excellent way to spend a quiet evening.
Snipers Vs Thieves: Zombies!
From the makers of Snipers Vs Thieves, this sequel takes the simple formula from the last game and adds — you guessed it, zombies. But this time, zombies aren’t hungry for brains, they’re hungry for money. Whatever, the story isn’t the reason you’ll be playing this. Protect your cash from hordes of zombies by taking them out with perfectly placed shots, and use the cash you earn to upgrade your trusty weapon. The controls are simple — just drag the crosshair over a zombie and hold it there until your shot meter fills up. There are in-app purchases, as you might expect, but it’s fun enough that you’ll be able to play without paying.
Editors’ Recommendations
