Adventures in Airplane Mode
At some point in every mobile gamer’s life, they find themselves marooned in a place with crappy WiFi or spotty cell service. Whether you’re stuck in an office, sandwiched between layers of concrete or traipsing across remote destinations, gamers gotta game. Don’t face boredom empty-handed! Fuel your thirst for adventure and prepare yourself for dead zones with our stellar picks for the best offline iPhone RPGs.
15. Monster Hunter Stories
The first entry on our list of the best offline iPhone RPGs may seem familiar to fans of monster-collecting adventure games. Initially released on the 3DS, Capcom’s Monster Hunter Stories returns reinvigorated and optimized for mobile devices. You’ll play as a nameless hero who discovers a shining monster egg containing a baby Rathalos (a flying wyvern heralded as “the King of the Skies”), nicknamed Ratha. A year later, you’ll leave your tiny village behind as a Monster Rider alongside Ratha in search of adventure. Explore expansive environments and encounter plenty of new “monsties” to collect and train. As you form bonds with your new monsters, they’ll grow stronger, allowing you to best other Riders with ease. With countless monsters to collect and a riveting story, you’re destined for Monster Rider glory.
Available in the App Store
14. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
Get your high fantasy fix no matter where your travels may take you with Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. From developer Snowblind Studios and publisher Interplay comes the 2001 classic, now remastered for mobile devices. Based on 3rd Edition D&D rules and set in the Forgotten Realms campaign, players can choose between playing as a human archer, a dwarven fighter or an elven sorceress. Master and unleash powerful spells and physical attacks to thwart sinister forces on the rise. Prove your ingenuity by solving intricate puzzles across three levels of difficulty. Furthermore, Dark Alliance allows players to campaign solo or create a party with a friend in multiplayer mode, using external controllers. Whether you’re a D&D newbie or a dungeon master, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance promises at least a dirty twenty amount of fun.
Available in the App Store
13. EvoLand 2
Embark on an epic role-playing journey that celebrates video game history in EvoLand 2 from developer Playdigious. Spanning an absurd number of genres, EvoLand 2 hops from 2D to 3D RPG to fighter to shooter to trading card game, all tied together by the game’s central story. With comical references to classic video games and a variety of gorgeous art styles, players will constantly wonder what surprises lurk just around the bend.
Available in the App Store
12. Knights of Pen and Paper 2
From publisher Paradox Interactive comes the sequel to the quirky D&D-inspired pixelated turn-based RPG. Like its predecessor, Knights of Pen and Paper 2 tasks players with assembling and controlling a group of pen-and-paper role-players as they navigate a quirky fantasy world. Choose between off-beat characters like Rocker Dwarf Warrior or Cheerleader Elf Monk before joining a party. As your group progresses, you’ll navigate quests, engage in challenging combat, craft items and dungeon crawl. With tons of customization options and “semi-appropriate” geeky cultural references, players will love this meta take on TTRPGs.
Available in the App Store
11. Bloodline: Heroes of Lithas
The Darkness has returned to Lithas, spreading seeds of chaos just as the Goddess of Light’s strength has begun to fade. Become the next High Guardian and lead the City of Light into a new age in Bloodline: Heroes of Lithas, from developer Goat Co. With the bloodline of the Ancient High Guardians, you alone possess the power to forge bonds across the clans. Explore dozens of cultures and races including, lycans, demons, demigods, elves and orcs, and create deeper bonds by courting individuals as companions. Unite your bloodlines and raise new generations of champions and allies. Decide which traits, skills and strengths to pass on and battle in raids, fending off the Darkness. Rebuild the once-great City of Light and uncover the mysteries beneath its crumbled foundations before it’s too late.
Available in the App Store
10. Vampire’s Fall: Origins
For generations, the peaceful village of Vamp’Ire grew in solitude. Now rumors run rampant of a powerful dark magician called a Witchmaster who threatens to destroy their rural hamlet. Play as a new recruit to the village’s militia and embrace your newly discovered gifts as you defend your home in Vampire’s Fall: Origins, from developer Early Morning Studio. Create your character and choose between four different bloodlines—Nosferatu, Ranjeni, Magistrav or Equides. Refine your unique abilities and wield over 150 different weapons and armor as you engage in battle. Will you defend your village against monsters and the forces of evil, or will you enact chaos in the world around you?
Available in the App Store
9. Crashlands
From developer Butterscotch Shenanigans comes the zany, story-driven crafting RPG Crashlands. Play as Flux Dabes, an intergalactic trucker robbed and stranded on an alien planet by a chin-strapped ET named Hewgodooko. In order to return home, you’ll need to retrieve your missing packages and navigate Hewgodooko’s nefarious plot for world domination. Gather resources and craft over 500 items to aid you in your quest. Luckily, you’ll have a self-managing infinite inventory and automatic tool retrieval system, making these otherwise tedious tasks a breeze. As you traverse the planet, you’ll gain new recipes from other sentient life forms, as well as discover eggs that eventually hatch into companions to train and take into combat. When you’re not busy farming resources, exploring or battling, build a sprawling base as your headquarters in this strange new world. Just don’t get too comfy; those packages aren’t going to deliver themselves.
Available in the App Store
8. Tiny Island Survival
Spanning just one screen, Tiny Island Survival tasks players with uncovering the secrets of a seemingly deserted island. From developer Game Start, play as a recently shipwrecked sailor and explore signs of life in the nearby forest. As you clear the land and gather resources, you’ll discover you’re much less alone than you thought. Craft shelter, weapons and armor and face off against increasingly challenging foes, as well as trade resources with helpful allies. With cute pixel art and simple mechanics, cozy mobile gamers will adore this itty-bitty entry on our list of the best offline iPhone RPGs.
Available in the App Store
7. Shadow Hunter: Lost Worlds
Hack and slash your way through hordes of demons and monsters in Shadow Hunter: Lost Worlds from Enigma Softwares. Don the mantle of Shadow Hunter, a warrior blessed with special abilities from the Ancient One, to bring light back to the mortal world. Wage war against monstrous dark demons and collect their souls to refine and upgrade weapons. Play as multiple different characters, each with their own unique skills and combat styles. While Shadow Hunter: Lost Worlds is fully playable offline, players who wish to experience the game’s PVP or PVE modes will need a WiFi connection.
Available in the App Store
6. OneBit Adventure
Explore a retro-inspired, turn-based roguelike adventure teeming with mythological monsters in OneBit Adventure from indie developer Galactic Slice (Jonathan Concepcion). Choose between playing as a warrior, blood knight, wizard, necromancer, pyromancer, archer or thief, and harness unique abilities and playstyles to overcome your class’s weaknesses. Once you reach level 15, you’ll unlock new passive and active skills unique to each class, making battles richer. As you explore the game’s pixelated dungeons, caves and castles, collect coins to purchase healing items, new skills and more. While players can choose a premium experience, OneBit Adventure is completely free to play, online or offline, with no ads or loot boxes, ever.
Available in the App Store
5. Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space
Journey beyond time and space and rescue a lost future in Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space. Inspired by Chrono Trigger, the game offers players a unique side-scrolling JRPG adventure that shifts between 2D and 3D movement. Play as a boy named Aldo, whose sister, Feinne, has been kidnapped by the terrible Beast King. The Beast King seeks to use Feinne’s dormant abilities to wipe out humanity, leaving the planet for the beast-kin. Before Aldo can stop the evil plans, he’s thrown 800 years into the future. Visit interesting locales across the past, present and future, and recruit powerful allies to aid your party in turn-based battles. With 84 chapters available and more on the way from developer WFS, you’ll find time for this outstanding entry in our list of the best offline iPhone games.
Available in the App Store
4. Stardew Valley
Odds are, you probably know the next entry on our list of the best offline iPhone games pretty well, but its spot is warranted. For the uninitiated, Stardew Valley is an award-winning, cozy farming simulation with RPG mechanics from developer ConcernedApe. Create a character and build a bustling farm using the overgrown land around your humble home. When you’re not tending your personal Eden, forage for new crops, go fishing or explore mysterious caves and fight the monsters that dwell within. Settle down and start a family with one of 12 potential partners and enjoy special events with other members of your community. With over 50 hours of open-ended story to experience, there’s always something new in the Valley.
Available in the App Store
3. Eternium
Battle creatures and engage in interplanetary intrigue in the indie action RPG Eternium from developer Making Fun. Play as a mage, warrior or bounty hunter, armed with a sword, axe, staff or gun. Venture across ever-changing terrain, including demonic castles, snowy mountains and dense forests, as you loot gold, gemstones and gear from treasure chests. Follow the game’s four-part, interplanetary story or choose to endlessly dungeon crawl through the Trials of Valor’s infinite levels. As you battle, you’ll unlock new gear and recruit supportive companions like tanks, healers and ranger-class heroes. The fate of Elderath and Eternium’s other interplanetary worlds rests in your hands. Thwart Ragadam’s evil schemes, lest the galaxy fall to his ever-growing hordes of zombies, automatons, aliens, dragons and demons. No pressure, right?
Available in the App Store
2. PostKnight 2
Move over, Kiki! There’s a new courier in town. From developer Kurechii comes a sequel to the hit offline adventure RPG PostKnight. Explore the colorful chibi world of Prism as you deliver goods to its citizens and defeat the monsters that stand in your way. As you start your PostKnight trainee program, you’ll meet adorable elves, tricky anthromorphs and a technologically advanced society of dragons. Depending on your choices and interactions, you may receive a simple response or something more vital, like super-handy information. Customization is king in PostKnights 2, with over 150 character customization options and fashion items, as well as over 80 weapon skill traits. And like any good knight, you’ll need a squire. Choose from a dozen pets with their own personalities to aid you in battle, including a tanuki, a boar and a cat. Rain, snow, sleet or hail, PostKnighthood sure seems swell.
Available in the App Store
1. Moonshades
Our final entry on our list of the best offline iPhone RPGs takes inspiration from D&D and other old-school dungeon crawlers. Moonshades from developer Viktor Domonyi leads players on a 3D journey through eerie dungeons filled with mythical beasts beneath ruined towns and villages. Free the descendants of Harten from the invading darkness and uncover their closely guarded secrets of ancient magic. As the story unfolds, players can wield thousands of upgradable armor, weapons and accessories to defeat the plethora of dungeon-dwelling monsters. Between battles, consult NPCs to learn about Harten’s past, trade items to forge stronger weapons or brew powerful potions. Unearth Harten and Aesthirya’s ancient past before the darkness devours the land in this excellent RPG adventure.
Available in the App Store
Did you enjoy our list of the best offline iPhone RPGs? Let us know which picks you loved or if we missed any of your most-played offline RPGs in the comments. While you’re at it, check out our list of the Most Hardcore Offline iPhone Games and our lists of the Best iPhone Strategy Games of 2024 and Best iPhone RPGs of 2024. And as always, stay tuned to Hardcore iOS for the latest in mobile gaming news and reviews.
