The Best Around
Mobile games could be played anywhere at any time back in the day as long as batteries were charged. Nowadays, mobile gaming has evolved into mainly a smartphone phenomenon, and most titles need an internet connection. So let’s take a step back into the good old days when Wi-Fi and data were nothing to worry about and take a gander at the very Best Offline iPhone Games.
20. Florence
Experience the emotional journey of a young woman named Florence as she navigates the highs and lows of life and love in Mountains’ interactive storybook, Florence. Through beautifully crafted vignettes and intuitive gameplay, players witness Florence’s relationships, aspirations, and personal growth. With its poignant narrative and inventive gameplay mechanics, Florence offers a touching, immersive experience that resonates long after the journey ends.
19. Mini Metro
Design and manage an efficient subway system in Dinosaur Polo Club’s Mini Metro. Players must strategically connect stations and allocate resources to keep their rapidly growing city moving smoothly. With its minimalist design and addictive gameplay, Mini Metro offers a unique and rewarding simulation experience that will challenge players to think creatively.
Available on the App Store
18. Limbo
Enter a dark, atmospheric world filled with puzzles and peril in Playdead’s Limbo. Players must navigate treacherous environments and evade deadly traps as a nameless boy searching for his sister. With its haunting visuals and eerie ambiance, Limbo delivers a captivating experience that will leave players on the edge of their seats.
Available on the App Store
17. Alto’s Adventure
Embark on a serene snowboarding journey across majestic landscapes in Snowman’s Alto’s Adventure. Players control Alto and his friends as they gracefully down mountains, collecting coins and performing breathtaking stunts. With its soothing atmosphere and intuitive controls, Alto’s Adventure offers a Zen-like experience perfect for unwinding after a long day.
Available on the App Store
16. Monument Valley 2
Guide a mother and child through stunning architectural puzzles in Ustwo games’ Monument Valley 2. This visually captivating sequel continues the journey of twisting paths and optical illusions from the original Monument Valley. Players will manipulate the environment to create pathways and solve intricate puzzles. With its mesmerizing visuals and immersive gameplay, Monument Valley 2 is a testament to the beauty of mobile gaming artistry.
Available on the App Store
15. Nova Legacy
Veteran marine, Kal Wardin, battles alien invaders in Halo-inspired offline shooter, NOVA Legacy. With help from his personal AI agent, Kal will uncover the motivation behind the alien assault. NOVA Legacy offers 19 levels full of fast-paced, thrilling combat. Instead of the clunky touch controls some shooters utilize, players just need to line an enemy up in their crosshairs to fire.
Gameloft’s FPS lets you craft a variety of weapons, from powerful plasma guns to assault rifles. Additionally, players can upgrade weapons by collecting specific cards. While players can experience the story mode entirely offline, NOVA Legacy also includes an online multiplayer mode. With engaging gameplay and a lovely sci-fi aesthetic, this offline shooter is one of the best you’ll find on iPhone.
Available on the App Store
14. Badlands Duology
HypeHype Oy’s BADLAND and BADLAND 2 offer up atmospheric side-scrollers in which players guide an adorable little creature called a clone through dangerous environments. Both games offer challenging physics-based gameplay and gorgeous graphics.
Players will lead the clone through a strange forest, dodging traps such as circular saws and serrated blades and other devastating traps as they attempt to save woodland creatures captured by the evil invading machines. BADLAND 2 adds even crazy traps into the mix like flamethrowers and magma. The Badlands Duology include powerups that alter your speed and size. Evade traps, rescue critters and lead your clone through fast-paced and increasingly challenging levels in these side-scrolling masterpieces.
Available on the App Store
13. Fallout Shelter
War never changes and neither does survival. Fans of the Fallout franchise will adore Bethesda’s Fallout Shelter b, in which they must build, upgrade and maintain an underground vault in the nuclear wastes. Room by room, build your vault to protect settlers from the harsh wasteland. Recruit survivors to bolster your ranks and send them out into the wastes to collect much-needed supplies.
Raiders will attack your vault from time to time, so be sure to have weapons on hand and equipped to your settlers. Of course, you’ll also have to look out for rad roach infestations. It’s also imperative that enough electricity is generated to power the vault and that the settlers have enough food and water. Balance resources, battle raider and maintain your vault in what is clearly one of the most engaging offline titles available for iPhone.
Available on the App Store
12. GTA: San Andreas
Arguably the best classic GTA title, GTA San Andreas originally released as a console game back in the glory days of the PlayStation 2. Since then, it’s been ported to mobile with great success. Players take on the role of CJ, who returns to Los Santos, San Andreas, after the death of his mother. To protect his friends and family, CJ must take control of the Grove Street gang.
GTA San Andreas includes all the gory violence fans expect from GTA. There are also includes a dating mini-game and monitors the protagonist’s fitness. In addition to its lovable gangsters and nostalgic 90s backdrop, GTA San Andreas offers a host of quests and one of the most engaging plots throughout the entire GTA franchise.
Available on the App Store
11. Alto’s Odyssey
Sandboard across breathtaking environments in Alto’s Odyssey. While Alto’s Odyssey doesn’t feature a story, it doesn’t need one. Snowman’s offline endless runner takes players to a host of exotic locations to sandboard through. Gameplay is simple, yet it requires skill to master. Learn cool new moves as you progress, like grinding on bridge railings, boarding along rock walls and bouncing off hot air balloons. Each level requires you to complete several tasks, such as jumping over a chasm over racking up combo points.
Besides Alto, players can unlock six playable characters, each with their own strengths. For instance, Felipe the llama comes with a double jump ability, while Paz can smash obstacles after he has built up enough momentum. Alto’s Odyssey is a perfect choice for endless runner fans. Its gorgeous graphics and fun yet challenging gameplay will keep you coming back for more.
Available on the App Store
10. Star Wars: KOTOR
Aspyr Media’s port of Bioware’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic thrusts players into the role of a Jedi tasked with defeating the terrible Darth Malak. KotoR takes place 4000 years before the Galactic Empire was formed, so players won’t run into Luke or Leah. However, players will travel to familiar planets such as Tatooine as they attempt to save the galaxy.
KOTOR offers up a real-time RPG that lets players master the force and includes over 40 force abilities. Additionally, players can craft their own lightsabers. Players earn light or dark side points depending on how they interact with other characters and what decisions they make. These points allow you to unlock new light or dark side force abilities and ultimately determine which side of the force you join. A classic game that lets you live out your Jedi fantasy Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is undoubtedly one of the best offline iPhone games.
Available on the App Store
9. Atom RPG
Journey through the post-apocalyptic soviet wasteland as you attempt to save what life remains on earth from a sinister conspiracy in Atom RPG from Atent Games. Atom RPG takes place in an alternate timeline in which nuclear bombs dropped by the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc have decimated the planet.
Atom RPGfeatures engaging 90s-inspired turn-based combat. Players will battle mutants, bandits and other foes as they explore an open-world wasteland. Experience random encounters, master skills like Speechcraft and Pickpocketing and partake in dozens of multi-ending quests in a truly engaging RPG. All this and more makes Atom RPG one of the best offline iPhone titles.
Available on the App Store
8. Kingdom Rush Series
Ironhide’s Kingdom Rush provides a tried and true tower defense game set in a medieval fantasy world. In the Kingdom Rush games players take control of a general who must defend the kingdom from an onslaught of monsters. Players will build and upgrade towers along a path that the monsters will travel. Each tower has strengths and weaknesses, so players must carefully choose which to make to create an effective defense.
The Kingdom Rush series are challenging but rewarding. Players must use their skills and strategy to defeat the waves of enemies and protect the kingdom. There are a variety of towers to choose from, each with its strengths and weaknesses. Players must carefully select which towers to build to create an effective defense. Highly replayable, the Kingdom Rush series offer multiple difficulty levels to choose from, and each level can be played numerous times to earn achievements and unlock new content.
7. Plague Inc.
Miniclip’s Plague Inc is a difficult offline strategy title in which players attempt to spread a virus across the globe. Sound familiar? Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, this title continues to be popular on iPhone. Plague Inc includes various disease types for players to experiment with as they attempt to end all life on earth, such as bacteria, fungi and parasites.
Plague Inc requires tactical thinking as the world will attempt to snuff out your plague before it wipes out all life. With varying symptoms and side effects, players will need to utilize separate strategies to spread different plagues. If this all sounds too doom and gloom, Plague Inc also features a mode in which players attempt to save humanity from a deadly plague. Despite its 2012 release, Plague Inc remains one of the top simulation titles on the App Store and a genuine contender for the best offline iPhone game.
Available on the App Store
6. Terraria
Re-Logic’s Terraria offers up a 2D sandbox game with gameplay that revolves around exploration, building, crafting, combat, survival and mining, playable in single-player and multiplayer modes. It is known for its classic exploration-adventure style of gameplay.
In Terraria, players are dropped into a procedurally generated world and are free to explore, build and fight as they see fit. Terraria features various items, weapons and armor that players can collect and use to progress. Players can also build their homes, towns and even entire cities. Terraria also has various endgame content, such as bosses, events and challenges. Players looking for a challenge can try to defeat Terraria‘s bosses or complete the titles various events.
5. Stardew Valley
Currently, the top RPG on the App Store, Stardew Valley, is an adorable farming role-playing title. Stardew Valley starts with the player inheriting their grandfather’s old farm. Players fix up the farm, build coops and barns, and raise livestock. While you’ll raise typical livestock such as sheep and goats, the game also lets players raise dinosaurs and void chickens. Players will also grow crops and explore vast caverns where dangerous creatures dwell and enticing treasures await. Additionally, Stardew Valley lets you choose from one of 12 potential spouses, settle down and raise a family. A relaxing and unique role-playing game, Stardew Valley is a gem of a mobile title.
4. Bastion
Bastion is an action role-playing game developed by Supergiant Games and published by Warner Bros. In Bastion, players control the Kid, a young boy who must travel across a ruined world in search of a place to call home. Bastion is played from an isometric perspective and players use a variety of weapons and abilities to fight enemies.
Bastion is notable for its unique art style inspired by watercolor paintings. There is also a dynamic narrator who provides commentary on the player’s actions. Bastion offers innovative gameplay that combines elements of action, role-playing and adventure games. If you are looking for a visually stunning, engaging and challenging game, then Bastion is worth checking out.
3. Oxenfree
Oxenfree by Night School Studio follows rebel teen Alex as she, her friends and her stepbrother party overnight on an abandoned military island. However, things get hairy after Alex accidentally unlocks a ghostly rift. Oxenfree utilizes a unique radio mechanic which lets Alex commune with the dead and manipulate her environment.
Relationships between characters are affected by dialogue choices and each decision alters the storyline. Players will get to the bottom of multiple mysteries as they explore the island and experience unsettling time loops. Oxenfree offers a deeply compelling plot, engaging characters and unique game mechanics, all of which make it one of the best narrative titles on mobile.
Available on the App Store
2. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
In Bioware’s classic, Baldur’s Gate II, players take control of a character imprisoned by the evil wizard Irenicus. The player must escape from Irenicus’s stronghold and track him down to Faerûn, where he is searching for a way to become a god. Along the way, the player will encounter a variety of companions, each with unique abilities and stories.
Baldur’s Gate II offers an engaging story that keeps players hooked from beginning to end. The title’s characters are well-developed, and the story is full of twists and turns. Baldur’s Gate II has multiple difficulty levels, and players make different choices throughout, many of which affect the story’s outcome, making it very replayable.
1. Xcom Duology,
In Firaxis’ classic XCOM games players control XCOM, an organization tasked with defending Earth from alien invasion. Players must build a base, research new technologies and train soldiers to fight aliens. Tactical and turn-based, Battles unfold on a grid and players must employ their skills and best strategies to defeat a variety of different aliens.
The series is highly replayable, thanks to its various difficulty levels and the myriad ways players can approach each mission. If you are a fan of turn-based tactics games, then the XCOM duology is worth checking out. Every game proves challenging, engaging and full of strategic depth.
If you are looking for even more games to add to your mobile library make sure to check out some of our other lists: Best iPhone Games 2023 or Best iPhone RPGs 2023
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