If you use an iPhone, don’t miss out on these best iPhone games of all time.
In the interest of fairness, these selections are presented alphabetically.
Angry Birds 2
Choose your bird.
Larry Lunchbox / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Daily challenges keep you engaged.
It’s free to play.
Pop-ups give a shot to get you to go to Facebook.
Larry Lunchbox / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
May be too complicated for younger players.
If you’ve never played anAngry Birdsgame, start here.
Clash of Clans
Larry Lunchbox / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Awesome mustaches!
throttlelwp44 / Flickr / Public Domain
Use Practice Mode to brush up on battle skills.
Sufficiently challenging to keep you engaged.
Can’t control what’s targeted.
Bago Games / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Your account may not follow you if you change devices.
The raiding system could be improved.
Clash of Clans has dominated the App Store charts for several yearsand with good reason.
Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay / CCO
There’s nothing like the cry of a barbarian to keep your spirits up.
Clash Royale
throttlelwp44 / Flickr / Public Domain
LikeClash of Clansbut a different genre.
If you like to collect cards, this game’s for you.
After four wins, must wait hours for your chest to open.
You may feel forced to spend money.
How do you take a big property and make it even bigger?
Halfbrick
By thinking about what makes the core so compelling and building a whole new game around that.
Crossy Road
Bago Games / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Simple design that looks great on iPhone.
Timeless arcade game appeal.
Warner Bros
Engaging and keeps you wanting to play.
Pop-up adds get annoying.
Chances of getting duplicate characters seems high.
Blizzard
Has a tendency to freeze during gameplay.
Just cross the road and don’t die in the process.
Cut the Rope GOLD
Alexas_Fotos / Pixabay / CCO
Based on realistic physics.
Halfbrick
Easy and fun but still challenging.
YouTube channel offers fun cartoons and videos.
Not free to play.
Studio Pixel
May be difficult for younger players.
Costs to unlock the third season.
Instead of trying to make the nextAngry Birds,the developers wanted to make the next physics puzzle hit.
Ironhide
And it worked.Cut the Ropewas as popular as it was fun, andCut the Rope GOLDbuilds on that goodness.
Getting it into his mouth, however, requires careful planning and quick fingers.
If you likeCut the Rope GOLD,check out Cut the Rope 2 and Cut the Rope Magic GOLD.
Square Enix
unit 6
A book that’s a game?
The ending is a bit weak.
At $3.99, it’s in the middle of the typical price range.
Unplayable for the deaf or hard of hearing.
Call them gamebooks, interactive fiction, or narrative adventures.
No matter your preferred label, there’s no denying that turning reading into play is an absolute blast.
gear 6isn’t a traditional gamebook by any means, but that’s exactly what makes it so enticing.
Rather than following a choose-your-own-adventure style,gear 6presents individual chapters formatted as works of art.
Don’t expect obvious answers, though.
Fireproof Games
Fruit Ninja Classic
Halfbrick
Awesome sound effects.
Four modes offer lots of play selection.
Play on your own or with friends.
Can be a glitchy.
Did we mention the ads?
Some pricey in-game purchases.
grapefrukt
Slicing and dicing fruit has never been easier to clean up than when done on your iPhone.
Heads Up!
Warner Bros
A great family game; the kids will love it!
Completely entertaining and very funny.
Need to buy trivia decks to keep playing.
A bit glitchy on later iOS versions.
Terry Cavanaugh
Sound effects can drown out the videos.
To play, gather your friends.
Then, place your phone on your forehead while it displays a word.
One Man Left
Everyone else needs to help you guess that wordthe faster, the better.
The object of the game is to guess as many words as you could in 60 seconds.
There’s something for everyone.
Super Evil Mega Corp
Hearthstone
Blizzard
Out for years but constantly adding new cards.
The game is easy to learn.
Play alone or with friends.
Connection problems and long lead times.
Some cards are expensive.
Requires an internet connection to play.
None of them can hold a candle toHearthstone,though.
Jetpack Joyride
Easy to play.
Fun for any age.
Must purchase coins to advance.
Gets repetitive after a while.
There are thousands of endless runners on the App Store.
From lasers to missiles to electric gates, there’s plenty to dodge, duck, and dive through.
And, with how fast things will be moving, you’ll want every advantage you could get.
Kero Blaster
Studio Pixel
Great controls.
Short and on the easy side.
A bit pricey at $5.99.
No updates since 2017.
Many gamers lament the struggles they’ve had with platformers on mobile devices, and rightly so.
Kingdom Rush
Ironhide
Different geographies and environments per level.
Challenging, with multiple ways to play each level.
Not all heroes level up.
Some of the in-game purchases are expensive.
Some of the more intense levels can be laggy.
You might also be interested in Kingdom Rush Frontiers for and Kingdom Rush Origins.
Lara Croft GO
Square Enix
Best ofTomb Raiderfor iPhone.
More than 100 puzzles to keep you busy.
Great controls and visual design.
Puzzle game aficionados may find the game somewhat easy.
Some puzzle hints require in-game purchases.
It’s a short game for the price.
Whether you’re sneaking up on a snake or trying to avoid a trap, timing is absolutely everything.
Apple selected this game as a 2015Game of the Year.
Monument Valley
Beautiful visuals.
Expansion sets to continue gameplay.
Surprising and challenging puzzles.
The storyline isn’t terribly complex.
Gameplay can be slow.
You step into the role of Ida, a princess on a mission.
In opening new paths for Ida, you feel less like a gamer and more like a caretaker.
The game was so compelling that it actually provided an important plot point in the show’s third season.
Ridiculous Fishing A Tale of Redemption
The game packs a lot of humor.
Hasn’t been updated since 2017.
May not be kid appropriate because of the violence.
Not optimized for iPhone X.
Fishing is typically a calming, tranquil activity.
So, what could make it ridiculous?
The Room Pocket
Gorgeous graphics.
Totally cerebral and engaging.
Not updated since 2020 (iOS 9).
Free to try, but costs to unlock the whole game.
Place a gear to turn a switch to open a drawer.
The Room Pocketis the very best kind of cerebral experience.
The only problem is that once you finish, you’ll find yourself wanting more.
Apple Game of the Year 2014 winner.
Optimized for iPhone X.
Learning curve if you don’t love numbers.
At $5.99, it’s a bit pricey.
This can happen sooner than you expect if you’re not careful.
As a result, you’re able to end up pushing pieces into problematic places.
rymdkapsel
grapefrukt
Minimalist puzzle game with great visuals.
Easy to play, hard to conquer.
Must play it to understand it.
Difficulty increases dramatically after wave 20.
The artificial intelligence could be improved.
Games that have tried to tackle real-time strategy on mobile devices have rarely met with good results.
Other thanrymdkapsel,that is.
Spaceteam
Absolutely hilarious fun.
Play with friends in the same room or elsewhere.
Fantastic for family get-togethers.
Free to play, but upgrades cost $4.99.
The graphics are a bit retro.
Some of the gameplay isn’t intuitive.
Super Hexagon
Terry Cavanaugh
Supports iPhone X.
Game is touchy, requires exact timing.
May be difficult for younger kids.
Super Hexagonis the digital equivalent of a high-G training centrifuge.
But, like any good gamer, you strap in again for another go.
You’ll best this.
You finally break 18 seconds.
You feel like a hero.
Tilt to Live
One Man Left
Fun to play and engaging.
Post your high scores on social media.
iPhone XS or XR resolution not supported.
Can be a bit buggy.
May be inappropriate for younger kids.
It’s a game of avoidance and survival.
Tilt your iPhone to guide a little arrow safely through a sea of vicious red dots.
If the dots reach a power-up, they can turn the tables, but only for a short time.
Vainglory
Super Evil Mega Corp
Battles are faster paced than in similar titles.
Frequent updates and new skins.
Characters are really well designed.
In-game purchases can hit $49.99.
In-game tutorials would be helpful.
Beginners may have a hard time scaling up.
MOBAs, or multiplayer online battle arena games, have exploded in popularity in recent years.
FromLeague of LegendstoDOTA 2toSmite,PC gamers have gobbled these free-to-play team-based challenges up like so many fallen minions.
MOBAs have been a much tougher sell.
Vaingloryis the one exception to this rule.
