Save bandwidth, have fun wherever you are
Limited on data? Want a game you can play no matter where you are? This list of the 18 best offline gaming apps for iPhone and iPad is sure to take your interest.
Quite frankly, the games in this list are amongst some of the best mobile games of all time. It’s just a bonus that all of these games can also be played offline.
Table of Contents
We’ve picked out games from a wide range of categories so make sure to scroll through the list to find games that take your fancy.
Life Is Strange – Excellent Storytelling
![Life is Strange Mobile Out Now Trailer [PEGI]](https://www.switchingtomac.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-youtube-lyte/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FB-YnKltyP0o%2F0.jpg)
Life is Strange is a storytelling experience where you follow the life of a girl called Max. She has the power to rewind time, and it’s your choice to help guide her through difficult challenges and avoid outcomes she sees in her visions. The choices you make will ultimately make a difference in how the game plays out, but one remains the same, the more you play, the more you’ll be sucked into the emotional, gripping storytelling.
Life is Strange is played out in episodes, with the first one being free – the rest must be paid for. If you get the season pass, you’ll get all five episodes for $8.99.
Dead Cells – Gripping Action Platformer
Dead Cells is a critically acclaimed action platformer that has been doing the rounds on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Now, you can get Dead Cells on iOS too. Dead Cells on iPhone and iPad is a little behind the other platforms in terms of content updates, but it’s essentially the very same game.
You play as a strange humanoid form as you fight against creatures, unlock abilities and items, and try to avoid inevitable permadeath. Dead Cells will set you back $8.99 but it’s worth every cent.
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI – Historic War Strategy
Sid Meier’s Civilization series is the closest you’ll get to knowing what it feels like to build a civilization and fight for world domination. With this offline gaming app, you start with just a small group of settlers looking to build their first settlement. After, you start to build more resources, grow your population, and discover technology throughout the entire history of mankind.
To begin with, you’ll only be able to defend your civilization with nothing but spears and primitive bows. Hours will go by without you noticing, and you’ll then be at the forefront of modern war with planes, tanks, and more.
Civilization VI is free, but you only get 60 turns. After that, you must pay $19.99 to get access to the full game. It seems like a lot, but Civilization on mobile is very close in comparison to the fully-fledged PC version.
The Battle of Polytopia – War Strategy, But Free
If you don’t want to pay $20 for a game on your mobile, The Battle of Polytopia is a good alternative to Civilization. It has a similar theme – you find a place to settle, and then must gather resources and fight other settlers as you start to evolve your army.
The Battle of Polytopia is far simpler than Civilization and games won’t take nearly as long, but some may consider that a pro, rather than a con. Also, The Battle of Polytopia is free to play.
Star Wars: KOTOR – Timeless RPG Classic
The original release of Star Wars – Knights of The Old Republic (KOTOR) was in 2003 for Xbox and Windows PC. Since then it has been ported to mobile. It’s a role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe, roughly 4,000 years before the events of the original Star Wars movies.
KOTOR features turn-based combat, Star Wars-themed RPG skills and force powers, and a party system that will feel familiar to any old-school RPG players. KOTOR costs $9.99 but you’ll get hours upon hours of engaging gameplay out of it.
Alto’s Adventure & Alto’s Odyssey – Captivating Endless Runners
Alto’s Adventure is an endless runner game where you take control of a snowboarder as they make their way through all sorts of crazy dips, dives, and jumps. Alto’s Adventure and the sequel, Alto’s Odyssey are simple in premise, but they draw you in with beautiful scenes, music, and oh-so-satisfying snowboarding that just never gets old.
Both Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey are available for iOS and iPad for $4.99.
Monument Valley 1 & MV 2 – Impressive Indie Puzzlers
Monument Valley 1 & 2 are a series of puzzle games that never fail to blow the player’s mind. You must take a character through 3D mazes that essentially show themselves to players as living, breathing optical illusions.
Monument Valley is as far out of the box as it gets when it comes to puzzle games. Monument Valley 1 is $3.99, but you can get Monument Valley 2 for free.
BADLAND 1 & BADLAND 2 – Beautiful Action Adventure Series
BADLAND is like one of those mind-boggling console action platformers that takes the stage and grabs more awards than games like Call of Duty or Battlefield. Except it’s now on mobile too. To put it simply, the BADLAND developers hold that level of passion and creativity for their games that many triple-A publishers seem to have lost.
You can immerse yourself in the action-adventure world of BADLAND 1 for just $0.99, and if you complete it, BADLAND 2 is also available for $0.99.
Stardew Valley – Relaxing Farming RPG
Stardew Valley is the most relaxed simulation RPG game you’ll get your hands on. In Stardew Valley, you get to build a farm, grow crops, and raise animals. There are many games with similar concepts on mobile, but they often use energy timers to restrict your gameplay in some way.
Stardew Valley isn’t like that – it’s an offline gaming app that’s just that, without any extra monetization methods. And, ultimately it’s just so fun to get lost on your farm. Stardew Valley costs $7.99 but there are no extra in-app purchases.
Minecraft – Sandbox Exploration At Its Finest
Minecraft is one of the world’s most popular games. It’s so popular because it appeals to such a wide audience. From preschoolers to seniors, Minecraft opens itself up as a game that’s easy to get to grips with but has so much depth to it.
In Minecraft, you start with nothing and must cut down a tree to get wood so that you can craft your tools. As you play more, you’ll be able to find rare ore, build more powerful tools and armor, and fight against different creatures.
There’s so much more to it, but you have to try it for yourself to understand it. Ultimately, there’s no main goal for Minecraft besides having fun with exploration and building. Minecraft is available on iOS for $6.99.
2048 – Quick, Quirky Puzzler
In 2048, you start with a blank board of tiles. If you swipe your finger, a new block with the number 2, or 4 will appear. If you swipe two of the same numbers together, they join together into one tile. The goal is to try and swipe together tiles to build up a tile with the value of 2048.
The difficult part is that with each swipe, your screen fills up and it won’t be long before you have no room to swipe your tiles freely. If the whole board fills up, it’s game over.
2048 is a simple offline gaming app, yet addictive and it can be downloaded for free.
Fallout Shelter – Addictive Sim Game
Fallout Shelter is a micromanagement game where you must build your post-apocalyptic bunker, known as a vault. You must make sure your inhabitants, known as vault dwellers, are happy by managing food, power, and resources. As you grow your vault larger, management becomes more challenging.
Fallout Shelter is available on iOS for free.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Classic Action Game
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a classic action console game from 2004 that has since been ported to mobile. It features all of the same open-world action that the original had. You’re free to drive recklessly through the streets, shoot it out with the police or other criminals, and progress through the crime-packed story campaign.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is available for $6.99.
Terraria – 2D Action RPG
Terraria is a massive open-world 2D action RPG game where you must gather resources, build a base, and fight against monsters and bosses to get hold of the best loot.
Terraria is often considered the 2D version of Minecraft, but in many ways, it’s more than that. There’s so much more depth when it comes to character progression, challenges, and combat.
Terraria is available for $4.99 on iOS and iPad.
Krystopia: A Puzzle Journey – Immersive Puzzler
Krystopia is a puzzle adventure game with some beautiful 3D graphics. In Krystopia, it’s your job to interact with your surroundings to find a way to solve different puzzles. You’ll be using objects, laser beams, robots, and more to solve puzzles. Each level in Krystopia is also held together by a beautiful, light-hearted story.
Krystopia: A Puzzle Journey is free but you must pay $1.99 to access all chapters of the game.
Summary
That brings us to the end of our overview of the best offline gaming apps for iPhone and iPad. Which games on this list have you tried? Or maybe you have some suggestions of your own? Why not get involved in the comments section below.
