What are the best iOS games without in-app purchases?

The rougelike game design combined with the huge amount of choices that can be made in both encounters as well as ship management makes FTL a highly strategic game as you never quite know what the game is going to throw at you. There are many decisions that can be made in the game, such as what parts of an enemy ship to target (their shields, their weapons) or where to concentrate your defensive strategies, such as powering up an ion engine to run, or powering up ones shields to stay and fight. These choices can all effect the final outcome of the game, so it is up to the player to make the best decisions at their disposal. There are also many choices of ships to use and equipment layouts for each that can be tweaked. Depending on the ship used and what equipment is used or where it is place can greatly affect how the game will play out as well as how the game will need to be played. If choosing a fast ship with low shield power, it will be best to outrun a lot of encounters. Where as if choosing a slow ship with good gun capabilities and a high shield power, a good strategy would be to go in guns blazing for each encounter. See More

Top Pro

Allows for highly strategic gameplay

Top Con

Lackluster interface on iPad

The weapons panel often covers up vital information on ones crew health. The problem being that this panel needs to be on screen when in a battle, which is also the exact time that crew health is very important. See More

Top Pro

Great touch controls

Even though the game was designed to be played with a keyboard and mouse originally the touch controls work exceptional well. Some could argue better that keyboard and mouse. The gameplay and design lends itself very well to the touch screen, which makes playing the game a joy on iOS. See More

Top Con

Late game battles are long and boring

In the later parts of the game battles are very long which can make for a bit of a boring experience, especially for those that would rather be exploring than spending so much time on battles. See More

Top Pro

Has modding support

There are multiple mods available for FTL that can greatly change up the gameplay and looks of the game. This adds a lot of replayability to the title. See More

Top Pro

Morality based decisions

The game works a lot like a text adventure in a roguelike wrapper. The decisions asked of the player during this adventure can affect much of the stories plot, making for an interactive story through choices such as telling aliens you are a god in order to potentially receive less trouble in your encounter with them, to abducting aliens in order to sell them for a profit. One choice may appeal to the player more than another, it also provides a way to role play as a morally bankrupt space captain. All in all though this is all up to the player, which can be really fun to see what may happen. See More

Top Pro

iOS version includes extra content over the PC version

The PC version of the game had extra DLC that one could pay for to extend the games gameplay. This content is included in the iOS version for the singular price of $9.99. So could be argued the iOS version is the better deal for the price. See More

The way the game plays out there are many story options that will be triggered due to previous choices in the game. Being that it branches out like this it will take many playthroughs to experience all of the stories options. See More

29 Other Games Considered

80 Days

Top Pro

Branching story that will take multiple playthroughs to experience it all

Top Con

Single playthrough is short

Lasting about 2 hours a single playthrough is pretty short, though with all the branching story triggers there is plenty of reason to play over and over again. See More

Specs

Genre:Gamebook / RPG

With the vast swath of options in 80 Days players will be hard pressed to replay the same scenarios more than once. See More

Controller Support:No

Top Pro

Very replayable

Top Con

Unintuitive user interface

The inventory system in the game can be hard to understand at first and it can be difficult to control the scrolling of text in some areas. See More

Top Pro

Stylish design based on Jules Verne

With the Steampunk motif and the way that the game transitions, users can see that a lot of style and imagination was used in the creation of the game. Being that it is based off of Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in 80 Days", fans of the author should find a lot to like here and those new to the author should be able to find something they like being that it is an established classic. See More

Top Pro

Does not need internet connection to be played

80 Days does not need the device it is being played on to be connected to the internet to be played, which makes for a good game during air travel as well as other places where one does not have an internet connection. See More

Top Pro

Heavily focused on reading

Pretty much a visual novel, 80 Days should interest anyone who enjoys reading and makes for a great introduction to the visual novel genre due to it being spearheaded by a big name in text adventure fiction, Jon Ingold. See More

Top Pro

Exciting subplots to explore

Top Pro

Uncovered routes stay uncovered on next replay

Once completing a playthrough the routes that were uncovered will stay uncovered for the next playthrough, thus helping the player chart better courses the more they play the game. See More

For a series that is regarded as hardcore gaming even on PC, to see this franchise come to mobile is a godsend. See More

XCOM: Enemy Within

Top Pro

Hardcore strategy gaming at it best on a mobile platform

Top Con

Doesn't work on iPhone 8+

Ran great on iPhone 7+/iPad. Will not start on iPhone 8+, no updates from 2k or Apple for a fix. See More

Top Pro

Enjoyable turn based gameplay

XCOM sets the standard as to what to expect in turn based strategy gaming. Players use soldiers to fight off an alien invasion by utilizing cover, flanking and other strategy tactics to defeat the alien baddies on each level of grid based environments. See More

Top Con

Second half of game lacks as many options as first half

The second half of the game feels a bit lackluster in options when compared to the first half. See More

Top Pro

Expansion on what was already a fantastic game

Enemy Within is and expansion on the clasic Enemy Unknown. With Enemy Withing players are given new options such as maps, missions, enemies and of course the new Mech Suits. See More

Top Pro

Turn based strategy works well on touchscreen devices

The gaming genre of turn based strategy lends itself very well to touch screen devices. It is actually easier to interact with the characters on screen with ones fingers instead of a mouse. See More

Top Pro

New upgrade resource, Meld, adds even more variety to gameplay

There is a new resource known as Meld that allows the user to purchase upgrades that has been added to Enemy Within that was not in Enemy Unknown. See More

Top Pro

Ethical choices affect long game

The choices the player makes from what kind of upgrades to use to what soldier to send where on a battle map will effect later game play. See More

The game, by design has the main character dying quite a bit, often very gruesomely and so may not be appropriate for younger players. See More

Limbo

Top Con

May be too dark for children

Top Pro

Great touch controls for a platformer

Touch controls are not known for their accuracy when trying to mimic game pad controls, surprisingly enough the touch controls for Limbo are pretty spot on, making for a really fun and well controlled platformer on the platform. See More

TranquilZhongKui's Experience

too hard See More

Specs

Limbo uses a wide range of puzzles in game that range from simply moving a box to puzzles that have multiple parts and normally do not reveal their secrets until the player has died while trying to solve it. See More

Top Pro

Intricate puzzles

It takes days just to finish the story missions, not to mention side missions, one-off encounters and just plain goofing off. See More

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Top Pro

Hours of gameplay

Top Con

The control scheme does not translate well to touch interfaces

For a game that was originally designed to be played with 14 physical buttons it can be difficult to translate that to a touch screen interface. Sadly that show when trying to play on a tablet or phone. See More

Specs

Genre:Open-world action-adventure

Top Pro

Huge open world

There are 3 huge cities to explore Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas each loosely modeled after certain real-world cities. There's a selection of vehicles, minigames and weird one-off events to find and take part in. See More

Top Pro

Great graphics for a IOS device

Top Pro

Moddable

You can mod this game for real-world cars, or something else. See More

Some new graphics such as character portraits or particular backgrounds look blurry, as if they were not made with high resolutions in mind. See More

FINAL FANTASY VI

Top Con

Not all new graphics look great

Top Pro

New quick save and fast forward features

Mobile games are always in need for a quick way to save and luckily Square has added a quick save to the game. There is also a fast forward feature for those that would like to go faster through some of the many battles. See More

Specs

For what is a completely remade game for the mobile platform one would think it would have been optimized, but apparently Square does not feel it is necessary. See More

Top Con

Tons of lag

Top Pro

All new graphics

All art assets for the game are new, making for a fresh looking game. See More

Hoplite does not take that long to complete. See More

Hoplite

Top Con

Short

Top Pro

Deep gameplay

You must plan your movements and attacks, paying attention to all enemy positions and their attacks. See More

Specs

Genre:Roguelike

Controller Support:None

Hoplite is a turn based game making for something that people can take their time with deciding on their strategy for each move. See More

Top Pro

Turn based

Top Pro

Replay value

There is a good list of achievements that create high replay value. It encourages the user to play very differently in subsequent replays. See More

Top Pro

Randomly generated levels

Each level in the game is randomly generated, making for a different experience every time it is played. See More

Top Pro

Optional continued gameplay

Starting on level 16, the altars get replaced by a portal. The player has the choice to "win" the game by exiting through the portal; or to ignore the portal on that level and venture deeper, aiming for higher scores on progressively more difficult floors. See More

Top Pro

Large assortment of enemies

There is a wide array of enemies to encounter and fight. See More

Even after over 100 hours on this game there is still more to do. See More

Crashlands

Top Pro

Never gets old

Top Con

Cloud saves not through Google services

An extra account will need to be used in order to take advantage of the cloud saving as it does not work with Googles solution to cloud saves. While this does allow for the cloud saves to work cross platform, people may not want to take the extra step to make a new account with Butterscotch Shenanigans. See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure

Controller Support:No

A great mix of chill and energized music, that fits the setting of the game at all times. A pleasure to listen to on its own as well. See More

Top Pro

Great soundtrack that suits the humor and setting of the game quite well

Top Pro

Hours of content just in the main quest alone gives the player plenty to do

For just the medium difficulty setting there is hours upon hours of content, and that's even if you skip all the side quests and just focus on the main story. Plus there are two harder difficulties to try and in the near future a tool will come out which will let you build your own adventures as well as play other people's. See More

Top Pro

Hundreds items to craft in a deep and varied crafting system that will keep the user busy for hours and hours

There are over 500 items that can be crafted in the game, giving the player quite a lot to experiment with and explore when it comes to crafting items. See More

A puzzle game should be quick and easy to pick up and play, but deep and challenging enough that it’s difficult to put down - that’s the cliche ideal. Threes is the embodiment of that ideal. See More

Threes!

Top Pro

Pick up and play

Top Con

Randomness of game can be frustrating

The randomness of what new tiles appear can be frustrating when nothing is lining up very well. See More

Top Pro

Rewarding

The sense of reward one feels as title are combined makes for a very enjoyable game, no matter how many times it is played. See More

Top Pro

Ideal for phones

Being a portrait style game that has large graphics that are meant to be played with one hand, Threes! fits better on a smaller screen device such as phones more so than a tablet. See More

Top Pro

No time limit to solve the puzzles

There's no time limit to force the issue, but that doesn't matter, because it's so damnably slick to both the touch and the brain that you'll throw moves out with the same speed and grace that climbing into a tiny boat forbids. See More

Top Pro

Gameplay suits anyones style

Threes! can suit anyone's play style, whether it is someone who takes their time and considers all option or someone who just blazes through each move without much forethought. See More

It doesn't feature the Immortal Throne expansion. See More

Titan Quest

Top Con

Missing expansion

Top Pro

Pay once to play the whole game

There are no in-app-purchases for this title meaning that one you pay for the game you have all of the content contained within. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing, Hack-and-Slash

Co-Op:2-6 Player Online

This means that there will be some retreading of areas once a save is loaded as the character will not be in the same place as where they were left off. This will waste time and can be frustrating having to do this every time you load the game. See More

Top Con

Save anywhere does not save character placement

Top Pro

Tons of customization

There are 30 different classes of characters to choose from within the game with 150 character skills that they can learn. This way users can customize their character to their liking and playstyle. See More

Top Con

Large file size

The game comes in at 1.34GB, which is quite large and may take up too much storage for those with a limited space. See More

Top Pro

Holds up incredibly well

Titan Quest is over 10 years old now, and it is still widely played. It even saw a remastered "Anniversary Edition" in August of 2016, drawing in more players, old and new. See More

Top Con

Combat feels a little static

Top Pro

Tons of loot to find

There is quite a lot of loot in the game to be found, which can drive the player to continue playing, just to find that better weapon or piece of armor. The loot is also color coded when dropped, which makes it easy to discern what is worth picking up or leaving behind. See More

Top Con

No multiplayer

This is a single player only game on iOS, there is currently no way to play with friends or strangers in the game whatsoever. See More

Top Pro

You can choose the speed you want to play at

Titan Quest is unique among ARPGs in that you get to choose the game speed. You can be a leisurely player and take things slowly, or you can go hard and play the game on very fast settings. The fact that you get to choose adds another level of enjoyment to the game. See More

Top Con

Disappointing loot at later levels

Even when the player has reached a high level, they will often find loot meant for low level characters. This can be frustrating when trying to find better gear and just adds a lot of clutter to ones inventory as the majority of items found won't be that useful. See More

Top Pro

Good amount of replayability

Once the player picks their class, there is no changing to any of the other available 29 classes. This means that if you want to experience each class a separate game will need to be played, making for a lot of replayability for those that would like to experience everything the game has to offer. See More

Top Con

Difficulties above the first one are frustrating

Great game until you finish the first difficulty level. Expectedly, the game gets harder and you die more. Regrettably, they add a 30,000 exp penalty for each death and you go backwards so fast, progress is not possible. Gave up after two tries. See More

Top Pro

Solid touch controls

The touch controls of the game lend themselves well to the type of gameplay found within a loot based action RPG. From tapping to where you want your player to go or who you want them to attack to item inventory, all aspects of the games UI and gameplay work quite well with touching the screen. See More

Top Con

No controller support

There is no MFI controller support for this game, the only controls are touch controls. See More

Top Pro

Easily save across different devices

Cloud saving is included with the title meaning once saved the game can be picked up where left off from a different device. This adds convenience for those that like to play on their phone as well as their tablet. See More

Top Con

Often disappointing loot at later levels

Even when the player has reached a high level, they will often find loot meant for low level characters. This can be frustrating when trying to find better gear and just adds a lot of clutter to ones inventory as the majority of items found won't be that useful. See More

Twin stick shooter style game do not often control great with touch screens due to the lack of tactile feedback, while Pixelbite tries to mitigate this issue as much as possible, it is still a problem in some places. See More

Space Marshals

Top Con

Touch controls not as accurate as they need to be

Top Pro

Stealth-centric

Space marshals gameplay is built around stealth gameplay where the play sneaks around pre rendered stages trying to complete set mission requirements. There are rocks that can be used for distracting enemies as well as plenty of weapons including grenades. See More

Top Pro

Loot reward system

Space Marshals has a loot reward system where in after the player completes a level, depending on how high their rank is for completion allows for a loot reward of corresponding level. See More

Top Pro

Controller support

Space Marshals has built in HID and Nvidia Shield controller support. See More

Before the game even starts you get to choose every little bit of your character's backstory, are you a noble who was forced out of their home and thus started your journey? Or... are you a street urchin who wanted to see the world? You get to craft every meticulous detail, including who your father and family were, who you were as a child, etc. It's very interesting and can get you invested in your character. See More

Mount & Blade : Warband

Top Pro

Being able to make your own personal backstory

CapableTenenet's Experience

You can not play this on an iOS device such as an iPad or iPhone. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Action-RPG, Strategy, Simulation

While you go about your life in the game, you'll see little tabs on the side and be updated about the state of the world, even about stuff you aren't involved in, you'll see who is fighting who, who is at war, who won and lost a battle, who won a tournament. You can be attacked by anyone at any moment while traveling throughout the world, having a small, or big army can determine whether or not the enemy sees you as a threat. It feels like a very believable world. See More

Top Pro

Incredible realism

Top Pro

Tons of amazing mods

There are hundreds of mods for Warband for singleplayer AND multiplayer, including full conversions, more choices, better diplomacy, new modes, weapon mods, and more. See More

Top Pro

Deep RPG mechanics

There are so many deep rpg mechanics in this game it's insane, you can level up with tons of different skills, improve weapon proficiency, as well as basic stats. There's also buying new weapons and armor, horses, etc. You can also upgrade your companion's skills, their weapons and armor, and their stats as well as weapon proficiencies. Basic infantry can also be upgraded to higher positions, upgrading them with better weapons and armor, as well as increasing their skills. There's also a morale system in place when you need to keep all troops happy, make sure you're well stocked with different varieties of food, etc. See More

Top Pro

Realistic weapons and armour

The armour and weapons are based off real life weapons and armour. See More

Top Pro

Endless quests

Yes, you heard me right, now, while the quests may be repetitive, there are TONS of them, and this game does not run out of quests... EVER. You could be playing this game for over 100 real life years and still have quests. They are all set quests, but there will always be lords that need help, guild masters that will give you tasks, farmers that need their village saved. The quests do not run out, and you'll be happy knowing that you'll still have as much quests to do as when you started. See More

Top Pro

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is a part of M&B with Warband and allows for battles as large as 200+ players with tons of different class choices for each player, making for a varied online battle each time. There are also different modes and maps. Warband has a very innovative feature in it's multiplayer that lets you create your own character and have just as much freedom over their customization as you do in single-player! See More

Top Pro

The BEST Mounted Combat of any game

Yes, this game has, hands down, the best mounted combat of all time, riding across the battlefield on your mighty steed and felling an enemy is one of the best feelings. All weapons work on horseback, barring very heavy crossbows, and they are all fun. There's your traditional jousting with a lance in tournaments, but you can also use a greatsword, a sword and shield, a bardiche. With mounted combat like this, other games with mounted combat will seem completely obsolete. See More

Top Pro

Tons of stuff to do

This game is a medieval enthusiast's dream, you can build up a huge army and fight for yourself, become king, be a vassal for a king, choose to be a wandering tournament fighter, a wandering fighter who takes down bandits, a bandit pillaging villages as they see fit, you can get married, and even get involved more deeply into the politics of the world. You can even join a group of rebels to try and overthrow a king, they will, in turn, then be the king of their respective realm. You can go to taverns, and feasts, as well as set up your own feasts after getting married. You can build your own mills, velvet factories, etc, and be a wandering merchant. You can even be a slaver if you wanted to, whenever you defeat bandits or others, you can capture them and sell them to random brokers, which gives you money. The possibilities are endless. See More

Top Pro

Deep economy aspects

Buying and selling items in the single player game can be deeply rewarding but will take a lot of time to learn the ins and outs in order to maximize profit. See More

Top Pro

Old but gold

This is an old game, but it's also a very, very good one. See More

Top Pro

Have your own army to command into battle

You can build up your own army and command them into battle, Total War-style, only with you leading directly and taking place in the battle. There are tons of different commands for you to give out to your army. See More

Top Pro

Impressive & realistic Combat system

The game has one of the most realistic medieval combat systems ever, and it flows very well. There are different ways to control swordplay as well as archery, blocks are done using the mouse and moving it in the direction of the enemy's weapon and clicking the right mouse button. Archery is very realistic is well and there is always a sense of accomplishment when you kill or even hit a target. See More

Top Pro

Deep character customization

There are some missteps in the character customization, but for the most part it's pretty extensive, you can customize your character's entire face structure. See More

Top Pro

Very interesting companion characters

The companion characters are relatively interesting, from the ever hilarious Rolf, to the sad story of Deshavi, they all have their own quirks that make them interesting and a joy to have on your team, they'll interact with other companions, both in good ways and bad ways, and they'll even comment on their homeland when you ride near it. You even have the option of making every single companion a lord should you wish it. See More

For what is a pretty simplistic looking game, Thomas Was Alone offers a truly great story that actually gets the player to care about what are basically squares and rectangles. See More

Thomas Was Alone

Top Pro

Great story

Top Con

Short

The gameplay only lasts about 3 or 4 hours. See More

CapableSjofn's Experience

The game is incredibly pretentious and involves just walking slowly towards an objective for a comparatively short amount of time while playing a badly written caricature See More

Specs

Genre:Puzzle, Platformer

Haunting guitar strums mixed with beautiful piano chords and bits of chiptune creates a very fitting soundtrack. See More

Top Pro

Ethereal soundtrack

Top Pro

Professional narration

What really drives the well crafted story home is the wonderful narration done by British filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and presenter of radio and television, Danny Wallace. See More

On each playthrough of a level, the maps one is tasked with collecting are placed in different places, making for somewhat of a fresh experience each time. See More

CounterSpy

Top Pro

Proceduraly generated goals

Top Con

Content missing from original release

In the original title there were two mode, Russian and American, sadly in the mobile platform ports there is only the American mode. See More

Specs

Genre:Arcade / Action / Stealth

CounterSpy was originally created for the Playstation PSN, meaning this is a console quality game. The sound design as well as the graphics stand out as top notch, putting the game way above what is on offer normally on iOS. See More

Controller Support:HID

Top Pro

Graphics and soundtrack are amazing

Top Con

Poor touch controls

The touch controls are not as responsive as playing with a controller and may take some time to get used to them. See More

The gameplay seamlessly changes from action based combat resembling Secret of Mana or zelda to turn based (when fighting bosses) that resembles Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger. See More

Evoland

Top Pro

Gameplay shifts from action based to turn based

Top Con

Touch controls feel a bit slippery

The transition from PC game to mobile has an issue with the touch controls feeling a bit loose or slippery making for a game that is tough to control at times. Seeing how the majority of the gameplay is action based this can definitely be a detriment to the player. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Mostly Positive

Genre:RPG

Co-Op:No

Controller Support:Yes(Android)

Top Pro

Offers a good bit of nostalgia

Starting the game one is playing something very reminiscent of a classic Gameboy game, many elements borrowed from famous franchises of the time. As the player advance the game changes it's graphics to match all of the popular consoles from the last 30 years and each change resembles many other popular classic. The game definitely brings back many good gaming memories. See More

Genre:Adventure / RPG / Roguelike

Wayward Souls

Controller Support:MOGA / HID

For what is now an eleven year old game the Bioware RPG game mechanics hold up well. See More

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Top Pro

Gameplay holds up well

Top Con

Movement does not work that great on touchscreens

The on screen controls for movement in the game do not work as good as they could giving a sense of non-preciseness. See More

NoblePellonPekko's Experience

The fact that you can See More

Specs

Genre:RPG

Controller Support:HID (Android), No (PC)

Top Pro

Engaging story

Being a role playing game, KotOR has a pretty good story that feel very engaging. See More

Paolo's Experience

Definitely one of the best games ever for me. Lightsabers in a RPG is truly fun, and the great story and character/item customization makes the game very replayable. Also, that plot twist is one of the most memorable in gaming that I have ever experienced. See More

Top Pro

Engaging story thanks to the superb writing

Being a role playing game, KotOR has a pretty long story that the player feels connected to that luckily was written well, making for a good story that is very engaging. See More

KindheartedYhi's Experience

Great for multiple play throughs! See More

Top Pro

You can play both sides

The fact that you can choose both sides is amazing. Not many games do this. See More

Top Pro

Handles Star Wars license well

Seeing things like Jedi vs Sith and politics in the game that are now staples of the newer movies helps to feel as though the game fits into the cannon quite well. With so many movie license games in the past being quick cash-ins it is great to see the Star Wars license used in a manner that fits with the cannon and of high quality development. See More

Top Pro

Longevity through multiple playthroughs thanks to the sheer amount of text and choices to be found in the game

The games story is pretty deep and the text that can be found within that, tells it will take multiple playthroughs to see it all, making for not only a good reason to play many times, but creates the feeling of a very deep universe. See More