The best free iPhone games of 2021

Date:
Thu, 08 Jul 2021 10:54:45 +0000

Description:
The best free games for every iPhone, from the iPhone 12 Pro to the iPhone SE.

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Free iPhone games have a reputation for being rubbish and full of IAP. But whether you've got an iPhone 12 Pro Max , an iPhone SE (2020) , or any other model, loads of superb free titles await your twitchy gaming thumbs if you know where to look.

To save you the effort of finding them, weve compiled the best here, split into handy categories. So if you fancy an arcade blast, a brain-bending puzzle, or a thrilling racer for free read on.

Plus, check back every month for our latest favorite free iPhone game, which you'll find below. These are the best free PC games of 2021 Best new free iPhone game (Image credit: Marcus Dobler Applications UG (haftungsbeschrnkt)) 10

10 is a rare puzzle game that offers something new. The game begins as a set of numbered discs surrounding a three-by-three field. Tap one and it shoots across until it cant go any further. Matching discs link up (horizontally, vertically and diagonally) and vanish when the groups size equals the numbers on the discs. Make enough matches and the field expands and the numbers you contend with get larger.

At first, 10 baffles. You play at the fields edges and success appears to be dependent on luck. Although the latter concern never entirely goes away, you soon realize that with careful placement, you can fashion floating structures at the fields center to wrap discs around, gradually working your way to the point where you can chain the hallowed ten 10s. This one needs time, then
but is rewarding once it clicks. Keep your mobile secure with one of these best iPhone VPN apps

Our favorite free iPhone arcade games, including brawlers and fighting games, auto-runners, party games, pinball, and retro classics. (Image credit: Robert Qiu) Zombie Football

Zombie Football is a deranged mash-up of exciting touchdown runs, The
Walking Dead, and classic coin-op Gauntlet. In each level, the traditional green football field is peppered with obstacles, and hordes of lurching, ravenous undead. Clearly, the ratings needed a nudge.

Your aim in this free iPhone game is to not get horribly killed. You must figure out how to coax zombies this way and that (thereby clearing a path for your touchdown), avoid speed-sapping mud, and grab energy-boosting food thats lying around. (Dont think too much about the hygiene ramifications.)

Its an entertainingly daft blast, not least when you realize your burly footballer cant even stomp through cones, and so must gingerly thread his way through the gnashing, toothy opposition. Also, there are no ads, timers, or other cruft free really does mean free here. (Image credit: Gionathan Pesaresi / TechRadar) Yokai Dungeon

Yokai Dungeon is a fast-paced arcade title that involves running about and squashing demons. Its set in a series of linked arenas, which are peppered with movable objects you can use to unsportingly squash your adversaries against a wall.

The Japanese-themed game looks superb, whether youre moseying to the between-stages shop or taking on one of the large bosses in an end of stage battle. Most importantly, it plays really well, with fluid and intuitive controls.

With its grid-like structure and non-stop action, old hands might detect a hint of Bomberman; veterans will find Pengo coming to mind. But despite such retro inspiration, and the old-school pixel art, Yokai Dungeon feels every
bit the modern iPhone title, with a sleek design, bite-sized battles, and approachable gameplay thats suited to newcomers and seasoned gamers alike. (Image credit: TechRadar) Knight Brawl

Knight Brawl takes the amusingly bouncy physics and frenetic skirmishes from Colin Lanes mobile sports gems Dunkers 2 ; Touchdowners ; Rowdy Wrestling and applies them to knights who fancy getting a bit stabby.

Your knights leap about the place in a somewhat controllable manner. With
deft button taps and a little luck you can quickly relieve opponents of helmets and shields, prior to delivering the killing blow.

Only thats barely scratching the surface, because Knight Brawl is absurdly generous with what you get. There are multiple battle modes and also quest-like missions, where you get to leap into a castle and duff everyone
up. Its bonkers, entertaining, superb stuff, and seriously raises the bar on Lanes work which was already impressive to start with. Project Loading

Project Loading is a speedrun arcade test about the adventures of a loading bar on its way to reach 100%. Yes, you read that right: the star here is the bane of many computer users existence a loading bar.

In Project Loadings universe, though, loading bars dont slowly inch from left to right they must cope with slow-down and speed-up mats, deadly giant crosses and bouncers. To aid their way, there are restart points, and gold stars to collect, but everything happens against the clock. Theres no
dawdling for loading bars here.

Its an interesting conceit, lifted by clever level design, arty visuals, and responsive tilt controls. However, given how tricky later stages are, youll likely never gripe about a standard loading bar again. Boost Buddies

Boost Buddies is a twitch-based arcade effort, where youre a cat in a box, trying to reach a crown. Fortunately for the cat, the box is rocket-powered, boosted every time you tap. Less fortunately, between the cat and the crown are things.

Sometimes youre pitted against massive laser beams or swinging axes. Occasionally youre blown about by fans, or chased by critters. Quite whats going on, weve no idea, but its a lot of fun figuring out how to beat each test, and stringing together high scores.

Do well enough and you can add to your menagerie of boosting beasts, each of which get their own music and background visuals. And while the games basic nature means sessions dont last an age, its always good for giving you a
quick boost yourself. Williams Pinball

Williams Pinball recreates and augments a range of classic Williams tables on your iPhone. It then bakes them into a freemium business model thats, perhaps surprisingly, actually pretty good.

Select a starter table, and that ones unlocked from the get-go. Youll be playing this one a lot , so choose wisely. (The superb Attack From Mars is a good bet.) You then partake in daily challenges to boost your XP, win parts, and unlock other tables.

Eventually, tables are unlocked for offline play, and optionally have
animated components, like Zen Pinballs more fantastical tables. Getting there is a grind, but youre playing superbly simulated pinball, so thats no great hardship. And even though pinball is admittedly a bit fiddly on the iPhone, any progress made is instantly zipped across all your devices via iCloud. Unicycle Giraffe

Unicycle Giraffe is a balancing game that features a unicycle and a giraffe. Unfortunately for the giraffe, it attempts to ride said unicycle not a comfortable state of being for the typical ungulate. Its all very comical, though, as your giraffe wobbles left and right, before seconds later inevitably crashing to the floor in a tangle of legs and neck.

Despite being a one-note game, Unicycle Giraffe rewards mastery with the
sheer thrill of staying seated for a few precious extra seconds. Rescuing yourself from very nearly overbalancing is fun, and extra risk comes by way
of coins and bombs to tap elsewhere on the screen.

Theres little longevity, of course (short of upgrading the animal with new hats and skins), but this ones endearing, and always good for a quick blast. Dont Trip

Dont Trip has you direct stompy feet through increasingly surreal terrain. You start off in a kitchen that could do with a tidy-up. Last long enough and you find yourself avoiding crazed vacuum cleaners decked out with knives and axes. Eventually, you end up fleeing from lava, splashing in swimming pools and walking in space.

This all comes off as quite trippy, and thats only exacerbated by the viewpoint and controls. Everything is zoomed in to the point you can barely see where to head, and the controls have you press the screen to plant a
foot, and rotate your phone to find space for the next step. Dont Trip!
really is a game very much designed with mobile in mind and its all the better for it. Train Party

Train Party is an arcade-oriented puzzle game designed for multiple people
to play together. Between two and 12 people on the same Wi-Fi network do
their best to keep the train on time, largely by laying down tracks in front of it. In order to avoid disastrous derailment, you must also figure out how to deal with roaming wildlife and a renegade track bomber.

There are two ways to play: collaboratively and competitively. In the former case, the train always heads to the player with the most complete track, so you can keep going for as long as possible. In competition mode, though, the train goes around devices in order, and the winner is the last person not to turn the 9:45 to Washington Union Station into a crumpled heap of twisted metal. Beat Street

Beat Street is a touchscreen brawler that wears its influences on its
sleeve. The pixelated art recalls classic beat em ups, and the stop-start gameplay - with occasional unsporting use of baseball bats to bash enemies around the head - smacks of Double Dragon and Streets of Rage.

Yet this isnt slavish retro fare. The game feels familiar, but its set-up is entertainingly oddball (liberating a city being terrorized by sentient, bipedal, suited rodents), and everything is controlled by a single thumb.

The controls could have spelled the end for Beat Street, but - amazingly - they work brilliantly, enabling deft footwork, punches, kicks, special moves, and the means to smash an evil rats face in with a brick. Apart from unnecessary grind-to-unlock levels, Beat Streets the perfect freebie iPhone brawler. PinOut!

If youre a fan of knocking metal balls about, youre likely frustrated with iPhone pinball. Even an iPhone Pluss display is a bit too small, resulting in a fiddly experience replete with eye strain. Enter PinOut! , which rethinks pinball in a manner that works perfectly on the smaller screen.

In PinOuts neon-infused world, you play against the clock, hitting ramps to send your ball further along whats apparently the worlds longest pinball table. Rather than losing a ball should it end up behind the flippers, you merely waste vital seconds getting back to where you were. When the clock
runs out: game over.

The result is exciting and fresh, and the relatively simple mini-tables are ideal for iPhone. Moreover, the games immediacy makes it suitable for all gamers, overcoming pinballs somewhat inaccessible nature.

Our favorite free endless iPhone games where you sprint, jump, drive, hoverboard, dig or pinball to victory or your doom. (Image credit: Digital Will Inc.) Infinity Pinball

Infinity Pinball is endless pinball with a retro bent. You can hang around
as long as you like on each individual table, but the main goal is to blast your ball ever upward to new tables. All this happens while chip-tune music blares in the background. The visuals look like they beamed in from a 1980s console.

The tables are resolutely old-school too all bumpers and targets. But their basic nature makes sense when the primary goal is to climb and it works within the broader concept, which is that youre holding a little retro handheld.

There are nods to modern gaming as well: collectable coins to buy new balls that unlock tables; surreal boss battles; continues. Mostly, though, this one gives you old-school thrills and with the old-school benefit of your thumbs never covering up whats happening on the screen. (Image credit: Yeah Us!) Pumped BMX Flow

Pumped BMX Flow rethinks the long-running Pumped BMX series as a kind of endless runner. The basics remain the same: you hold a button to pedal, let
go when hurtling through the air, use a virtual D-pad to trigger show-off stunts, and tilt your phone to position yourself to land in a non-crashy manner.

The main difference compared to this games predecessors is in the challenges being potentially endless. The Flow mode continues generating jumps until you inevitably wipe out. Theres also Daily Run, where you take on all-comers on a course that refreshes every 24 hours.

In removing finite courses, Pumped BMX Flow has a very different feel from other titles in the series, with a much more chilled out vibe. But when you fancy an additional challenge, you can always pit your skills against players from all around the globe. (Image credit: James Tyrrell) Ready Set Goat!

Ready Set Goat! features an annoyed and stompy goat thats desperately trying to fend off an invasion of evil creeps. Our bovid chum lives at the foot of a tiny valley, with two cable cars dangling above his horned head. Every second or two, a new creep enters into this idyllic yet surreal battlefield.

Your part in this is to prod the screen to make the goat jump, avoiding incoming foes (one hit means game over) or bonking them on the head. Nab more than one without hitting the floor and a gem appears, which when grabbed bestows the four-legged fighter with power-ups.

Its free and there are no ads. Theres no depth either, but Ready Set Goat! doesnt need it - this is a fun, frenetic arcade experience thats perfect fodder for a spare five minutes. (Image credit: Popa Radu) Cyber Drive

Cyber Drive ostensibly recreates that scene from The Fifth Element, where Bruce Willis dives his cab down through layers of traffic in a gigantic neon-tinged futuristic city, weaving through obstacles, until he hits city bottom.

We say ostensibly primarily on the basis that Cyber Drive is an oddly chilled-out take on this idea. The music has a relaxed vibe, the visuals are bright, and the action is more relentlessly quite tricky rather than terrifyingly exhilarating.

But for all that, this is nonetheless a really fun game. In endless mode, whats in your way gradually becomes more crowded, forcing you to start planning your snaking pathway rather than just reacting. If you dont have
that much time to kill, there are finite handcrafted levels to tackle as
well. (Image credit: Erik Hallgren) Star Jolt

Star Jolt puts you in a spaceship, bathes the screen with faked old-school CRT visuals, and then laughs mercilessly as you crash. Repeatedly. This is an endless game of the Flappy Bird variety but that also means it has the kind of compulsion loop that doesnt let go.

Ostensibly, youre collecting space garbage, but this is for some reason lined up neatly in square packages dotted along winding corridors. Also, you belt along at insane speeds, sliding your finger left and right to rotate the landscape, constantly trying to point yourself at empty space rather than a wall.

Death comes often, but because games are so short, youll instantly want to
try again not least because of Star Jolts humor, entertaining hidden features, and eye-popping visuals. (Image credit: ImpactBlue Studios Pty Ltd) Saily Seas

Saily Seas has echoes of Altos Adventure and Tiny Wings, as you seek to survive as long as possible in a beautifully rendered hilly environment. But instead of snow-capped mountains and valleys at sunset, youre pitting your gaming digit against the high seas.

Your little boat climbs often humongous waves as you tap the screen. Other gestures enable you to dive or jump and briefly hang in the air before an inevitably wet landing. At first, such show-off antics are entirely unnecessary, but the game soon lobs all kinds of sea life at you to avoid
and a single collision is game-ending.

With vibrant visuals, gorgeous weather effects, a meditative soundtrack, smartly included checkpoints, and a massive whale always in hot pursuit,
Saily Seas is a free iPhone game that deserves to make a splash on the App Store. (Image credit: TechRadar) Dungeon Drop

Dungeon Drop is an endless faller. It finds you plunging ever deeper into a layered dungeon with an encroaching spiked ceiling in hot pursuit.

Your tiny protagonist cant move of its own accord. In order to escape, you drag platforms left or right, lining up holes to plunge into. However, traps pepper the dungeon, meaning you must ensure you grab objects to get past them unscathed.

Its not like you need much brainpower to realize you need a sword to stab a monster, or a key to unlock a door. But Dungeon Drop moves at serious speed, transforming it into a relentlessly tense affair as you try to beat your high score and end up horribly killed yet again when your fingers cant quite keep up. (Image credit: Future) Race the Sun Challenge Edition

Race the Sun Challenge Edition is an endless flyer. You zoom along in your craft, zigzagging between minimalist structures, and trying very hard to not fly into a wall. But collisions arent your only enemy and thats because your craft is solar powered.

Apparently, no-one in Race the Suns universe has mastered battery storage, because the second the sun sets, your race is over. Fortunately, you can
delay the inevitable by grabbing boosts that reverse the direction of the sun for a few moments. Staying in the light also helps you eke out a few extra yards.

With an eminently fair energy system, gorgeous visuals, and a daily
challenge, this is a must-download, whether or not youre familiar with the
not so free original . Pigeon Wings Strike

Pigeon Wings Strike is an endless flyer, which marries the speed of ALONE , the bullet hell of many a Japanese shooter, and the cute factor of an
animated cartoon.

It initially features a pigeon in a biplane, which you must direct through twisting corridors and caverns, and periodically have shoot down drones and massive enemy airborne battle stations.

The controls are pitch perfect, with one button for speed, another for boost or blasting, and vertical tilt controls for subtle or abrupt changes in altitude.

Its simple stuff, but hugely compelling. And although theres not a ton of depth, Pigeon Wings Strike has multiple characters (each with unique skills) to unlock, and a cleverly designed upgrade system that encourages you to take extra risks when belting along at speeds no pigeon should be subjected to. PAKO Forever

PAKO Forever seemingly takes place in a world where law-enforcement really doesnt want you mucking about in what appears to be the worlds largest
parking lot. The second you move, police cars are on you like a shot, and if one smashes into you, thats your lot.

Pretty quickly, you figure out that you need to drift and snake about to survive and then you start seeing gigantic gift boxes bouncing along. Snag one of those and your car temporarily balloons to giant size, or acquires a handy ball and chain to smash the cops.

Visually, the games quite crude, and the staccato nature of missions can
pall, but for a quick blast of breezy endless driving larks, its a decent install. Will Hero

Will Hero is a superb one-thumb arcade game that features a blocky hero dashing through a world of levitating islands, being all heroic and duffing
up enemies. His foes are mostly bouncing cubes, and you must carefully time dashes to pass beneath them, or engineer collisions to knock them into the abyss.

Crack open a chest you find on your travels, and youll get weapons that transform dashes into violent attacks. Add in the games collectible helms (from unlocking loot crate chests), and youll end up with many potential weapons to choose from, including missiles and colossal swords.

Will Hero is fast-paced, inventive, and a lot of fun. It has a unique feel, and pleasingly bucks convention when you rescue a princess. When you do so, she tags along on subsequent adventures, gleefully hacking away at the
enemies who once imprisoned her. Power Hover: Cruise

Power Hover: Cruise is three endless runners (well, surfers ) for the price of one. It borrows the boss battle levels from the superb, beautiful Power Hover , and expands on them. You get to speed through a booby-trapped
pyramid, avoid projectiles blasted your way by an angry machine youre chasing through a tunnel, and whirl around a track that snakes through the clouds.

This is a gorgeous game, with silky animation and minimal, but vibrant
objects and scenery. The audio is excellent, too the rousing electronic soundtrack urging you on.

There are a couple of snags: games can abruptly end due to difficulty spikes, and the controls initially seem floaty. But we grew to love the inertia,
which differentiates Power Hover: Cruise and makes it feel like youre surfing on air. As for the difficulty, spend time learning the hazards and mastering the game, and youll soon be climbing the high score tables. Dashy Crashy

Although, at its core, this is a fairly standard lane-based survival game (swipe to avoid traffic; dont crash), Dashy Crashy has loads going on underneath the surface. Its packed full of neat features, such as pile-ups, a gorgeous day/night cycle, and random events that involve maniacs hurtling along a lane, smashing everything out of their way.

It also cleverly adds value to mobile gamings tendency to have you collect things. In Dashy Crashy, youre periodically awarded vehicles, but these often shake up how you play the game. For example, the cop car can collect massive donuts for bonus points, and an army jeep can call in tanks just like you wish you could when stuck in slow-moving traffic. Disney Crossy Road

Disney Crossy Road builds on the endless Frogger-style hopping shenanigans found in Crossy Road, mostly by mashing it into a ton of famous Disney properties.

It kicks off with a fairly humdrum take on the original, just with Mickey Mouse instead of a chicken, trying very hard to move ever onwards and not get run over by cars or drown in a river. But you soon start winning coins, enabling you to unlock new characters.

When you get to visit blocky endless takes on Toy Story, Lion King, Wreck-It Ralph, Monsters Inc, and more, sound and vision alike get a major overhaul. Even better: many of these worlds offer subtle changes to the way the game plays, making it more varied, and boosting long-term appeal.

Our favorite free iPhone gem-swap, tile-match, and rhythm action games.
(Image credit: N3TWORK Inc) Tetris

Tetris deserves its fame. Decades after the titles emergence on PC and subsequent mainstream breakthrough on the original Game Boy it remains compelling. And its all so simple: rotate falling blocks to make complete lines, which then disappear, leaving you with more space. Over time, the game speeds up, until eventually the well is full.

With Tetris having been designed for platforms with keys or buttons, it can
be a tricky proposition on touchscreens. But N3TWORKs take is responsive, giving you a fighting chance at high scores. Its also the most retro iPhone Tetris weve seen in a long time, eschewing bells and whistles for a straightforward take on the game, with only a single optional IAP to remove the ads.

No marks for ambition, then, but this free iPhone game is a refreshingly streamlined take on a retro classic. (Image credit: Nitrome / TechRadar) Sprint RPG

Sprint RPG , with its black-and-white stylings and basic first-person maze, instantly transports you back to the halcyon days of retro gaming. Quite some way back, in fact, since its reminiscent of the ancient (yet terrifying) 3D Monster Maze.

Here, though, the aptly named Sprint RPG ramps up gameplay speed. Everything plays out against the clock, and youve mere fractions of a second to make decisions. When confronted by a monster, you need to tap the optimum sequence of actions to proceed. Get the order wrong and youre dead.

Despite its RPG and speedrun trappings, then, Sprint RPG is effectively a match game and one that feels very much suited to quick missions on an iPhone, obliterating gigantic spiders and skeletons until your overworked thumb begs for mercy. Six Match

Six Match is a match-three game with a twist. Rather than arbitrarily swapping gems, you control a character with the oddly literal moniker Mr Swap-With-Coins, and as the games name suggests, he has just six moves after every successful match to make another.

The game wrong-foots you from the start. Any muscle memory you have from the likes of Bejeweled evaporates as you figure out the most efficient way to
make the next match. The result is a game heavy on puzzling and light on speed.

Just when you think youve got it worked out, Six Match throws new mechanics into the mix: diamonds you clear by dropping them out of the well, deadly skulls and cages that push entire lines of coins. The layered strategy should keep you matching for the long term, as you figure out new ways to crack your high score. Tappy Cat

Tappy Cat is a rhythm action game, with you playing as a musical moggie.
Your cat sits before a tree guitar, and notes head out from the middle of the screen along two rails. These must be tapped, held, or tapped along with another note, depending on their color.

This is routine for a rhythm action game, but its the execution that makes Tappy Cat delightful. It feels perfectly tuned for iPhone (your thumbs can always reach the notes), and theres a cat-collection meta-game, rewarding you with new kitties when you totally nail a tune.

The only bum notes are a lives system (a video ad will give you five lives although there is also a $2.99/2.99/AU$4.49 endless lives IAP for those who want it), and the way in which a single major blunder ends your latest
attempt at musical superstardom of the furry kind. Finger Smash

Finger Smash is more or less whack-a-mole with fruit - and a big ol dose of sudden death. You get a minute to dish out tappy destruction, divided up into seconds-long rounds.

In each case, youre briefly told what to smash, and set about tapping like a maniac. Hit the wrong object, and your game ends with a flaming skull
taunting you. (Lasting the full minute is surprisingly tough.)

This is a simple high-score chaser, and so theres understandably not a lot of depth here. However, there are plenty of nice touches. The visuals have an old-school charm, and the music is suitably energetic.

But also, theres the way you can swipe through multiple items, the bomb that ominously appears during the final ten seconds, and varied alternate graphics sets if you feel the need to squish space invaders, fast food, or adorable cartoon robots. Great stuff. Higher Higher!

Minimal arcade game Higher Higher! is another of those titles that on paper seems ridiculously simple, but in reality could result in your thumb and
brain having a nasty falling out.

A little square scoots back and forth across the screen, changing color whenever it hits the edge and reverses direction. Your aim is to tap a matching colored column when the square passes over it.

The snag is that the square then changes color again; furthermore, the
columns all change color when the square hits a screen edge.

To add to your troubles, Higher Higher! regularly speeds up, too, thereby transforming into a high-octane dexterity and reactions test. Combos are the key to the highest scores and, as ever, one mistake spells game over. Blokout

Blokout is a furious, high-speed color-matching game that punishes you for the slightest hesitation. The initial mode plonks you in front of a three-by-three grid, and you have to swap colored squares, Bejewelled-style, to make complete lines, which then vanish.

The timer is the key to the game. A clock sits in the upper-left of the
screen and rapidly counts down, giving you only a few moments to complete a line. If the timer runs dry it's game over; make a line and it resets, giving you another few seconds.

The intensity is therefore always set to maximum, nicely contrasting with the game's friendly, bold colors (which amusingly turn stark black and white the instant you lose); and if you stick around, you'll find further challenges by way of boosters and tougher modes. Threes! Freeplay

Threes! Freeplay is a sliding puzzler with the same kind of compulsion loop found in the likes of Tetris. That might sound like a bold claim, but Threes! really is one of those rare games thats easy to understand but that has
enough depth and strategy to potentially keep you playing for years as you master your tactics.

It takes place on a grid, on which you slide cards. Those that match merge to create ever higher numbers, and new items appear on the side of the grid they moved from. Also, all the cards move as one. Its clever stuff, which becomes apparent the more you play; as does the care and polish within, from the pleasant background ditty to the character and charm infused even into the very cards you move. Triple Town

Triple Town is a think-ahead match game, where you combine trios of things
to make other things. Three bushes make a tree, and three trees become a hut. Through careful positioning and a chess-champions ability to think ahead, you can chain moves together, thereby freeing up the space required to continue evolving your tiny town.

Then there are the bears. For some reason, the place is full of them. Some roam about the place in a semi-random fashion. Others are leapy ninjas. All
of them need to be taken into consideration when laying down new objects. If you fancy a surreal, novel, challenging match game, then, this is definitely
a game to bear in mind. Groove Coaster 2

Groove Coaster 2 is a rhythm action game twinned with a roller-coaster. Everythings on-rails, with you zooming along Rez-like vector pathways, all manner of colorful blocky pyrotechnics spinning and exploding beneath the track. All you need to do is get your timing right, tapping, swiping and rubbing when the icons tell you to.

Only its not that simple. The track flips and lurches, and the stages are designed to give your thumb a serious choreographic workout. As ever, perseverance reaps rewards, by way of massive score-enhancing chains, and, frankly, just the smugness that comes from knowing your prodding perfection means youve got rhythm.

Our favorite free iPhone platform games, from classic side-on 2D games to ambitious console-style adventures. (Image credit: Darius Immanuel Guerrero) HopBound

HopBound starts off like a horror take on Canabalt. You help your tiny sprinting character leap between buildings, before they eventually fall to their doom. But then this free iPhone game gets strange. As additional game styles are unlocked, fragments of story find you immersed in a tale about a recluse journeying through the actual game youre playing, to come to terms with her past. Meta!

Its intriguing stuff, as these worlds interlink in a meaningful way. That said, HopBound also takes no prisoners. Perhaps the biggest hurdle is
sticking with the game as its platform sections casually kill you off time
and time again. Persevere, though, and youll find HopBound a slice of
intense, exciting arcade horror that you feel at any moment might again
reveal itself to be more than it seems. (Image credit: Lucky Kat Studios / TechRadar) Tombshaft

Tombshaft is a game stuffed full of high-octane platforming action. But rather than mirroring Marios horizontally scrolling larks, youre heading deep into the bowels of the planet.

You get just two buttons, which direct your tiny tomb raider left and right. Depending on their particular power, they might be able to slide down walls
to slow their descent, or hover for a bit.

This is vital, because Tombshaft auto-scrolls. End up at the very top or bottom of the screen and you lose a life. But all the bits in between are no picnic either, with enemies aplenty, spikes falling from distant ceilings,
and the occasional very angry boss monster who wants you gone from his tomb and in pieces will do! OCO

OCO is a platform game of a decidedly minimalist stripe. Its levels all take place on circular courses that fit within a single screen. As they rotate,
you prod the screen to jump and thats it.

This could all have been reductive and awful, but OCO excels due to gorgeous visuals reminiscent of modern art coupled with superb level design. You
really have to think about how to grab all of the collectibles and reach your goal. And once you get there, youll discover move-limit and speedrun challenges that force you to upend your existing tactics and figure out new paths to your goal.

As if thats not enough, OCO makes a case for a permanent spot on your iPhone with a daily challenge, and a built-in level editor that lets you share creations with friends. Yeah Bunny 2

Yeah Bunny 2 features a little rabbit sprinting around colorful landscapes, squashing enemies, collecting coins, freeing trapped chicks, and generally being awesome before reaching a goal. Pretty standard platforming territory, then Mario with bunny ears.

Only this games different, because all your direction for the running rabbit comes from a single digit. Tap and the bunny leaps. Hold the screen and the leap is higher. You must therefore figure out how to traverse levels by bouncing the auto-running rabbit off of walls, and ensure during boss-battle pursuits you dont get inadvertently rebounded towards your doom.

You get vibrant visuals, loads of varied levels, and an endearingly cute lead character. Its a fab little platformer, ideally suited to one-thumb mobile play and quick bouts of gaming on the go. Super Cat Tales 2

Super Cat Tales 2 is a platform game that works brilliantly on your iPhone. That in itself is rare, but also this isnt a stripped-back one-thumb leapy game. Instead, its a full-fledged 2D platforming experience reworked for the touchscreen.

The game features a group of cats, determined to save their world from a
robot invasion. They sprint, jump, grab coins, and occasionally hop into
tanks to eradicate the metal aggressors.

Its a visual treat all vibrant colors and chunky pixels. The controls are
fab too a two-thumb system thats ideal for touchscreens, flexible enough to allow for a range of actions, and that transforms challenges into feats of choreography. In short, this is one of the very best platform games on
mobile, and it would be an insult to the creator to not give it a try. Soosiz

Soosiz is a side-on classic platformer of a sort. Most such games echo
Super Mario Bros, having you sprint from left to right, jumping on enemy heads, grabbing bling, and hot-footing it to an exit. Soosiz takes that basic framework, but has you explore tiny chunks of land floating in space, each of which has its own gravitational pull.

As you run, the screen flips and lurches; your brain flips, too, as you try
to figure out which way is up, locate a bunch of tiny critters whove got themselves lost, and not accidentally careen into the void due to a misdirected jump.

But once everything clicks, what amounts to a 2D take on Super Mario Galaxy proves to be a smart, engaging mobile platformer, putting a new spin on the genre. Its Full of Sparks

Its Full of Sparks finds you in a world where firecrackers are cruelly
imbued with sentience. Aware of their imminent demise, they make a beeline
for water to extinguish their spark and therefore not explode. Your aim is to help them make a splash.

Each of the 80 hand-crafted levels takes a mere handful of seconds to
complete at least when you master the precise choreography required. Before then, theres plenty of trial and error as you tap colored buttons to turn hazards and chunks of the landscape on and off, and grab rotors that let you soar heavenward.

Despite occasionally slippy controls, this ones a joy full of personality
and smart level design. Its likely to put a smile on your face even when your firework goes out with a bang. Callys Caves 4

Callys Caves 4 continues the adventures of worryingly heavily armed
pigtailed protagonist Cally, a young girl who spends most of her life leaping about vast worlds of suspended platforms, shooting all manner of bad guys.

For once, her parents havent been kidnapped (the plot behind all three previous games in the series) this time shes searching for a medallion to cure a curse. But the gameplay remains an engaging mix of console-like
running and shooting, with tons of weapons to find (and level-up by blasting things).

But perhaps the best sections feature Bera, Callys ninja bear cub pal. His razor-sharp claws make short work of enemies, resulting in a nice change of pace as the furry sidekick tears up the place. Super Phantom Cat 2

Super Phantom Cat 2 is an eye-searingly colorful side-scrolling platform game. Like its predecessor, this game wants you to delve into every nook and cranny, looking for hidden gold, unearthing secrets, and finding out what makes its vibrant miniature worlds tick.

Its also a game that never seems content to settle and we mean that in a
good way. It revels in unleashing new superpowers, such as a flower you fire at walls to make climbing vines, or at bricks to increase their fragility. It also wants you to experiment, figuring out how critters who are ostensibly your enemies can be coerced into doing your bidding.

The only downside is the presence of freemium elements (ads and an energy system) - although both can be removed with inexpensive IAP if you agree this is one cool cat to hang out with. Drop Wizard Tower

Drop Wizard Tower is a superb mobile take on classic single-screen arcade platform games like Bubble Bobble. Your little wizard has been thrown in jail by the evil Shadow Order, and must ascend a tower over 50 levels to give his enemies a good wanding (or something.)

Its all very cute, with dinky pixelated enemies, varied level design (skiddy ice; disappearing platforms; watery bits in which you move slowly), and fast-paced boss battles against gargantuan foes.

Most importantly, its very much designed for mobile. You auto-run left or right, and blast magic when landing on a platform. Said blasts temporarily stun roaming enemies, which can be booted away, becoming a whirling avalanche on colliding with cohorts.

The auto-running bit disarms at first in most similar games, the protagonist stays put unless you keep a direction button held. But once the mechanics click, Drop Wizard Tower cements itself as a little slice of magic on your iPhone. Swordigo

Swordigo is a love letter to the classic side-scrolling platform adventures that blessed 16-bit consoles. You leap about platforms, slice up enemies with your trusty sword, and figure out how to solve simple puzzles, which open up new areas of the game and move the plot onwards.

The plot is, admittedly, nothing special youre embarking on the kind of perilous quest to keep evil at bay that typically afflicts videogame heroes. But everything else about Swordigo shines.

The virtual controls are surprisingly solid, the environments are pleasingly varied, and the pace ranges from pleasant quiet moments of solitude to
intense boss battles youll struggle to survive. All in all, then, a fitting tribute to those much-loved titles of old. Mikey Jumps

The Mikey series has evolved with every entry. Initially a speedrun-oriented stripped-back Mario, it then gained swinging by way of grappling hooks,
before ditching traditional controls entirely, strapping jet boots to Mikey
in a kind of Flappy Bird with class.

With Mikey Jumps , the series has its biggest shift yet. Scrolling levels are dispensed with, in favor of quick-fire single-screen efforts. Now, Mikey auto-runs, and you tap the screen to time jumps so he doesnt end up impaled
on a spike or plummet to his death.

It sounds reductive, but the result is superb. Devoid of cruft and intensely focused, Mikey Jumps is perfect for mobile play, makes nods to previous entries in the series (with hooks and boots peppered about) and has excellent level design that sits just on the right side of infuriatingly tough.

Our favorite free iPhone logic tests, path-finding challenges, bridge builders, and turn-based puzzlers. (Image credit: Bart Bonte) pink (game)

pink (game) wants you to turn the entire screen pink. What you need to crack is the method and rules for doing so, across 50 challenges that strain logic
- and your brain - to breaking point.

Beyond the sheer challenge of beating the game, its the ingenuity thatll keep you glued to pink. Despite each single-screen test having stark, minimal graphics (albeit a sizable number of flamingos), theres plenty of variety in their design - and the interactions you must perform to win.

If you get stuck - and you will - a lightbulb will show up, offering a hint that you can unlock by watching an ad. Try to avoid doing so, though, because the solutions are - naturally - obvious in hindsight and youll kick yourself for not figuring them out on your own. (Image credit: Rusty Lake) Samsara
Room

Samsara Room finds you in a strange place with no exits. A quick look in the mirror finds your reflection a shadow-like ghost. Objects arent quite what they appear to be, merely giving you further conundrums to explore rather
than a means to escape.

Soon, you discover ways to progress - a path to another room, or perhaps the same one from a different view. Either way, everything goes a bit weird, and you need to further rack your brains to figure out what to do next.

That might all sound vague, but much of the joy in Samsara Room is in the exploration and discovery, so we wont spoil that. Just take it from us that this is very much a bite-sized room escape game, but one that during its
short length has the capacity to frequently surprise, delight, and baffle -
in roughly equal measure. (Image credit: Ian MacLarty) Tile Snap

Tile Snap is based around matching clicky tiles. As in classic gem-swappers, you flip two, and if that move matches three or more tiles, they all disappear. Here, however, nothing appears to fill gaps you make, and so to clear each board, you must be strategic. (Sounds familiar? Thats because this is essentially a free version of the excellent Dissembler .)

Initially, Tile Snap wont give you much trouble, but it eventually ramps up the difficulty level to become a proper head-scratcher. However, for a free iPhone game, its very generous, enabling you to undo moves and experiment. (The only IAP is for hints.)

Visually, its very smart, too like an ultra-modern take on 1970s wallpaper patterns (which is a lot nicer than it sounds). Couple that with clever puzzles and its tactile feel, and youve got one of the best freebies on iPhone. (Image credit: Jussi Simpanen / Adventure Islands) Total Party Kill

Total Party Kill finds a mage, a knight, and a ranger lost in a maze of dungeons. And the architect of these dungeons clearly wasnt planning on
anyone escaping. The floors and walls are littered with spikes and traps, and each single-screen rooms exit is far out of reach.

How you get out turns out to be novel you kill off your allies, and use
their corpses in a darkly comic yet enterprising manner. The knights sword
can hurl a lifeless friend at switches; the mage can freeze allies into
blocks of ice; and the rangers arrows can pin bodies to walls, which can then be used as impromptu platforms.

The concept is fresh and brilliantly realized the game taking a turn towards being properly brain-smashing as you work towards its conclusion. (Image credit: Future) XOB

XOB describes itself as a kinetic puzzle game with a psychedelic poetic aesthetic. Its certainly nailed the psychedelic part its visuals are an arresting mix of low-fi TV fuzz, color-cycling, and chunky shapes.

Fortunately, the games not merely visually arresting the puzzling bit has a lot going for it, too. The aim is to grab a bunch of collectables before reaching a goal. To do so, you drag to tilt the entire landscape. Land on a ceiling, and everything flips. Pathfinding therefore requires precision and thought.

The game exudes confidence from every pore. Also, it has one of the most user-friendly ad models in existence. Youll never see more than 24, and you can watch them all in one go, if you like, for a subsequently permanently ad-free experience. Nice. Invaders 2048

Invaders 2048 is, as its name might suggest, a mash-up of arcade classic Space Invaders, and tile-sliding mobile phenomenon 2048. Usually, we wouldnt be recommending a 2048 game, given that its a massive rip-off of the far superior Threes! , but Invaders 2048 does plenty to differentiate itself.

As ever, you merge tiles by sliding matching pairs together, doubling their face values. Above, alien craft lurk menacingly. At any point, you can
unleash your numbers as missiles, depleting your foes energy reserves.

Invaders 2048 is rounds-based, and so the challenges and pace are shaken up
as you play. And because levels are short, its a super little title to dip into for a few minutes, rather than requiring hours of your life, as Threes! quite often does. Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle

Friday the 13th: Killer Puzzle is more or less classic sliding puzzler Sokoban infused with South Park-style humor, and dressed in the garb of a famous horror series.

As horror icon Jason Voorhees, you slide around each tiny scene to capture campers, cops, inmates, and more besides. On grabbing them, youre greeted to
a splattering of cartoon gore, while the levitating decapitated undead head
of your mother offers sagely advice.

This could so easily have been a gimmicky release, but Friday the 13th:
Killer Puzzle gets everything right. The puzzles are smartly designed,
forcing you to find labyrinthine paths to targets; theres a sense of progression as you unlock new worlds; and the dark sense of humor at the
heart of the game gives it a real sense of character. A Way to Slay

A Way to Slay is a game of epic sword fights reimagined as time-attack turn-based puzzling. You begin each round surrounded by enemies eager to separate your head from your shoulders. A quick double-tap on any of them and you strike with a killing blow but then your opponents get their chance to move, and if youre too near one of them, your innards end up sprayed across the sparse landscape.

Assuming you dont mind quite a lot of red as you go about solving its challenges, A Way to Slay proves itself to be a novel take on turn-based puzzling. And even though your views more limited on an iPhone than an iPad, you can use gestures to pan and zoom the screen like youre directing your
very own stabby Hollywood epic. King Rabbit

King Rabbit has some unorthodox enemies. Having kidnapped his rabbit subjects, said foes have dotted them about grid-based worlds theyve filled with meticulously designed traps.

Mostly, this one is a think-ahead puzzler, with loads of Sokoban-style box sliding. But instead of being purely turn-based fare, King Rabbit adds tense swipe-based arcade sections, with you running from scary creatures armed with rabbit-filleting weaponry.

Really, this isnt anything you wont have seen before, but King Rabbit rules through its execution. Visually, everythings very smart, from the clear, colorful backgrounds to the wonderfully animated hero (and the little jig he does on rescuing a chum). But the puzzles are the real heroes, offering a perfect balance of immediacy and brain-scratching. Moveless Chess

Theres a bit of cheating going on in Moveless Chess . Although your opponent plays a standard game, youre some kind of wizard and apparently dont want the hassle of moving pieces.

Instead, youve limited action points, which are used to transform pieces you already have on the board. (So, for example, with three points, you can cunningly change a pawn into a knight.) The aim remains a game-winning checkmate, and, presumably, avoiding the ire of your non-magic opponent.

Its chess as a puzzler, then, and with a twist thatll even make veterans of the game stop and think about how to proceed at any given moment.

After all, when you get deep into the games challenges, you might find wizarding powers dont always make for a swift win when you cant move your pieces. Mekorama

Mekorama finds a little robot ambling about mechanical dioramas, trying to reach a goal. Its a tactile game, where you spin the tiny world with a
finger, tap to direct the android, and sometimes urge it on by using a lift, or flinging it across the screen with a pulley system.

Its a ponderous game but that suits the aesthetic. Theres polish and consideration in every moment that deserves to be breathed in. Also, its a very generous game, from how it always provides several levels to tackle, to the built-in construction kit when youve finished all the built-in challenges and fancy creating some of your own. If you enjoy your time in Mekorama, do fling the creator some (entirely optional) IAP.

Our favorite free iPhone on-rails, 3D and 2D racers, and trials games. Beach Buggy Racing 2

Beach Buggy Racing 2 is a fast-paced kart racer from the team behind the visually-stunning Riptide series. This one takes place on dry land, though,
as you barrel along, grabbing power-ups and flinging them at your opponents.

The courses arent as bonkers as those in an Asphalt game, but certainly have their moments. One has a dragon that unsportingly barbecues racers, while a pirate-themed course gets all splashy as you race through a half-sunken ship.

You do sometimes wish this was a premium effort. Theres grind and loot boxes, and difficulty spikes are overly apparent when you level up. Even so, Beach Buggy Racing 2 manages to be an exciting, great-looking kart racer, on a platform with far too few entries on this sub-genres starting grid. Asphalt
9: Legends

Asphalt 9: Legends is a madcap, streamlined racer. Much like Super Mario Run has the plumber auto-run, leaving you to time jumps, Legends corners and steers while you focus on timing. You must perform show-off drifts, jumps,
and control frequent blasts of nitro.

The notion of a driving game stripped of steering might seem odd, but it works. Races are exhilarating and the courses become puzzle-like as you
figure out where and when to perform the correct actions. If letting the game do the work is not your cup of tea, there is also a manual option which puts you back in control.

As with all Asphalt games, you spend an unfeasibly long time hurtling through the air; car pinwheeling in a manner that would make even the most maverick stunt-persons eyes widen.

For a visually dazzling, entirely over the top slice of mobile-focused arcade racing, Asphalt 9: Legends is hard to beat. Retro Highway

Retro Highway marries the accessibility of modern mobile titles with the high-skill challenge and aesthetics of old-school racers. Visually, it comes across like Hang On and Enduro Racer (or, if youre not old enough to
recognize those titles, those weird games your dad used to play). But in gameplay terms, were very much in endless survival territory.

As you zoom along, you collect coins and jump high into the air using ramped trucks, gradually unlocking better bikes and new places where you can ride them. Its not a very deep experience, but Retro Highway is fun to dip into when you fancy an exhilarating blast of weaving between lorries at breakneck speed, regularly leaping from ramps, and only occasionally splattering your hapless rider against an overpass. Disc Drivin 2

Disc Drivin 2 is a turn-based racing game. That might make no sense on
paper, but it translates well to the screen, effectively mashing up shuffleboard with high-tech levitating tracks full of speed-up mats, gaps,
and traps.

You can play alone, tackling a daily challenge or partaking in speed-runs.
The latter option is ideal for getting to know the tracks essential when battling other players online. You then swap moves bite-sized chunks of gameplay where you inch your disc around the circuit, in races that can last for days.

There are freemium shenanigans going on, mostly for cards that unlock new
disc powers, and the fixed camera can be frustrating although if youre
facing the wrong way, you should probably resolve to learn that tracks layout a bit better. Those minor niggles aside, this is a compelling, entertaining racer that rewards extended play. Data Wing

Data Wing is a neon-infused story-driven racing adventure. Its also
brilliant - a game you cant believe someone has released for free, and also devoid of ads and IAP.

It starts off as an unconventional top-down racer, with you steering a little triangular ship, scraping its tail against track edges for extra boost. As
you chalk up victories, more level types open up, including side-on
challenges where you venture underground to find bling, before using boost

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64)
* Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100)