Some iOS Games for 2024
Because the best console is the one you have with you — Phones are great gaming devices and I have spoken at length about why iOS should be considered a proper gaming platform alongside PC and Consoles. I play on my iPhone often and whilst I do largely prefer an upfront fee for my software I also dabble in a few free-to-play titles. iOS is home to more games than a lunchtime schoolyard so it can be difficult to know where to start. So, without further interruption here is what has been keeping me busy so far in 2024.
Potion Permit ($£6.99)
Daily life RPGs that are not riddled with in-app purchases are few and far between on iOS. Lacking anything close to a proper Animal Crossing title the closest we have is Stardew Valley. Whilst that game deserves all the credit it gets I often find it difficult to navigate without buttons. Enter: Potion Permit. Casting you as a player-made character, you’ve just moved to a village on a small island to rescue them from their medicine skeptic ways. Spend your time fighting monsters and gathering ingredients and then complete small puzzles to brew potions and help the townsfolk with lovely top-down Legend of Zelda-esque graphics. You can upgrade your run-down home, decorate it and enter romantic relationships with the townsfolk should you so desire. What makes Potion Permit so neat is that the controls for mobile have been well thought out. You also have an in-game stamina bar that depletes with naturally tiresome actions like fighting, digging and chopping that you must sleep off to recover and two wives does not cure. This makes it perfect for short 20–30 minute sessions in your lunch break.
SkyEmu (Free)
In my treatise on Android as a retro gaming paradise I lambasted iOS for its lack of decent emulators. An emulator allows modern devices to mimic the classic gaming devices of old and play digital backups or ‘roms’ of your retro gaming collection. This is simply because Apple does not allow emulators onto the App Store and hacking your iPhone to run them is a risky prospect. Enter Progressive Web Apps or PWA’s. Essentially web pages as lightweight software, you can add these apps to your home screen risk-free and run them offline. SkyEmu is a quality Gameboy/Gameboy Advance emulator that can be saved from the web and allows you to play game roms directly from the Files app. It works completely offline and is also compatible with iOS controllers for when a touchscreen just will not do. Finally: Advance Wars on the iPhone.
Flying Tank (Free with IAP)
If you have found memories of scrolling shooting games like Yar’s Revenge, R-Type and Gradius then have I got the game for you. Aliens have once again taken over the Earth and it’s up to you and your flying tank to save the day. Gesture-based shooting mechanics offer a more intuitive replacement for on-screen buttons, something more iOS action titles should seek to emulate. Mindless fun but fun nonetheless. Note: also has a rocking synthwave OST.
Orna (Free with IAP)
Not a new game by any stretch but one that has largely flown under the radar, Orna is what would happen is Pokemon Go had been released in 1993. Using real world maps as a backdrop but populating them with 16-bit graphics you need to get off the sofa and go outside to really enjoy it. In classic RPG style you pick a class and then wander your neighbourhood fighting monsters, finding better loot and taking on quests. Orna was originally created by one man who has since founded a studio to expand the game. Although free-to-play Orna has no pay-skips or barriers to gameplay. Yes, you can spend real world money on some new character sprites and classes (and it’s worth doing to support the devs) but there are no timers, adverts or blocks in place anywhere. As a kind of MMO you can build structures like shops and taverns in the game world for other players to make use of and team up and quest with friends. If you don’t want to go outside and play then the same developer makes a title you can enjoy from the warmth of your own hearth.
Hades (Included in Netflix Sub)
A very recent (like several days ago) addition to the App Store but a very welcome one, the largely recognised 2020 Game of the Year has finally landed as an iOS mobile exclusive. Hades is what is known as a Roguelike, a dungeon-crawling game with randomly generated levels, challenging gameplay and harsh penalities upon death. Themed around greek mythology, the player is cast as the bored son of Hades and tasked with escaping the underworld by slashing through hordes of monsters. Completing a room grants the player with temporary power-ups, currency or health. Upon death most things are lost and you must start again. Whilst this sounds terribly unfair the game is incredibly addictive. Currency is kept and can be spent on permanent stat boosts and weaponry but the onus is on the player to improve their skill rather than just stack the odds in their favour. In many ways this harks back to the arcade games of the 1980’s where a lack of save points meant you had no choice but to get better. This whole premise is wrapped up in a witty story, lovely hand-drawn graphics and the chance to upgrade your underworld home. If you’re not very good at these sorts of games you can also activate a ‘God Mode’ which makes you more powerful after each death, allowing you to experience the story. With a short gameplay loop Hades is at home on mobile and features no in-app purchases or barriers to gameplay. Hades is available for ‘free’ as part of a Netflix subscription.
Anything been keeping you busy recently? Let me know in the comments.
