When you have the latest and best iPhone, then that means you can play just about any mobile game with ease—thanks to the smartphone’s sheer power and buttery smoothness. In fact, even if your iPhone is a few years old, you’ll still get a great experience gaming on the go.
And while there are millions of them on the Apple App Store and Apple Arcade, there’s a very useful list of the most popular mobile games—divided by the most popular free games and paid games available for the iPhone in July 2023 (most of these titles are available as iPad games as well).
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From simple match-three games to powerful MMORPGs, we rounded up the top 10 from the top free and top paid games (20 games in total) to help you navigate the App Store easily. There are a lot of winners, below:
TL;DR – These are the Most Popular Apple iPhone games
Free iPhone Games
- Monopoly Go! (Free)
- Pokemon Sleep (Free)
- Royal Match (Free)
- Happy Hospital: ASMR Doctor (Free)
- Roblox (Free)
- Subway Surfers (Free)
- Fishdom (Free)
- Call of Duty: Mobile (Free)
- Wordscapes (Free)
- Among Us (Free)
Paid iPhone Games
- Minecraft ($7)
- Heads Up! ($2)
- Monopoly - Classic Board Game ($5)
- Geometry Dash ($2)
- Bloons TD 6 ($7)
- Plague Inc. ($1)
- Papa's Freezeria To Go! ($1)
- Five Nights at Freddy's ($3)
- Stardew Valley ($5)
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($7)
Most Popular Free Games
1. Monopoly Go!
Everyone’s favorite board game Monopoly is available to play on the Apple iPhone with Monopoly Go!. It features the same gameplay as the original, but faster, wilder, and more ruthless. Play with your friends and family from around the world, while the object of the game is to buy property, build houses and hotels, collect Monopoly Money, bankrupt everyone, and destroy their properties.
2. Pokemon Sleep
A sleep tracker mixed with Pokemon Go? Sign us up. By setting Pokemon Sleep up before you go to bed, and letting it track your sleep, you’ll bring in Pokemon overnight with similar sleeping patterns to yours. And in the morning, you can add those Pokemon to the Sleep Style Dex. Snorlax is your main companion in the app as well, which makes it even better.
3. Royal Match
Royal Match is a match-three puzzle game where you help King Robert restore his kingdom back to glory. The more you match, the more levels you complete, and the more you restore the kingdom. Meanwhile, you can unlock bonus levels and rooms to collect coins to stay alive.
4. Happy Hospital: ASMR Doctor
Happy Hospital: ASMR Doctor has you working in and/or managing a hospital. In it, you can play as a doctor, nurse, or even take on the role of a hospital administrator if you want to build, maintain, and manage your own hospital.
5. Roblox
Immerse yourself in an entirely virtual experience in Roblox, a cross platform game that’s available on Apple iOS, Android, Windows, and Xbox. The app is part-gaming and part-social media where you can play games, create your own game, or just chat with friends from all around the world with thousands of experiences—think of it as Club Penguin, but for Gen Z.
6. Subway Surfers
Set in Windy Chicago, Subway Surfer is an endless running game where you play as Jake, a graffiti artist, as he runs through subways and train yards to escape the inspector and his dog. You must dodge moving subways, poles, tunnel walls, barriers, and more to gain items and power-ups to increase your speed and upgrade your special abilities.
7. Fishdom
In Fishdom, you can build and decorate your own aquarium, interact with your fish inside of it and take care of them, and even play a variety of minigames. According to the game’s App Store description page, there are “hundreds of challenging and fun match-3 levels,” to keep you busy.
8. Call of Duty: Mobile
A few years ago, Activision created a mobile version of their hit video game called Call of Duty: Mobile. This is the fourth season of the first-person shooter with various multiplayer modes, including Team Deathmatch, Domination, Battle Royale, and more. This is a cross-platform game for iOS and Android devices.
9. Wordscapes
Puzzle games are always great to have on your phone, and word-based puzzle games are even better. In Wordscapes, you need to connect letters from the center circle to find as many hidden words as you can to fill out the crossword puzzle above it.
10. Among Us
Who’s the Imposter? In this mobile version of Among Us, you can team up with some crewmates to track down who the killer is among you! You can play online with up to 15 people as you journey into space. It even supports cross-play, so you can play with friends on PC and console, too.
Most Popular Paid iPhone Games
1. Minecraft ($7)
Minecraft is one of the most popular games in the world and it’s available to play on Apple iPhone for just $7. It’s a sandbox game where players are free to create and explore the world to climb mountains, unearth caves, and mine precious ore to build homes, weapons, villages, and more.
You can also see our guide to how to play Minecraft for free.
2. Heads Up! ($2)
It’s the game “Who Am I?,” but for the digital age. Created by Ellen DeGeneres, Head Up! is charades with a twist. You place your iPhone (screen out) on your forehead, then a name or title appears on the display, your friends or family have to act out the clues, and then you have to guess the name of the character, movie title, animal, superhero, and more within 60 seconds. You can even play via Apple Facetime or Zoom. Not bad for just $2.
3. Monopoly - Classic Board Game ($5)
Now play Monopoly with your Apple mobile device. This is the classic version of the board game with new graphics and fun animations in a fully immersive mobile experience. Roll the dice and travel around the board to buy up properties, build houses and hotels, collect Monopoly Money, and bankrupt friends and family.
You can even play as classic game pieces, including the scottie, cat, T-Rex, rubber duck, and others. And since this is the paid version at only $5, it’s ad-free with no interruptions or distracting pop-ups.
4. Geometry Dash ($2)
Geometry Dash is a rhythm-based platformer where players control shapes to jump from point-A to point-B with unique soundtracks for each level. The game even features a level editor where you can create and share your own levels. The app is just $2 and doesn’t include any in-app purchases, so unlocking new icons and characters is completely based on your skills throughout the game.
5. Bloons TD 6 ($7)
At $7, Bloons TD 6 is a top-down tower defense where players create defenses made up of hero monkeys, structures, towers, bridges, and traps to stop “Bloons,” balloon-like objects, from exiting each map. Players collect coins to upgrade their defenses.
6. Plague Inc. ($1)
Why live through a pandemic in reality when you can play with one on your iPhone? At $1, Plague Inc. is a strategy game where you must end humanity with a deadly pathogen during a global plague. However, the people around the world are more adaptive than you think, so you have to create and evolve more and more deadly viruses to wipe away all of the people on Earth.
7. Papa's Freezeria To Go! ($1)
Make the ultimate ice cream sundae with Papa's Freezeria To Go!. At just $1, play as a worker at a beachfront ice cream shop, as more and more customers come in for a sweet treat during the hectic and hot summer season. Take ice cream orders and build and serve treats, while you earn points and tips for upgrades around the shop.
8. Five Nights at Freddy's ($3)
With the new film from Blumhouse releasing this October, there's no better time than now to play Five Nights at Freddy's. For just $3, you'll step into the shoes of a security guard working the night shift at a place called Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. However, the animatronics here have been getting up to trouble at night, so you'll have to keep a close eye on them through the monitors in your office... and try to survive five nights. See our guide to the FNAF games in order to see the full series.
9. Stardew Valley ($5)
Stardew Valley sets your character up in Pelican Town, which is located in Stardew Valley, where you inherit a small house and plot of land from your grandfather. From there, you need to clear the land and build up your own farm, with plenty of livestock and crops. It offers over 50+ hours of gameplay, too, so it'll keep you busy.
10. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($7)
For $7, you can play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on your iOS device. This version offers remastered graphics "including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models," according to its App Store description page, dual analog stick controls, and more. Explore the open world of San Andreas and its three major cities -- Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas -- as you unfold the main character, CJ's, story. See our guide to the GTA games in order to see the full series.
How to Choose Which iPhone Games to Play
There are millions upon millions of apps and games on the Apple App Store, so it might be intimidating to start with just one to play. While the most popular game lists—either free or paid—are a good place to start, there are some other factors you should consider before you tap download. Here’s what to look for in Apple iPhone games.
First of all, if you have a very old iPhone, you should check if it’s compatible with the mobile game. Most games require your iPhone to run, at least, iOS 8 or higher—which is compatible with the Apple iPhone 4S or higher. This iPhone model was released in October 2011, so any iPhone release beforehand will not be compatible with these games.
You should also be aware of how much space you have on your iPhone. The file size for mobile games can go from a few hundred megabytes all the way up to about 20GB, so if you don’t have enough space on your smartphone, then it won’t be able to download completely on your hardware. If that’s the case, you should consider deleting a few apps to free up some space, get a new iPhone with a larger storage capacity, or think about downloading a new game altogether.
Then, you should consider the price. While there are a lot of free games available, free doesn’t necessarily mean completely free. A lot of these free games offer in-app purchases for upgrades. For example, in the game Royal Match, you have a limited number of lives to play, once you lose a life, you have to wait 30 minutes to regain it. However, if you pay, you can unlock the app to get more lives.
Unfortunately, the same thing can be said for a paid game too. Just because you have to pay for an app at first, it doesn’t mean there aren’t additional in-app purchases available. But, if a mobile game is on the pricey side, then it’s likely that the unlocked version will download to your iPhone.
Additionally, you can also get a subscription to Apple Arcade for $5/mo. to unlock all of the iOS games available with no in-app purchases to play on iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple TV. If you’re an avid mobile gamer, then this is the way to go.
The final thing you should look out for in an Apple iPhone game is if it looks fun to play. If a game looks like a lot of fun or a challenge, then tap download and immerse yourself in a whole new universe and experience.
Upcoming iPhone Games
Wondering what new iPhone games are coming down the pipeline? Take a look at our guide to all of the biggest upcoming iPhone games to see what's coming in 2023 and beyond.
Rudie Obias is a contributing freelance Tech writer and editor for IGN with a speciality in all things Apple products.
