The best games for your new iPhone or iPad - in every genre (2014)
Top games you can take everywhere
If you've been very, very good this year, and possibly slipped Santa a big fat bribe, you might just find a shiny new iOS device under the tree.
Nowadays, that's the equivalent to getting a games console thanks to all the amazing titles on the App Store. So the first thing you're going to want to do after setup is load it with the very best gaming goodness iTunes has to offer.
That's where we come in. Here's a list of what we think are the must-play titles on iOS at the moment, broken down by genre so there's something to suit everyone.
In compiling this list, we've given extra weighting to games that are universal and exclusive to mobile. After all, however excellent gems like FTL and Hearthstone might be, they look rather less exciting if you've already played them on PC or can't play them on your new iPhone.
If you want the very creme of the crop, look out for our Game of the Year list towards the end of the month.
The best shooter on iOS... Neon ShadowBy Crescent Moon - buy on iPhone and iPad
Shooters have proven to be one of the hardest genres to adapt to touchscreen control. They demand a level of sensitivity and response that screen thumb-pads can't quite manage.
Neon Shadow bucks the trend with smooth, sensitive controls. It sensibly replaces the keyboard-based depth of PC shooters with frantic, non-stop action and huge bosses.
And if you get tired of the single-player campaign, there's multi-player modes galore. It might have taken a while to perfect, it but it was worth the wait.
The best adventure game on iOS... DEVICE 6By Simogo - buy on iPhone and iPad
One of the most creative adventures we've ever seen, and an iOS exclusive to boot. This will change the way you look at text adventures.
Because rather than the primitive text interface and limited dictionaries of yore, DEVICE 6 uses the words of the adventure to paint pictures on the screen.
They form maps, hide clues to some of the incredible puzzles, and do all the heavy lifting in the narrative. It's like nothing else you've seen, and it's a complete joy.
The best RPG on iOS... Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicBy BioWare - buy on iPhone and iPad
Here's something to keep you occupied until The Force Awakens hits cinema screens: a deep and engrossing RPG which takes in the Star Wars universe - but set hundreds of years before Luke, Han, and Leia are even born.
It's from Bioware of Mass Effect and Dragon Age fame so you should expect tricky decisions, excellently written characters, and about a trillion hours worth of content to work through.
You'll still be playing this when Star Wars 9 is in theatres.
The best roguelike on iOS...Wayward Souls
By Rocketcat Games - buy on iPhone and iPad
We use a one to ten scoring system here at Pocket Gamer, but tens are fantastically rare accolades, bestowed only on outstanding games of the highest calibre.
In eight years we only gave out thirty of them. This was the thirty-first.
It's a pixel-perfect blend of the roguelike formula with an action RPG. The result is a challenging, engrossing title that is entirely different every time you play. Which is an especially good thing when you're likely to be playing it many, many times.
The best driving game on iOS...Real Racing 2
By Firemint - buy on iPhone, buy on iPad
This is dipping back a bit further than most of our picks: all the way to 2010. It's even got that old-fashioned SD/HD split between phone and tablet.
But it's worth it: this remains the premium racing game on iOS, better even than more recent iterations of the same franchise, which went down the free to play route.
The original review handed out another one of our ultra-rare Platinum Awards and that was just one of many accolades showered on this classic racer.
The best football game on iOS...Flick Soccer 15
By Full Fat - free on iPhone and iPad
Traditional football games suffer from the same sorts of control problems on touchscreen as shooters do. So instead, an-all new style of flick-footie game has taken root to replace it.
In these titles, you have to get the ball in the net from set piece positions by swiping on the screen.
Flick Soccer! is the perfection of that addictive formula. Its neat twist is that just scoring isn't enough: you've got to score in exactly the right spot to maximise your points.
The best tennis game on iOS...Table Tennis Touch
By Yakuto - buy on iPhone and iPad
Yes, we do know that tennis and table tennis are quite distinct sports. But they do sound and look kind of similar and besides, this is such a great game we couldn't help ourselves for this slot.
Simple swipe controls belie a lot of detail and complexity in how you set up and execute your shots. Once you've mastered keeping the ball in play, there's a variety of game modes to explore including campaign, arcade and a series of fiendish challenges.
The best puzzle game on iOS...Monument Valley
By ustwo - buy on iPhone and iPad
It's one of Apple's games of the year, and it's one of ours too. This surreal, tactile, imaginative puzzle game makes the most of being on mobile with a sublime blend of experimentation and timing.
As if that were not enough, it looks amazing, bringing impossible landscapes to life on a retina screen. Some people found it a bit short. But even that's been fixed with the excellent Forgotten Shores epilogue.
The best word game on iOS...Letterpress
By atebits - buy on iPhone and iPad
Word games are dime a dozen on mobile, because they have such wide appeal and are a great fit for the format.
That being said, almost all of them are weak variations on the same theme of scoring points depending on letter rarity.
But Letterpress is different. It takes the familiar anagram-finding game and turns it into a strategy battle. By making best use of letters in the grid, you render them ineligible for your opponent.
This is a simple twist that transforms a simple formula into a taut competition for victory.
The best quiz game on iOS... MovieCat 2By OtherWise Games - buy on iPhone and iPad
How do you improve a well balanced movie trivia game, with a range of questions from the inane to the obscure? Why, you add cats of course! How do you improve on cats? Put them into cute cartoons re-enacting movie scenes of course!
Add a lot more questions, a lot more variety and a lot more silliness and you'll have the perfect movie quiz game. So good that we're still recommending it to people who spend more time playing games than watching films.
The best arcade game on iOS...Ridiculous Fishing
By Vlambeer - buy on iPhone and iPad
Ok, so there never was an actual arcade game like Ridiculous Fishing. In fact there are few, if any, other games in which you can go fishing with a toaster and then blow up your catch with a ray gun.
And for that we should probably be thankful, not least because any clone would certainly be less worthwhile than this ridiculously addictive game.
But that title would look quite at home on the marquee of a classic 80's arcade cabinet, even if the game inside is better.
The best free game on iOS...Crossy Road
By Hipster Whale - free on iPhone and iPad
From a modern arcade game to a classic one bought up into the modern age. Crossy Road is pretty much the ever-lovable Frogger made into an endless runner. Or perhaps endless don't-get-squashed-er would be a better description.
Either way, a new high score is only ever one more round away, all the way until it's two in the morning. Best of all this is a rare example of a free app without any strings attached.
No pay to play, no demo versions, it's entirely funded by needless cosmetic IAPs.
The best fighting game on iOS...Infinity Blade
By Chair Entertainment - buy on iPhone and iPad
Purists might grumble at our picking this as a fighting game, since it has so little in common with its arcade forebears. But how else are you supposed to classify a game that's nothing but a series of one on one swordfights, teased out in painful detail?
Besides, it remains one of the most iconic game on Apple devices and still looks and plays great after all these years.
Two sequels have failed to meaningfully improve on the original formula. Plus, starting at the beginning is the only way you'll have a chance of following the bizarre plot.
The best endless runner on iOS...Punch Quest
By Rocketcat Games - free on iPhone and iPad
There are lots of great games in this category, but in a nod to the previous slot, Punch Quest has the edge. Instead of just running you've got to fight your way through throngs of fantasy monsters in your path.
That little bit of extra depth and cleverness is just enough to make it stand out amongst its peers. That, and the inclusion of laser-breathing dinosaur mounts to ride.
The best strategy game on iOS...Drive on Moscow
By Shenandoah Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad
Touchscreen gaming has revitalised the moribund turn-based strategy genre. And within it, Shenadoah Studios has single-handedly raised the bar for polish and depth.
This is the best of its various World War 2 strategy offerings, which all exclusive to iOS. With variable weather, a range of different unit types and a choice of offline AI or online human opponents, Drive on Moscow should offer hours of tactical pleasure.
The best tower defence game on iOS...Castle Doombad
By Adult Swim - buy on iPhone and iPad
Tower defence is getting a bit long in the tooth nowadays, so it takes something a bit exotic to get noticed in the genre. Castle Doombad manages it with role inversion. This is a game where you're the bad guy, trying to thwart the heroes.
Once the premise has hooked you in, you'll discover a game of surprising depth beneath. The real draw in the game is the way all the different traps and minions can be made to work together for surprising new effects.
Agree or disagree with our takes? Let us know in the comments, below.