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Top 25 best sports games for iPhone and iPad (iOS)

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Top 25 best sports games for iPhone and iPad (iOS)

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Updated on May 4, 2023 - swapped 1 game. Original article by Jon Mundy, updated by Artur Novichenko.


Sports and games go together beautifully. In fact, if you take any moderately popular sport, there's probably a simulated take on it somewhere.

Sports games don't necessarily need to be dry simulations, either. Many developers will opt to take the core rulesets of familiar sports and head off on a flight of fancy. Others will invent a completely new sport from scratch.

The following list of iOS sports games features something for everyone. We have dedicated sports sims, arcade knockabouts, left-field oddities, and completely made-up future sports.

It doesn't really matter if you're into sports in the real world or not. The very best sports games tend to be fun for everyone, not just die-hards.

Have we missed your own personal favourite iOS sports game? Let us know in the comments below.

 

Click Here To View The List »

1
New Star Soccer Manager

Publisher: New Star Games
Available on: iOS + Switch + Board Game
Genre: Simulation, Sports, Strategy
Find out more about New Star Manager
New Star Manager

New Star Soccer takes a sideways leap into new territory here. This time you're responsible for the running of an entire football club, not just a player, resulting in an even deeper and more enthralling casual simulation of the beautiful game.

2
Pocket-Run Pool

Publisher: Zach Gage
Available on: iOS
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Pocket-Run Pool
Pocket-Run Pool

Pocket-Run Pool is as much a brilliant puzzler as it is a brilliant sports game. That's because of the extreme liberties it takes with the rules of pool, including an ingenious rotating score-multiplier system.

3
Football Manager 2023 Mobile

Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Simulation
Find out more about Football Manager 2023 Mobile
Football Manager 2023 Mobile

A genuine, bone fide version of Football Manager right here on our iPads. Football Manager 2023 Mobile is one of the deepest portable games of any genre.

4
New Star Soccer

Developer: New Star Games
Publisher: New Star Games
Available on: iOS + Android + PS Vita
Genre: Sports
Find out more about New Star Soccer
New Star Soccer

If you've never really gotten along with classic footy games on mobile, New Star Soccer shows that there's another way. This is a proper native mobile football game, and it's brilliant.

5
Table Tennis Touch

Developer: Yakuto
Publisher: Yakuto
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Simulation, Sports
Find out more about Table Tennis Touch
Table Tennis Touch

Table Tennis Touch has it all - slick graphics, superb ball physics, and a swipey control system that could well lead to blisters. It's worth it.

6
Rocket League Sideswipe

Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action, Racing, Sports
Find out more about Rocket League Sideswipe
Rocket League Sideswipe

Rocket League Sideswipe is a fantastic car football simulation for mobile devices. You will have to compete with other players in a football match using your car. Sounds wacky, but it's fun to the core! According to the Pocket Gamer Awards 2022, Rocket League Sideswipe is the best sports game of the year by the vote from the audience!

7
Grand Mountain Adventure

Publisher: Toppluva
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Grand Mountain Adventure
Grand Mountain Adventure

An exquisite free-roaming skiing and snowboarding game that sees you slicing serenely across a beautiful range of peaks and slopes.

8
Golf Blitz

Publisher: Noodlecake Studios
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Multiplayer, Sports
Find out more about Golf Blitz
Golf Blitz

The maker of Stickman Golf takes those proven arcade-golf mechanics and funnels them into an online multiplayer putt-off. It's a madcap delight.

9
Golf Impact

Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Golf Impact
Golf Impact

Balancing arcade golf trappings with more advanced mechanics and an agreeably competitive edge, Golf Impact is a finely poised PvP package.

10
Touchgrind BMX 2

Publisher: Illusion Labs
Available on: iOS + Android
Find out more about Touchgrind BMX 2
Touchgrind BMX 2

Touchgrind BMX 2 takes a decidedly mobile-centric approach to the extreme sports genre. You slide and flick your two fingers on the screen to initiate tricks and flips, making for a trickily engrossing sports game.

11
Super Stickman Golf 3

Publisher: Noodlecake Games
Available on: iOS + Android + Apple Arcade
Find out more about Super Stickman Golf 3
Super Stickman Golf 3

Okay, so Super Stickman Golf 3 is closer to crazy golf than proper golf. But is there a better game off putting a ball into a hole on the App Store? Probably not.

12
Pixel Pro Golf

Available on: iOS
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Pixel Pro Golf
Pixel Pro Golf

A brilliant retro-tinged golf game that steers clear of tiresome realism without sacrificing depth.

13
Bottom of the 9th

Publisher: Handelabra Games
Available on: iOS + Android + Steam
Genre: Card/board game, RPG, Sports
Find out more about Bottom of the 9th
Bottom of the 9th

Playing a game of baseball with dice rolls might sound like the driest, most boring game ever, but Bottom of the 9th is nothing of the sort thanks to a streamlined ruleset and charming presentation.

14
Skate City

Publisher: Snowman
Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Skate City
Skate City

A laid back skating simulator with a side-on perspective and bags of tricks and flips to perform with a simple swipe control system. This being an Apple Arcade game, it's as slick as anything.

15
Retro Bowl

Developer: New Star Games
Publisher: New Star Games
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Retro Bowl
Retro Bowl

Retro Bowl is essentially New Star American Football, offering a familiar blend of light management and tactile phase-based minigames come game day.

16
What the Golf?

Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Sports
Find out more about What the Golf?
What the Golf?

What The Golf is a golf game in the loosest sense of the word. Or perhaps it's the ultimate golf game. This, after all, is a game where the identity of the ball, club and hole will differ drastically from one hole to the next.

17
Dinkigolf

Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Dinkigolf
Dinkigolf

Can we take another zany casual golf game on mobile? When it's as good as Dinkigolf, you'd better believe we can. Featuring a pleasingly bonkers edge and sprawling, twisting levels, it's great fun.

18
8 Ball Pool

Publisher: Miniclip
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Pub Sports, Sports
Find out more about 8 Ball Pool
8 Ball Pool

By the definition, pool is a sport. Also, this is one of the most popular iOS sports games for the iPhone at the moment. It's easy to see why. Gameplay is rather simple, yet very interesting, and you can easily challenge a friend to a pool game.

19
Easy Come Easy Golf

Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Easy Come Easy Golf
Easy Come Easy Golf

To all intents and purposes, Easy Come Easy Golf is the legendary Everybody's Golf series come to iOS. This is no lazy port or half-baked mobile spinoff, however, but rather a fully featured 3D golf game with a rethought touchscreen control system.

20
Skiing Yeti Mountain

Publisher: Featherweight Games
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Arcade, Sports
Find out more about Skiing Yeti Mountain
Skiing Yeti Mountain

This deeply daft casual game somehow nails the rhythm and momentum of downhill skiing with a simple touch and swipe control system.

21
Golf Clash

Publisher: Playdemic
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Golf Clash
Golf Clash

Even though it has a rather simple concept, Golf Clash is one of the most popular sports games on iPhones and iPads at the moment. You can challenge your Facebook friends, play tournaments or a quick 1vs1 game while you're in transport. If you're a fan of golf, this one is a no-brainer.

22
Real Boxing 2

Publisher: Vivid Games
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Fighting, Sports
Find out more about Real Boxing 2
Real Boxing 2

It is a realistic boxing simulator with an impressive combat system and good graphics. Here you will have to face many funny but, at the same time, dangerous bosses, such as Clown and Santa, as well as compete with other players for the title of the best in multiplayer mode. Here you have to develop your fighter and unlock new skills to become even more powerful.

23
Touchdowners

Publisher: Colin Lane
Available on: iOS
Genre: Casual
Find out more about Touchdowners
Touchdowners

Another gem from Colin Lane. Like Wrassling and Dunkers, Touchdowners only superficially resembles its host sport, but trying to get the ball into the end zone is a madcap treat nonetheless.

24
Flick Kick Football

Developer: PikPok
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Sports
Find out more about Flick Kick Football
Flick Kick Football

The original and, we would suggest, still the best ball flicker on the App Store. PikPok's swipe-to-kick mechanics are just spot-on, and the escalating challenge of the core game never grows old.

25
NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition

Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Sports
Find out more about NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition
NBA 2K23 Arcade Edition

This Apple Arcade-exclusive version of the best-selling basketball game boasts top notch visuals, online multiplayer, and improved controller support. It's the best basketball game on mobile.

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Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.
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