10 Best, Must-Have iPhone Games & Honorable Mentions

So you’ve got your iPhone, iPhone 3GS, or iPod Touch. You’ve got it loaded with useless apps or boring games.

Published August 18, 2009

Updated June 1, 2021

So you’ve got your iPhone, iPhone 3GS, or iPod Touch. You’ve got it loaded with useless apps or boring games. Hell, maybe you just want some justification to get buy one. Well, if the plethora of awesome apps out there isn’t enough, then maybe something that appeals to your less functional/productive side will entice you.

What follows is Gear Patrol’s list of our 10 Best, Must Have, iPhone games with 10 honorable mentions. They may not be Apple’s best or top rated, but they’re iPhone games that promise to get your money’s worth. As a matter of fact, if you purchase every game listed you’ll have spent just $81. Check it.

Must Have: Doom Resurrection

First Person Shooter iPhone, iPod Touch Game:

id software brings it hard with the recreation of Doom for the iPhone. If you ever wondered how a first-person shooter could be pulled off without any triggers or buttons, this is it. The 8 levels plus 40 challenges are heavy-hitting and the graphics top notch. You’ll never stop saying to yourself, “I’m playing Doom. I’m playing Doom on my phone. BFG9000!” This game is pretty intense and there’s no shortage of gore. Just a heads up.

Cost: $3 (special)

Honorable Mention: Metal Gear Solid Touch

First Person Shooter iPhone, iPod Touch Game:

Based around the Metal Gear Solid 4, this 20 stage touch variation of the Metal Gear Solid franchise is unique in of itself. There’s no difficult learning curve so you can hop right in and immerse yourself in the engrossing world of MGS. Intuitive, brilliant, and a blast.

Cost: $6

Must Have: Civilization Revolution

Simulation iPhone, iPod Touch Game:

Sid Meier’s Civilization series has been top of its class for the last 20 or so years and Civilization Revolution for the iPhone is nothing short of outstanding. Yes, there’s a learning curve for those that aren’t familiar with the Civilization series but the game feels natural and fluid on the iPhone. It’s hefty at 74mb, and pricey at $10 but well worth the download, if you’re a strategy maven.

Cost: $10

Honorable Mention: SimCity

Simulation iPhone, iPod Touch Game:

Hell, it’s SimCity on your phone. Does it really need any more explanation? In the past, strategy simulation players fell into one of two camps. Those that played Civilization and those that played SimCity. SimCity fans will not be disappointed with the iPhone port. It’s not the fastest game and it crashes from time to time, but there are no alternatives for the true SimCity Mayor.

Cost: $5

Must Have: Scrabble

Puzzle iPhone, iPod Touch Game:

Ack. You’ve got three “T’s”, a “Q” and no vowels. Awesome. The only difference is you’re not stuck at a table waiting on someone’s sweet-ass time to make a play on your triple word score. Play online or against the computer in this great iPhone port of the classic word game.

Cost: $5

Honorable Mention: Bejeweled 2

Puzzle iPhone, iPod Touch Game:

The first Bejweled built up a rabid fan making it one of the top (paid) apps of all time. Bejewled 2 continues in the tradition of pick-it-up-and-go gaming; it’s still easy to learn and a damn sight hard to master. The revamped graphics and sounds are top notch.

Cost: $3

Must Have: Worms

Must Have Strategy iPhone, iPod Touch Game

If you ever owned a Playstation or computer in the 1990’s then you’ll need no introduction to Worms. Worms is a tounge-in-cheek sheep-throwing strategy game that’s both insanely easy and frustratingly hard. Best played with a beer in hand – or in this case, the other hand. The iPhone version is tack sharp and gameplay simple with touch controls.

Cost: $5

Honorable Mention: The Creeps

Must Have Strategy iPhone, iPod Touch Game

The Creeps is essentially a castle defense game wrapped up in rich illustrations and cartoons. Its theme is based on creatures that might be hiding in your closet. The premise? To defeat anything that moves using your weapons (e.g. toy blasters, glue bottles, flashlights, boomerangs, UFO). Highly addictive, in a Super Mario Brothers kind of way.

Cost: $1 (on sale)

Must Have: The Oregon Trail

Nostalgic iPhone, iPod Touch Game

Ford the river. Avoid dysentery. Hunt a bear. None of it’s lost its appeal, even if the childhood stalwart is playing on your iPhone, not the green-screened Apple IIe. The Oregon Trail lacks too much challenge, but makes up for it 10 fold in nostalgia.

Editor’s Tip: Ford the river, every time. It’s worth it to see “You have drowned.”

Cost: $5

Honorable Mention: Space Invaders Infinity

Nostalgic iPhone, iPod Touch Game

Personally, this author missed out on the Space Invaders obsession, but Space Invaders Infinity for the iPhone is an interesting twist on the single-digit bit game. Its ability to evolve the more you play makes it deceivingly difficult. It’s more than 25¢ now, but at least you don’t have to prop your quarter up on the game to call next.

Cost: $5

Must Have Adventure, Strategy, Sports, Racing, Arcade, and Card iPhone, iPod Touch Games

Must Have: The Secret of Monkey Island

Adventure iPhone, iPod Touch Game

This Lucasarts classic has been begging to be brought to the iPhone. If you remember the old Sierra classics (Kings Quest, Leisure Suit Larry) then you’ll also remember that having a ton of controls, objects, and actions were cumbersome to deal with on the keyboard and mouse. Not so with a touchscreen. The Secret of Monkey Island has been revamped with sharper graphics, remastered sound effects and music, but loses none of it’s cheeky humor or gameplay. Got a long flight? This is your game.

Cost: $8

Honorable Mention: Assassin’s Creed – Altair’s Chronicles

Adventure iPhone, iPod Touch Game

Know this: Assassin’s Creed is a massive game. It’s full of cut-scenes, rich graphics, and intense gameplay. Moreover, you’ll likely stand bewildered at the fact that it’s all packed onto your iPhone. Anyone who’s played Assassin’s Creed (or Zelda for that matter) will want and love this game. Defending the Holy Land (mobile style) never seemed so fun.

Cost: $5

Must Have: World War

Role Playing iPhone, iPod Touch Game

RPG Strategies aren’t this author’s favorite genre of game, but playing World War was and is a treat. World War can take a lot of time, a lot, and it’s nothing like Call of Duty, but it is a supremely well done RPG game (for being free) and can easily gobble up an entire road trip, especially when you’re tied into the online community.

Cost: FREE

Honorable Mention: Zenonia

Role Playing iPhone, iPod Touch Game

Until Nintendo starts bringing their games to the iPhone, Zelda fans will have to settled for the other game that starts with the letter “Z” – Zenonia. The thing is, it’s not settling at all. Zenonia is the SNES RPG you’ve wanted on your iPhone with anime style characters and top-down gameplay. There’s over 40 hours of gameplay in Zenonia so consider this three dollars well spent.

Cost: $3

Must Have: Tiger Woods

Sports iPhone, iPod Touch Game

Swiping your thumb against the iPhone screen will make you feel like you’re playing Golden Tee more so than Tiger Woods Golf, but it’s a fantastic execution no matter what kind of stroke. EA’s included 7 different courses including St. Andrews, Pebble Beach, and TPC Sawgrass. iFore!

Cost: $5

Honorable Mention: NFL 2010

Sports iPhone, iPod Touch Game

Real teams, real players, and really good control make NFL 2010 a gridiron classic. The virtual pad works well despite the lack of tactile feedback and 3D graphics are smooth and crisp. There’s a 200 play playbook and even audio commentary. Football gamers won’t be disappointed.

Cost: $5

Must Have: Texas Hold’em

Card iPhone, iPod Touch Game

This live action online-enabled game makes Texas Hold’em as fun as ever. You can play in top-down or first-person perspective seeing live action players bets, bluffs, and tells. Use gestures to make your moves (fold by flicking away your cards) and play over wi-fi against your friends.

Cost: $5

Honorable Mention: Sol Free Solitaire

Card iPhone, iPod Touch Game

The most popular solitaire iPhone app of 2009 continues to be a must-have. Sol Free includes six variations of solitaire and its gameplay is smooth with bright easy-to-read graphics. You can even play the game without interfering with your iPod’s music playback. Best of all, it’s free.

Cost: FREE

Must Have: Minigore

Arcade iPhone, iPod Touch Game

It’s tough to explain this. It’s a bit of a mix between Zelda, Gears of War Horde Mode, and Asteroids. You can move around, you can fire, and you can power-up, but the enemies never stop coming. It’s addictive and you’ll likely wear out your fingers before you wear out the game. My thumbs literally got hot. There’s not a lot of depth to the game: just shoot and stay alive as long as you can, but sometimes that’s all you want in a game The game has a top-notch orchestral soundtrack, but allows you to select your own playlist from songs stored on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Oh, it’s also 99 cents. Booyah.

Cost: $1

Honorable Mention: Doodle Jump

Arcade iPhone, iPod Touch Game

A good arcade game has to be addictive. Doodle Jump meets that criteria two-fold. The premise is to jump higher without falling or dying. You’ll be faced with an increasingly difficult obstacles ranging from monsters to black holes. The only downside is how ridiculously addictive it is and the odd stares people will give you when you’re screaming at what looks like graph paper.

Cost: $1

Must have First Person Shooter, Simulation, Strategy, and Puzzle iPhone, iPod Touch Games.

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