Be sure to also check out our picks for essential iPhone games as well as our recommendations for Android phones and tablets.
Congratulations: Your new iPad helped change the term “mobile gamers” into just “gamers.”
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We’ve gathered 20 of the best, games that offer great stories or gameplay or action that will keep you tapping away long after the holidays are over.While many of the games on this list are “free,” most of these do offer in-app purchases for gear, cosmetic items, and more.
Finally, most iOS games run on both iPhone and iPad, so be sure to check out our essential games for iPhone story for some additional ideas.
Above: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft’s fantasy card game includes pop culture references and sly allusions to Blizzard’s other games.
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Free)
Hearthstone’s addictive, strategic card battles will keep you engrossed for hours (or days or even weeks). The difficulty ramps up in direct relation to your skill, rewarding newer players as easily as it does veterans. Great animations entertain and recognize you for well-played combos, and Blizzard Entertainment’s well-balanced gameplay makes nearly all contests seem fair.
You can pick it up for a few minutes with ease, though putting it down can be an issue. I know people who upgraded their iPads specifically to better play this game; it’s that good.
Above: Defeat the Kraken in Vainglory and you can sic him on your enemies. Mwahahaha.
Vainglory (Free)
Vainglory from Super Evil Megacorp proves that massively online battle arena (MOBA) games can make the switch to mobile, even if the trip makes them slightly less massive. You’ll occasionally pick up a dud teammate in this 3-on-3, one-lane combat app, but otherwise the battler is a pure joy to play.
The touch controls respond easily to your commands, and while the battles are a little slower than their desktop PC counterparts, they reward players with pure portable entertainment. We featured Vainglory on our Best Original Games of 2014 list.
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Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn ($10)
Baldur’s Gate II entered the ranks of classic swords-and-sorcery RPGs the moment it debuted in 2000. It offers a fun story, beautiful graphics, and occasionally a high level of difficulty in this mobile version, but it’s still an incredibly rewarding adventure for anyone willing to take on its tutorial-less controls.
Overhaul Games has made improvements to the touch interface and graphics over the past year as part of the Enhanced Edition, greatly enhancing the overall experience.
Above: Oftentimes, Valiant Hearts will split a portion of the screen to show a preview of what’s coming toward you or happening elsewhere.
Valiant Hearts ($1)
It’s hard to call World War I fun, but Valiant Hearts manages to make it both entertaining and educational in this cartoon-colored action adventure. Ubisoft features four intertwined stories: A French farmer-turned-soldier, an American volunteer who becomes his friend, a medic, and a trained Doberman who helps them.
The tales are engrossing and sometimes poignant, the puzzles and action are just challenging enough to keep you moving, and the overall effect will charm you. We featured Valiant Hearts on our Best Original Games of 2014 list.
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The Bard’s Tale ($3)
The Bard’s Tale cheerfully skewers the fantasy-adventure genre at the same time that it serves up satisfying Dungeons and Dragons-style action. The jokes are bad, the monsters are ugly, and you’ll spend hours with a little smile on your face, making other people wonder what’s so nifty on that new iPad.
If you feel brave, dive into the original The Bard’s Tale trilogy in its ’80s-graphics glory, which inXile Entertainment includes for your playing pleasure.
Above: Bastion’s hand-painted settings make every scene feel different.
Bastion ($1)
Where to begin with Bastion. The hand painted landscapes? The wide array of weapons? The utterly delightful touch controls?
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Whichever first captures your eye, Supergiant Games’ action RPG will keep you playing through its addicting little story, and have you nearly sniffling by the time the final (beautiful) musical track rolls.
Above: Infinity Blade III in action.
Infinity Blade III ($1)
Infinity Blade III is the latest action-adventure game in Chair Entertainment Group’s trilogy, but all three are worth having. The mobile action game offers gorgeous, detailed fantasy/sci-fi environments, simple swipe controls, upgradable weapons, and a good variety of quests.
This game truly is a resource hog; run it on newer iPads (and preferably without much else loaded).
Deus Ex: The FalI ($1)
Deus Ex: The Fall proves shooters can work on iPad. If you’re a fan of this console/PC series, be prepared for some simplification in Square Enix’s mobile version, but it doesn’t make Deus Ex any less enjoyable.
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I was thrilled by the ability to completely customize the controls, placing the buttons exactly where I wanted them onscreen; and the graphics and action are top-notch on newer devices.
Above: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ($7)
Most of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto action series are surprisingly good on mobile platforms, and this installment keeps up those high standards.
The touch controls may not be quite as fluid as with the console and PC games, but it’s still easy to play through the story — and explore the debauchery of this open world — even on a touchscreen. Just be prepared for stares from the other folks on the train as you delve into the seedier elements of gang culture.
Max Payne Mobile ($3)
The classic third-person action game Max Payne transfers well to mobile, showing off every bit of the quality it had in Rockstar Games’ original console and PC versions, though perhaps not the same as the original PC version.
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The story is among the best of the shooters in its era, following the troubled NYPD detective through a quest that takes him (literally) underground in the big city.
Above: République: Episode 3
République Episode 3 ($5)
The République stealth/survival adventures from Camouflaj for iPad are well animated and fun to play. I especially liked Episode 3, but I’d suggest playing through the first two chapters before moving to the third.
You’ll help Hope escape (no symbolism there) from a totalitarian facility by talking via phone or PC, locking and unlocking doors, distracting the bad guys, and controlling security cameras to watch her progress.
FTL: Faster Than Light ($5)
Top-down real-time strategy in space comes to the iPad in FTL: Faster Than Light, where you control a spaceship as it evades a fleet.
You’ll control the ship’s functions as it navigates through a number of systems (which are never the same), recruiting people to work for you, fighting with people who hate you, and upgrading your ship. Subset Games developed FTL for all iOS 6 or later devices, but its dense graphics are best on iPad.
XCOM: Enemy Within ($13)
The XCOM series has proven just how difficult a turn-based strategy sim can be, and this mobile version of the Enemy Within expansion pack (earlier versions not required) proves mobile games don’t have to be easy.
You’ll fight off alien invaders by developing your units and sending them off to battle or fighting off sabotage, and failure is frequently on the menu. But that doesn’t make 2K Games’ title any less engrossing to play; it just makes you more determined to beat it.
Above: Real Racing 3 looks amazing.
Real Racing 3 (Free)
Real Racing 3 is free, pretty, and one of the better racing sims available for iPad. Electronic Arts did a nice job with the controls, which can be awkward for racing tables on tablet.
It perhaps has a little too many emphasis on items that cost in-game gold (which you can helpfully buy with real-life currency if you run out, the app notes), but overall, Real Racing 3 gives you a solid driving experience for the mobile set.
The Walking Dead (Free)
The Walking Dead cartoon-style game offers heavy story with some action, based on the gritty comic books rather than the TV series. Four later episodes are $5 each, so evaluate early whether you like this enough for a $15 multipack purchase, but this first episode provides a wonderful introduction.
Telltale Games’ title focuses on the storytelling, so if you’re looking for pure zombie survival horror, you’re in the wrong place. This is the interactive tale of a guy and the young girl he rescues, told in a sometimes emotionally bruising way.
Above: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 ($3)
Want some survival-horror on your tablet? Scott Cawthon’s Five Night’s at Freddy’s series fills the bill. Even in the original game, you were trapped in a small room, closing doors and triggering traps to keep the animatronic creatures of a Chuck E. Cheese’s-style restaurant from abruptly ending your job as a night security guard.
The limited action plays out well on tablet in the original and in this sequel, which eliminates the doors (because who needed that protection, anyway?) in favor of a bear mask that should fool the animatronic mascots into thinking you’re one of them. …
Above: Leo’s Fortune is one of the finer platformers on mobile.
Leo’s Fortune ($1)
Leo’s Fortune puts you in the role of a mustachioed pom-pom with a heavy accent. You guide him through this platformer in search of gold coins through some of the most beautiful graphic environments ever seen in a mobile game.
This is truly console-level gameplay on the small screen; Leo’s story of grumpiness and family betrayal is a hoot, and the hazards of the game are well-designed. 1337 & Senri have set the bar high for other mobile platform developers.
Above: Limbo is creepy, moody, mysterious fun.
Limbo ($5)
Playdead’s black-and-white, 2D side-scroller will suck you in and leave the rest of your life in limbo. It’s definitely worth the $5 price. You play a boy in search of his sister, and the creepy, moodily lit environments you travel through feel seemless because of the well-executed touch controls.
This game has been out for a while, but it’s still worth checking out; it’s a surreal story with a spooky soundtrack.
Above: King of Opera
King of Opera ($3)
A simple party game, King of Opera exhorts you (and your character) to steal the spotlight, overshadowing the other singers (who the other players control).
King of Opera is especially well suited to the iPad, because its multiplayer controls require each player to take command of one corner of the device — much easier to do on the iPad’s larger screen real estate. Tuokio Inc.’s operatic battler best entertains a group, so get playing now before people go home after the holidays.
Above: The Room Two
The Room Two ($1)
This room escape/puzzler features gorgeous graphics, and Fireproof Games did a good job of making the controls silky-smooth and intuitive for iPad.
Each chapter takes about a half hour, and you can choose whether to delve into the game’s adventure plot or just focus entirely on the puzzles themselves.