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Jan 20, 2020 Here are 25 of our favourite mobile RPGs on iPhone and iPad. Given the sheer number of puzzle games that are available for the platform, we've had to be quite brutal when it comes to what's included, with more of a weighting towards recent releases. As a result, there are dozens of stone cold puzzler classics that we've knocked off the list. Dec 18, 2019  Best-picks; Best iOS games 2020. By John Corpuz 17 December 2019. The game comes with almost 100 puzzle levels, with no ads or in-app purchases to.

25 essential games to start your iOS collection

Updated January 20, 2020: New entries added

There have been puzzle games since way before the first gaming phone hit the market, so it would be disingenuous to say that the two were made for each other.

But it's undeniable that puzzle games work beautifully on mobile. They always have.

In the early days of mobile gaming, the typically abstract visuals, simple controls, and slow pace of play from your average puzzler married well with the limited hardware on hand.

These days your average iPhone or iPad is pretty much as powerful as a PC or console, with large sharp displays rendering millions of colours. There are no such limitations.

Still, puzzle games continue to be one of the most popular genres. Indeed, today's iOS puzzlers often utilise the extra hardware grunt to great effect, with deeper systems and better graphics.

The puzzle genre has spread out in all directions, too. The match-three puzzler continues to be popular, but these days you'll find a number of additional genres spliced into it, from RPG to strategy.

Here are 25 of our favourite mobile RPGs on iPhone and iPad. Given the sheer number of puzzle games that are available for the platform, we've had to be quite brutal when it comes to what's included, with more of a weighting towards recent releases.

As a result, there are dozens of stone cold puzzler classics that we've knocked off the list. If you find yourself in a state of apoplectic range, do share your own picks in the comments section below.

Monument Valley 2

Like the original, Monument Valley warps reality and assaults your eyes with otherworldly landscapes. Rarely has a runaway mainstream hit felt so daringly experimental.

Gorogoa

A rare masterpiece of a puzzler, Gorogoa combines a clever picture-shifting mechanic with a beautiful storybook art style. It's quite wonderful.

Grindstone

One of the finest games from the initial Apple Arcade offering - which is really saying something. Grindstone's tactile match-three battling is a real treat.

Prune

Puzzlers used to be functional looking and targeted at the logic centres rather than seeking any kind of emotional response. Prune turns all that on its head with its achingly beautiful grown-'em-up gameplay.

The Room: Old Sins

Even four entries in, the intricate locked-box puzzles within puzzles of The Room series continues to enthrall. When it's as perfectly executed as The Room: Old Sins, we could happily take several more.

Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage

The competition is stiff, but we reckon Icebreaker: A Viking Voyage is the king of cutesy physics puzzlers on the App Store. It's a delight to play from start to finish.

Threes!

This fiendishly clever number-puzzle game should have a place on every mobile device. Accept no imitations.

Ticket to Earth

It's not often that you find a puzzler with a rollicking story, but that's precisely what Ticket to Earth provides. At heart it's a block-matching game, but one that adds in compelling RPG elements and glorious comic book visuals.

Causality

Causality manages to make mind-frazzling time loop manipulation feel like a natural and intuitive mechanic in this colourful isometric puzzler.

Yankai's Peak

An extremely challenging abstract puzzler from Kenny Sun that keep drawing you back in. Rotating coloured triangles into place across its compact levels is a mind-bending delight.

The Witness

The Witness might look and even feel like a first person adventure game, but its beautiful free-roaming hub world is underpinned by fiendishly clever line-drawing puzzles.

Evergarden

This enchanting puzzler takes the advanced match-and-evolve gameplay of Triple Town to the next level, with a hexagon-based game grid and a beautiful 3D art style.

Campfire Cooking

A grid-based puzzler with some of the most delicious presentation around. In place of blocks and tiles, here you're shuffling around marshmallows and cooking pots. Tasty.

Photographs

A narrative puzzler with real heart, Photographs will tug your heartstrings just as much as it tickles your neurons with its block-sliding gameplay.

OXXO

Another bright, minimalistic puzzler from the developer of Zenge and Scalak. OXXO is essentially a 3D sliding puzzle game, with plenty of clever flourishes.

Lara Croft GO

In truth we could have slotted in Hitman GO or Deus Ex GO here, but Lara Croft GO boils down the essence of Tomb Raider into a tricky but always satisfying tabletop puzzler.

7 Billion Humans

A game that utilises the basic principles of coding doesn't exactly sound like a barrel of laughs, but 7 Billion Humans pulls the whole off with style and substance.

Golf Peaks

It might look like a dull isometric golf game, but Golf Peaks is actually an ingenious card-based puzzler that has you laying down golf shots in the right sequence.

The Gardens Between

The Gardens Between is a side-scrolling puzzler that plays with time in various clever but accessible ways, and marries its temporal manipulation to an utterly dreamy art style.

ELOH

You don't normally associate puzzlers with rhythm, but that's precisely what ELOH brings to the table. This charming game has you deflecting streams of pips, forming delightful percussive loops along the way.

Sinkr 2

Sinkr 2 has you playing with hook and reel contraptions to drag pucks into their waiting receptacles. And it does so with admirable poise and style.

Death Squared

Puzzlers are typically contemplative single-player affairs, so Death Squared's cooperative multiplayer angle feels really refreshing. It's also just a handsome, charming game to play.

Tiny Bubbles

There are super-punishing puzzlers that make you work for your satisfaction, and then there's Tiny Bubbles - an impossibly welcoming, intuitive bubble popper that practically begs you to play around with its tactile mechanics.

LYNE

Best Puzzle Game Apps

A beautiful abstract puzzler all about connecting shapes. With an ingenious randomly generated Daily Challenges mode, LYNE pretty much goes on forever.

Slydris 2

The Tetris influence is obvious, but Slydris 2 plays with the formula to subtly revolutionary effect. Allowing you to manipulate the field of tetrominos after they've dropped is a stroke of genius.

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Puzzle games are the chameleons of the gaming world. They can adopt the flair of an RPG, disguise themselves as an adventure game, and even hide in plain sight as a minimalist game. Puzzle games are always different, and they can vary from extremely complex to super simple.

A great puzzle game will keep you entertained for hours as you try (and a lot of times fail) to progress in the game. You may get frustrated, you may put down your iPhone or iPad in anger, but the game will keep you coming back for more because you sure as hell aren't going to let a game get the best of you. The sheer force of will required to continue you in a well-crafted puzzle game is something a lot of gamers have a love-hate relationship with, but there's no denying its power. Here are my top picks for the best puzzle games for iPhone and iPad.

Red's Kingdom

Red's Kingdom is a perfectly crafted adventure puzzle game that has a lot of depth. The goofy but heartwarming story with its colorful characters is bound to grab your attention, and the incredibly fun gameplay never seems to go stale as the game layers in plenty of elements to surprise you at every turn.

Red's Kingdom opens the doors to its world and allows you to take non-linear paths giving you the opportunity to explore different areas and find alternate routes to hidden treasures. Although it's a puzzle game at its core, the game feels more like an action-adventure game than anything else. I can't recommend Red's Kingdom enough.

The Room 3

I couldn't make a list of best puzzle games without including the super creepy puzzler The Room 3. The entire Room series is worth a download, but The Room 3 is especially fun If you enjoyed playing Myst back in the day.

The Room offers complex box-related puzzles along with an atmospheric storyline and unsettling clues to the reality behind the madness. The visuals are outstanding, and the soundtrack is just as spooky as everything else, playing The Room 3 is a full experience.

Monument Valley

Another puzzler with eerie visuals and a compelling tale, Monument Valley offers a variety of 3D maps to conquer — all while transporting you into a strange world of crows, block creatures, and breathtaking Escher-style landscapes.

Monument Valley has been praised by critics and player alike, earning accolades such as Apple's Game of the Year 2014 and the Apple Design Award 2014. Plus, the game has over 20,000 ratings and holds a 4.5 rating overall.

Once you're done with the original, don't miss out on the critically-acclaimed follow-up, Monument Valley 2 ($5).

Slayaway Camp (17+)

Slayaway Camp is a morbidly funny take on the puzzle genre that tasks you with going on a killing spree, and no one you meet is safe!

You'll need to slide around each scene and murder your victims in a particular order to reach the portal to advance to the next area. With plenty of obstacles such as fire pits, open water, and cops, you'll need to be smart during your rampage.

Taking its inspiration from classic 80s horror films, the violence in this game is over-the-top, extremely fake, and incredibly funny.

FRAMED

A film-noir inspired comic book adventure, FRAMED is a unique puzzle game with great visuals to boot and compelling story to boot!

The story is told in comic book form with panels, but they are all jumbled up, and you'll need to put them in the right order to progress forward.

The comic book art is stunning, and all hand-crafted, and the mysterious storyline will keep you glued to the game for hours.

Once you're done with FRAMED, make sure to grab the sequel, FRAMED 2 ($5) for even more graphic novel panel puzzle solving.

Threes

The matching game that started a 2048-clone phenomenon, Threes brought smarts (and some great background music) to the puzzling genre.

Threes may be a game comprised of numbers, but you need no real mathematical skill to excel at this game — just an open mind and a penchant for thinking ahead.

Best of all, you can always find new paths to pursue, new tricks to test, and new methods for matching; the game is always different, though the numbers remain the same.

Ultra Flow 2

Ultra Flow 2's simplicity is probably its greatest strength. The game has a fun and engaging soundtrack and focuses more on hand-eye coordination than serious brainpower.

That being said, it's still not easy. It's in the sweet spot: challenging enough that your mind gets a workout, but easy enough that you're never stuck on the same level for longer than a handful of cracks at it.

Deus Ex GO

From Square Enix popular GO series, comes the mobile addition to the Deus Ex franchise that has everything you could want in a puzzle game.

Deus Ex GO never gets boring, as the game layers in complex systems to solve each puzzle. Defeating enemies, hacking computers, and sneaking your way around the map are just a few of the techniques you'll need to apply to be successful.

If you're a fan of Deus EX or the other games in the GO series, downloading Deus Ex GO is a no-brainer.

Prune

If you need a game to help you relax after a long day, Prune may be the perfect puzzler for you.

Prune tasks you with cutting trees in different patterns to reach the sunlight, all while avoiding the dangers of the world around. Its minimalist design and very limited color scheme allow you to focus in on the game in a very relaxing way, making it perfect to help you unwind.

Mini Metro

Do you ever look at your city's public transportation and think you could design it better? Well, Mini Metro will let you try to create your own subway system.

Minimalist in design but complex in its mind-boggling puzzles, Mini Metro provides hours of fun — even if for some of those hours you will be scratching your head.

You Must Build A Boat

You Must Build A Boat takes the classic formula of match-three and combines it with a challenging and frantic RPG, with a dash of endless runner and building.

Embark on a journey of battling monsters and getting them to join your ranks as you recruit them for your boat, which grows bigger and bigger with every conquest. Battle by matching blocks in groups of three or more to attack, defend, cast magic spells, unlock chests, and more. Watch as your boat continues to grow, and as more creatures join your ranks and offer valuable services and upgrades. And since your matches can be chained, the possibilities for huge combos can be done.

You Must Build A Boat is one of my favorite match-three RPGs ever, and it's well worth picking up. You won't regret it.

Photographs - Puzzle Stories

From the same guy who brought you YMBAB, comes a new puzzle game that focuses on the narrative. Say hello to Photographs.

Photographs is an interesting one because you'll be searching around and solving puzzles, but as you do, you'll uncover and hear a story to go along with each scene. And not only will you be immersed by the captivating stories, but the beautiful pixel art and music pair along with the narratives so perfectly.

Each story takes place in a different setting and will feature unique gameplay mechanics. And while the game is fairly short (only takes about three hours to complete), it's an experience that you need to try out.

Gorogoa

If you like the panel puzzle concept like FRAMED, then you'll get a kick out of Gorogoa as well.

The gameplay of Gorogoa is interesting and fairly unique. You'll have several hand-drawn panels that you need to arrange and combine in order to solve the puzzles they contain. It's simple but complex at the same time. The art is also beautiful, and everything becomes animated once you figure it out. The entire concept of Gorogoa is something you've not seen before in other puzzle games, so it's definitely an experience you should check out if you're a puzzle fan.

Donut County

Donut County is one of the most quirky and interesting puzzle gams you'll come across. Think of reverse Katamari Damacy.

Meet BK, the raccoon. He has a device that creates donut holes in the ground, which basically helps him steal trash in order to win stupid prizes. One day, he ends up falling into one of his own holes and finds his best friend, Mira, along with other Donut County residents, such 999 feet underground. They demand answers!

The gameplay of Donut County involves exploring the home of each character, who also have their own distinctive stories to tell. You'll move the hole around to swallow up their stuff, and the hole grows as you get more trash in it. You can combine items for fun effects, and catapult things out of the hole if needed. Sometimes you'll have to in order to solve the puzzles that await you.

It's a puzzle game, though it doesn't always feel that way. After all, you are controlling a big old hole in the ground and devouring everything that's in the way. Honestly, what else do you need in a game?

ELOH

This puzzle game will help you find your groove and relax at the same time.

ELOH is a musical puzzle game that's all about finding the right position for the blocks to help guide the balls into the correct holes. As you progress through the game, the puzzles get a bit harder, but they all have one thing in common: rhythm. The blocks that you'll need to move also take on more creative shapes and forms and some can only move in a certain way. The game looks beautiful, has over 90 stages, and there's no time limits or other stress factors. Just find your rhythm and solve the puzzles. No stress or in-app purchases!

Lumino City

If you're into beautiful games that look as good as they play, then you must get Lumino City. It was painstakingly hand-crafted from real-life paper, cardboard, miniature lights, and motors to create a wonderful little world that we can all interact with.

Lumi's grandfather has been kidnapped from Lumino City, and it's up to you to help Lumi explore the city to find out what happened to her grandfather. The city is full of realistic puzzles that are all connected and intertwined together, and you can interact with everything through simple touch controls.

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The game is a bit long in the tooth at this point, but it's still a must-have in our book.

What are your favorites?

Have a favorite puzzle game, I want to know about it! Leave a comment down below or hit me up on Twitter.

July 2019: Added more puzzle games to the list.

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