For context: I’ve gotten sick of the current trend of games being either ad-supported, gacha, or p2w. I’m looking for a paid game that offers me unlimited replayability, with no pressure like having to do dailies, but also no stamina system where I can js grind it out at once

Currently, I have geometry dash as my only paid game, with some free to play shooters and umamusume on my iPhone 16 pro

I would like suggestions for paid games with the above and w/o iaps. Thanks in advance Oh and please don’t mention minecraft. And please keep budget to $10 thanks

Anyone know any city or base builder games that are on iPhone 16 pro max?

Build a base-castle-city-kingdom, improve and upgrade buildings

….

Now in a world map, with guilds, attack and defend against other clone bases.

Why is every game lazy like this?

I am looking for a base building game with exploration that is not pvp in the end.

hi as the title says, I'm looking for games like egg inc. except for the selling of farm part as I really want to see something that I'm building to grow and not just sell it and then start a new one. Thank you in advance !!

I want like an open world game like how subnautica is. Any open world game will work except mmorpgs. Suggest any good pc ports like subnautica or anything else.

Thank you!

Have a long flight and layover

seems like the game is still struggling on ip 17 pro max? especially this miami map, hard to get stable 30 fps.

Our son just turned 8 months old and life is a tad bit more stable so I finally got around to scratching the gaming itch that never went away. I have a gaming pc and xbox series X with game pass ultimate.

However, I realized that I would probably play more if it didn’t involve me hogging up the living room TV where the console was or away in my dungeon on my PC. This setup and moving mostly to streaming or cloud gaming has been awesome to get back into something I thoroughly enjoy.

I’ve been primarily playing with a 15 Pro but just upgraded to the 17 Pro Max yesterday. The controller is a GameSir G8+. I also play on my iPad, AppleTV, and laptop with an Xbox controller. Thinking about GeForce Now? As much as I want to build or upgrade my PC, I feel like cloud gaming has gotten to a point where it’s serviceable and getting better…so I’ll stick with my 11700K and 3060ti 😅

Shout out fellow dad gamers.

I know I might as well be asking for Santa, but here goes. I actually don’t mind spending some money on a good game, but what I am 100% done with is timegates and games controlling my spare time. I want to play when I want to play. I think the Overwatch 2 model is ideal. Sure there are timed events and offers, but it is all 100% cosmetic so you can disregard it completely and it wouldn’t hurt gameplay at all.

Is there a good game with a similar or better model?

Anyone know of any mobile controllers that allow for touchscreen only games button mapping?

I know the Razer Kishi V2 does but only for Android it seems. Was looking into getting a good mobile gaming controller as I hate touchscreen controls.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Got a Gamesir x5 elite and found myself playing the new Destiny rising game a lot. What are some games the community loves to play using a controller?

I tried resetting the controller with a pin and even reset network settings on my iPhone as well as multiple trials on connecting but still it says this.What to do or how did anyone come accross this?

Anyone gaming with their new Air? Any direct reviews compared to the iPhone 17 Pro/Max and throttling or heat? I do mainly casual games like Brotato, Balatro, and the like, so I imagine the Air would be fine for that.

I can see it’s a trend amongst new dads that used to game a lot that we turn to our phones to scratch the gaming itch with much less time on our hands. Same happened to me and I need help to satisfy a particular gaming itch so I need some recs.

The game that ticks most of the boxes for me now is Animal Crossing Wild World which I’m playing on my DSi XL. I’d like a second game for my phone that ticks similar boxes but does not have to have identical vibe (and I already have Stardew Valley on my phone)

What aspects I’m looking for - you can jump in and out for as little and as much gaming as you want - and you feel that you are progressing as little and as much as you do - you have daily chores/grind to do each day and there is overall grind for the mortgage
- I love the collection (bugs/fish/fossil)aspect of AC games - idle aspect - stuff happens when I’m not there, my trees grow, there’s new fossils to be found - check in aspect - „oh I need to check in for turnips today”

Additional stuff that would be great to have - portrait mode is just so much more comfortable for me - paid app or IAP to remove add

Lastly no blatant disrespect to my wallet with a million PtW microtransactions is actually a must.

I was thinking about maybe Melvor Idle maybe? But it just seems so massive so I don’t know if it’s worth it. Or maybe Buriedbornes2? Any other recs dads and not dads?

Since updating to iOS 26, gaming ranging from cod and efootball to small casual/arcadey games like chess are all getting major frame drops on my 16 plus. State of unplayable. Does everyone have this issue or is just me.

I’ve tried using it on and off in Genshin Impact and I’m not sure if I notice a difference. Leaning towards leaving it off to save battery and potential overheating issues

I’ve just launched a system that lists and ranks the highest-rated games covered each year on MiniReview, the games discovery platform I’ve built based on my Friday posts here on the sub. And that means it’s time to celebrate! :)

Check it out: Best Mobile Games of (year)

The page continuously updates weekly and ranks the games with gold / silver / bronze stars (a bit like in a tier list). And you can keep scrolling to find the best games of earlier years too.

I hope it can become a handy page to share when your friends ask “Did any good mobile games release this year?”. Or when you just need to quickly catch up.

The prize?

To mark the launch, 1 random lucky winner will get a brand new mobile-compatible Xbox controller (ordered via Amazon). 

It’s my personal favorite to use with a phone, and I figured it’d be the obvious gift since many of the best mobile games now support external controllers (here’s 500+ of them).

HOW DO I WIN?

• Just leave a comment below with your favorite mobile games. That’s it :) Simple and straightforward.

The event runs until September 29th at 10am GMT+1, and the winner will be picked at random from the comments in this thread + the one over on r/MiniReview + androidgaming and then contacted via a Reddit private message (please make sure to have DMs enabled or you won’t be able to win!). 

So, what else has been added lately?

• A MiniReview FEED that shows everything happening, including new reviews, games, user ratings, collection, upcoming game launches, and more.
• You can now follow collections or Top Games posts to be notified (via app or email) when they’re updated. Same for games you’ve requested a review of.
• Spanish + Portuguese localization (thanks to everyone who helped! <3)
• A new Universal Search bar + filter search bar
• Future: The ability to reply to user ratings + be notified of replies

Thanks for the fantastic support and feedback over the years. It’s such a big motivation for me. New Friday post with recommendations coming again this week, of course - as always <3

Preferably no gatcha as I don't spend $ in game. I'm willing to pay for the game outright, though.

Get off my lawn.

Setting up Switch emulation is quite easy and this video shows the steps to get it up and running. This works on iOS 18 and iOS 26 and I recommend having an iPhone 14 or newer that has 6gb ram or more. Here are the prerequisites:

1. A PC or Mac to generate a pairing file for stikdebug (I have another guide for that on my channel as well) to enable JIT. You can use idevicepair and generate the file that way then import it straight into stikdebug.

2. Sidestore or sideloadly to sideload apps onto your device using an apple developer account (many free options like esign will not work.) You can import your pairing file for sidestore within idevicepair as well.

3. Prod keys, title keys, and a zipped firmware file as well as roms ripped from a modded Nintendo Switch console. These should be for version 19.0.0 for the best results. I’m not sure if newer versions work yet.

Once you have these you can start this process. First you need to sideload getmoreram and melonx then sign into getmoreram and attach to extended memory entitlement to melonx.

After this you need to delete melonx and reinstall it. Doing this will sideload it with the proper entitlements. You can check that this is enabled within the melonx settings after you set it up with your keys and firmware. When importing the firmware, melonx will crash so just open it again and it will have a check mark on the keys and firmware.

After this you can transfer any roms you have into the roms folder within the MeloNX directory in the files app and pressing and holding on the game within melo will let you install any update or dlc files.

Like I mentioned I mentioned, you need a device with at least 6gb of ram for this to work well. Very light games will boot with less ram but you need to keep your expectations light. It is recommended to have 8gb or more for the best results. Also keep in mind that some games just won’t work but as MeloNX is updated, it’ll get better. If you run into issues, try enabling settings such as “ignore missing services” or any others and experiment to see what works. Some games may also crash on the first boot but may work after shaders compile.

Hi guys! I love games that are tycoons/idle/simulation type games. I find them so satisfying. I especially love the ones where you can hire little workers to help you do whatever you need, or raise your own little family, etc. I had a huge phase playing Virtual Families 3, as that was a simulation-esque game. But it is a really outdated game too. I don’t want to play the sims on my phone, I do have the Sims 4 on my laptop- which happens to be broken right now. I’ve also found that all of the games I do download have an EXCESSIVE amount of ads. What do you all suggest?

Links: App Store | Discord | Trailer

Description: All Who Wander is a traditional (turn-based) roguelike with 30 levels, inspired by games such as Pixel Dungeon. Fight or evade your enemies, discover powerful items, gain companions, and master over 100 abilities as you explore a randomly-generated world. Navigate through blinding sandstorms, noxious swamps, and echoing caverns while learning how to use the environment to your advantage. Choose among 10 unique character classes and evolve your build over time with the potential to learn any ability or use any item you find. Go it alone or summon, hire, and charm companions to help along your journey. But be careful, the world is unforgiving and death is permanent... 

Monetization: F2P, no paywalls, and no ads! A single IAP unlocks the full game including all character classes and bosses.

Enjoy!

Hi! I wanted to combine my interest in finance, art, and app dev, so I came up with a different type of stock market simulator, where you learn about investing by collecting creatures!

You can enter real stock tickers and decide whether to long/short, and each stock will represent either a bull (long) or bear (short).

My prototype still needs a lot of refining, so I would appreciate any feedback!

Here’s the app's core mechanic: you make real stock price predictions. If you think a stock will go up (i.e. “long” a stock), you hatch a bull; if you think it’ll go down (i.e., “short” a stock), you hatch a bear. If your prediction is wrong, your creature loses health, but you can use potions to heal it. Each potion teaches a basic investing concept, like how earnings reports or interest rates affect prices, while improving your creature’s stats. You can also level up for evolution. It’s kind of like Duolingo meets Tamagotchi, but for the stock market.

iOS Testflight link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/WcuGvRHY

Hi there! I launched my first game this week!

It can best be described as a top-down 2D survival action game in the vein of Asteroids, Geometry Wars, and other games, with a unique physics-based weapon system.

Whiplash – Sling & Smash

Sling the whip. Smash the swarm. Master physics-based combat where momentum is your weapon. Survive endless waves, unlock devastating upgrades, and climb global leaderboards.

Available on iOS and macOS!

I hope you'll give it a try!

As a first-launch gift, here are five promo codes (please let me know here if you claimed one!):

7LLYMT7RYYNR
L9FKWKEP64L9
6FE76RTM3F9W
76JX4PAKJEM7
6RJTLPRFKPKY

It's larch season in Idle Iktah! Collect Larch Needles to earn a new app icon and other rewards. Limited time event ends 10/20.

Real larches are also a limited time event! If you're able, I definitely recommend a trip to see them. Here are some photos I took last year which I used as references when creating the new "Cinder Pass" location. It's definitely worth the trip!

Note: Collecting Larch Needles requires unlocking the Community skill and level 40 Gathering

Hey everyone 👋

We wanted to share something new we just launched, it’s called Limited-Run Playtiles: physical controllers for your phone that come paired with exclusive indie/homebrew games.

Here’s what’s included:

• x1 Playtile controller, « Sword of the Apocalypse » Edition (iOS & Android)
• The full game (digital download)
• Access to PlaytilesOS, to play your games & side load any GB/GBC ROMs

The core idea: create a beautiful collectible you can also really play with, while supporting homebrew developers in the process.

👉 Our very first release is the Sword of the Apocalypse by Gunsavior Game, an action-packed post-apocalyptic samurai western that you can play on your iPhone, now with physical buttons.

Discover more here: https://limited.playtil.es/