The 15 Best RPGs on iOS (2024)

The mobile games market is often derided by gamers, known more for its predatory games and cheap licensed titles. But there are actually a lot of great games on iOS, including long-time classics and new games that redefine what mobile gaming can be.

RPGs are aplenty on iOS, and the best ones use the platform to their advantage. The genre tends to be full of games with epic length, and that’s what makes them so great. You can jump in, complete a quest or two, and you’ll have plenty to go back to later.

Updated May 30, 2024 by Quinton O'Connor: We've added another entry, and given some added information on several of our older ones.

The Banner Saga is a modern take on a tactical RPG that features a heavy emphasis on player choice. In between battles, the game plays like a choose-your-own-adventure story, following your choices as you guide your Viking tribe through war, famine, and near death.

The name of the game here is story and immersion. The Banner Saga intentionally avoids typical RPG conventions like looting, buying, and selling, and the game even prevents you from loading a save if you’re beaten in battle. All of this is in an effort to immerse you in the story of your tribe as a whole, rather than a single individual.

2 Dragon Quest 5: Hand Of The Heavenly Bride

The late, great Akira Toriyama has left his mark on pop culture on so many levels. Even within the mobile RPG sphere, Dragon Quest 5: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is but the first of two entries on this list with Toriyama's unmistakable art style front and center.

Dragon Quest's Zenithian trilogy of fourth through sixth games stand tall as some of the best chapters in a remarkably solid franchise, and as far as we're concerned, the fifth game is the pinnacle of prestige. You'll watch your protagonist grow, first as child, then a young man, and then as a somewhat older man with children (and a bride!) of his own.

All the trademark Dragon Quest charm is on full display in this mobile-port-of-the-DS-version of a classic - and it's all right there in the palm of your hand. (It's also better than the DS version; those higher-definition visuals afforded on mobile devices really pop here!)

3 Fate/Grand Order

One of the most profitable mobile games ever, Fate/Grand Order was produced by Sony based on the Fate/Stay Night visual novel series that originated in 2004. Like other mobile RPGs, the game is based on traditional turn-based combat and pulling gacha rolls to get new characters and weapons.

What makes Fate/Grand Order stand out from other games on this list is that, rather than playing a central protagonist or even controlling a party, you instead play the role of a “Master,” and must guide an entire group of adventurers – knights, magicians, mages, etc. - and who you take into battle and adventures is up to you.

4 Darkest Dungeon

Darkest Dungeon has a reputation for being a brutally difficult game, and rightfully so. A roguelike with permanent death for your characters, Darkest Dungeon is in many ways the perfect game for mobile. It allows you to quickly jump to set up a party and head straight into a dungeon to perform some turn-based combat.

This game is all about positioning. Taking place in 2D, battles happen in a line between your party and your enemies. Positioning will partially determine their stats, including their chances to hit or get hit with sickness or injury.

5 Neverwinter Nights

Based on the Forgotten Realms campaign of Dungeons & Dragons, Neverwinter Nights is another example of a classic RPG making its way to iOS, with surprisingly good results. This version of the game is the Enhanced Edition, which comes with improved graphics and a host of free DLC included.

Being set in the D&D universe, the plot of Neverwinter Nights is deep - perhaps a little too deep for first-time players. But with a 100-hour-long campaign and an emphasis on vast player choice that has serious repercussions, it’s worth giving the game a shot, even if you aren’t into the fantasy setting.

6 Chroma Squad

Chroma Squad is a criminally underrated tactical RPG where you manage a TV studio making a Power Rangers-esque show. Part of the gameplay is managing the studio – setting schedules, buying equipment – but the majority of the game is the humorous story and set-piece battles.

Despite its looks and silly premise, Chroma Squad has a deep but simple battle system that’s perfect for iOS. You take a team of four (later five) of your Power Rangers out into the field, customize their abilities and weapons, and have free rein to use them however you like, with a wide range of abilities and teamwork attacks. And yes, there is even giant robot versus monster fights.

7 Fantasian

Gorgeous dioramas like the one you see above aren't the exception in Fantasian. They're the rule. Every single place in this huge JRPG is just as beautiful or more so, and the game's creative pedigree will tell most Final Fantasy fans it's worth checking out; Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy, spearheaded the development.

Sakaguchi's influence is found all over the place, from the melancholy and wide-eyed cast of characters to the strategic battles and classical themes. Fantasian's won plenty of awards, and for darn good reason. We hope it launches on other platforms than just Apple Arcade someday so that more gamers can enjoy it.

8 Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact is one of the biggest games in the world. It’s a giant, epic RPG by Chinese developer Mihoyo, featuring a sweeping quest, multiple unlockable characters, and plenty of things to do. Genshin is always changing, getting new worlds to explore, characters to play as, and even new gameplay mechanics.

While it’s true this is a gacha game, you can play Genshin Impact without ever spending any money on it all. All quests are freely available to you, and you can earn in-game currency relatively quickly.

9 Another Eden

Another Eden was built from the ground up to run on mobile. It may not look like much, with its simplistic sprites and background art, but what it lacks in visuals, it makes up for with its story, characters, and combat. You play as Aldo on his quest to save his sister from the Beast King, who uses the dormant power in her to wipe out humanity to leave Earth for demons.

Doing so, Aldo is thrust 800 years into the future, where humanity barely survives. Thankfully, there are 84 chapters for you to play through. That's right, this amount of content will keep you entertained for hours.

10 Final Fantasy Tactics: The War Of The Lions

Often praised as one of the finest Final Fantasy games in the series, and surely the best of the franchise's myriad spinoffs, Final Fantasy Tactics tells the tale of two young men caught up in a kingdom-wide civil war amid the return of a nefarious foe. One - protagonist Ramza - endeavors to follow a righteous path, even at the cost of his noble status and lifelong branding as a heretic. The other - antihero Delita - commits to a more Machiavellian path, destined to gain glory in the ages to come.

It's a deep, intensely sociopolitically-themed plot from the legendary creator Yasumi Matsuno, and it's packed with all the tactical role-playing coolness you'd expect from its title. The iOS version combines the fantastic features of 2007's PSP enhanced port with a lack of that version's frustrating slowdown issues, and the touch controls work quite well.

11 Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley is available on several platforms, allowing you to make the farm of your dreams pretty much anywhere you want. This farming RPG is a household name by this point, but if you somehow haven't heard of the game, you are in for a treat.

The goal is simple, make a farm and live in the valley. Along the way, you can make friends, get married, and build your empire. You have the freedom to focus on anything, from combat to a mono-crop monopoly. The iOS version of Stardew Valley is a bit behind in terms of updates, but Concerned Ape works diligently to offer updates to all platforms.

12 Lunar Silver Star Story Touch

An iOS remaster of Lunar: The Silver Star, one of the most criminally underrated RPGs from the 1990s, Lunar Silver Star Story Touch can be forgiven for its rather unwieldy name in light of its solid control scheme and terrific presentation.

That last part is important: Lunar Silver Star Story Touch is a pretty old mobile port, but back in January 2023, it received a surprisingly robust update with 60-frames-per-second smoothness, improved audio, and an option for a classic UI if you've got a controller hooked up.

The result is a dang-near-definitive version of Lunar: The Silver Star. Now, when in heck's name are we getting Lunar: Eternal Blue?

13 Octopath Traveler: Champions Of The Continent

Octopath Traveler is a popular JPRG series that currently consists of two games. In the games, you essentially assemble a group of eight characters, completing various chapters of their story. Now, you can bring this cozy JRPG straight to your phone.

Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent isn't a mobile port of the original game; instead, it's a gacha game set before the events of the first game. As such, you will still be within Osterra, with many familiar sights. There are three story paths that you can choose, giving plenty of content for you to enjoy.

14 Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

The first Baldur's Gate game launched back in 1998. Since then, we've seen several additional games, spin-offs, and expansions. In addition to this content, we also have the enhanced edition of the first game. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn brings the spectacular sequel game straight to your phone, and it can even be played on tablets.

Whether the smash-hit launch of Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 has piqued your interests in the series' past, you're itching to replay a classic, or you're simply looking for a good time, Shadows of Amn delivers.

15 Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is another classic RPG that has been ported straight to your phone. Time definitely was not cruel to this title, as Chrono Trigger is still, without a doubt, worth it. Few video games can claim to be so charming, with a captivating atmosphere, a memorable cast, and some of the greatest pacing in role-playing game history.

While the controls may take a bit of getting used to, Chrono Trigger is well worth the slight hassle. Between Square at its peak, the collaborative efforts with Dragon Quest's Yuji Horii (back when Enix was a separate company), and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's character designs, this is simply incredible stuff.