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Top 25 best platformers for iPhone and iPad (iOS)

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Top 25 best platformers for iPhone and iPad (iOS)

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Updated by Ivan Spasojevic on December 19, 2023 - 2 new games added.



"You can't play platformers on a mobile phone". Just one of the many things you used to hear all the time from snobby console types.

You don't hear it quite so much these days. Why is that? We've got 25 reasons why in the following article, and there are many, many more.

Those developers cracked the mobile platformer codes years ago. They figured out the sticky matter of touchscreen control and got to grips with the unique requirements of playing in short, sharp snippets.

But they also figured out that they don't have to be too beholden to the past. All of these games tip their hats to the platforming genre greats in some way or other, but many also dare to branch out in interesting new directions, or to embrace those smartphone attributes as a feature, not a bug.

It also helps that smartphone technology has come on leaps and bounds, with huge, sharp screens and powerful laptop-level processors. There aren't too many areas of compromise in these 25 games.

Have we left your favourite iOS platformer out? Let us know what you'd include in the comments section below. When you are done with this one, you can hop into the list of best platformers for Android!

Click Here To View The List »

1
Traps n' Gemstones

Developer: Donut Games
Available on: iOS + Android + Steam
Genre: Action, Adventure, Platform
Find out more about Traps n' Gemstones
Traps n' Gemstones

A rare mobile-only metroidvania on the App Store. This one lets you explore a massive great pyramid as you unlock new tools, uncover secrets, and generally just get lost for hours. Fun!

2
Dead Cells

Developer: Motion Twin
Publisher: Motion Twin
Available on: iOS + Android + Steam + Switch
Genre: Action, Adventure
Find out more about Dead Cells
Dead Cells

Dead Cells is one of the greatest action platformers to be launched on any platform in recent years, so the fact that this slick roguelite is available right here on mobile in perfect form (provided you hook up a controller) is wonderful.

3
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Publisher: Konami
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action, Adventure, RPG
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Alongside Super Metroid, this is the game that defined the Metroidvania genre. It's a brilliant, sprawling, ocean-deep action-platformer with absorbing RPG elements. Marvelous.

4
Jumper Jon

Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Arcade, Platform
Find out more about Jumper Jon
Jumper Jon

You're just a little devil, minding your own business and a sudden impact rocks your world. Aaaand, of course, it's a girl, and she gave you a hint of what's going on, and now you're ready to 'go through hell' for what she said. Some might call this a typical marriage, but it's actually a fascinating Metroidvania that's easy to fall in love with. The developer is releasing new chapters occasionally, so you can never get bored.

5
Gunbrick

Developer: Nitrome
Publisher: Nitrome
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action, Platform
Find out more about Gunbrick
Gunbrick

A Gunbrick is a square tank that rolls clumsily from side to side, using its oversized cannon to propel it to higher platforms as well as for taking out baddies. It's also the name of one of Nitrome's best ever games.

6
Super Mario Run

Publisher: Nintendo
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Platform
Find out more about Super Mario Run
Super Mario Run

We never thought we'd see the day, but Nintendo has made a Mario game for mobile - and it's brilliant. Super Mario Run takes the one-button mechanic of your average endless runner and app

7
Unruly Heroes

Available on: iOS + Android + Steam + Switch
Genre: Platform
Find out more about Unruly Heroes
Unruly Heroes

A truly top notch platformer made by some of the talent behind Rayman Legends, and beautifully inspired by the classic Journey to the West.

8
Downwell

Developer: Moppin
Available on: iOS + Android + Steam
Genre: Action, Platform
Find out more about Downwell
Downwell

You generally want to avoid falling down holes in platformers, but Downwell turns it into a whole game. Shoot baddies with your gunboots whilst freefalling down a bottomless hole.

9
Super Fowlst 2

Publisher: Thomas K Young
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action
Find out more about Super Fowlst 2
Super Fowlst 2

While it looks like a traditional platformer, Super Fowlst 2 really messes with the formula. You're essentially bouncing off thin air and into, rather than away from, enemies. It's great.

10
Oddmar

Publisher: Senri
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Adventure, Platform
Find out more about Oddmar
Oddmar

One of the most beautiful games on the App Store, Oddmar's viking-flavoured 2D platformer is a polished delight.

11
Inside

Publisher: Playdead
Available on: iOS + Switch
Genre: Platform, Puzzle
Find out more about Inside
Inside

This spiritual successor to the marvellous Limbo goes even further with its spookily immersive world and engrossing platform-puzzler gameplay. Beautiful, strange and slightly icky.

12
Manifold Garden

Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Puzzle
Find out more about Manifold Garden
Manifold Garden

A quite literally dizzying platform-puzzler that sees you messing with gravity to a degree and a sense of ingenuity that would make Christopher Nolan's head spin. And boy does it look stunning.

13
See/saw

Publisher: Philipp Stollenmayer
Available on: iOS
Genre: Platform
Find out more about See/saw
See/saw

Run left, run right. Those are all the controls you need to worry about in this brutal bize-sized platformer, which takes N++ and Super Meat Boy and strips them back to the bare essentials.

14
Hot Lava

Publisher: Klei Entertainment
Available on: iOS + Apple TV + Apple Arcade
Genre: Platform
Find out more about Hot Lava
Hot Lava

You don't get many first person platformers - it's hard to get them right. And Hot Lava is a proper platformer, a game of fantasy online parkour with a delicious sense of inertia. Provide you use a controller, that is.

15
Apple Knight

Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action, Platform
Find out more about Apple Knight
Apple Knight

It is an exciting platform game with a retro pixel art style. The game has an endless amount of brilliantly designed levels, each with its secret locations, skins, and weapons. Upgrade your character and destroy your enemies in this fantastic game.

16
Levelhead

Publisher: Butterscotch Shenanigans
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Adventure, Platform
Find out more about Levelhead
Levelhead

The closest thing to a Super Mario Maker for mobile, Levelhead is a startlingly well realised 2D platformer level creation and sharing tool - and a darned fun game to boot.

17
Rayman Mini

Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Platform
Find out more about Rayman Mini
Rayman Mini

The latest in a series of super-slick auto-runners starring Ubisoft's limbless hero, made even slicker for its Apple Arcade debut. Smooth.

18
Super Fancy Pants Adventure

Publisher: Kongregate
Available on: iOS
Genre: Platform
Find out more about Super Fancy Pants Adventure
Super Fancy Pants Adventure

Don't let the sketchy graphics fool you - Super Fancy Pants Adventure is the real deal, largely thanks to its thrilling sense of weight and momentum.

19
Grimvalor

Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action, Platform, Retro
Find out more about Grimvalor
Grimvalor

Grimvalor takes the Dark Souls games as its major inspiration, with a dark fantasy world and crunchy bladed combat, but it owes just as much to the side-scrolling Metroidvania platformers of the 16-bit era.

20
Kalimba

Publisher: Press Play
Available on: iOS
Genre: Platform, Puzzle
Find out more about Kalimba
Kalimba

This clever platform-puzzler has you controlling two characters simultaneously through a series of deliciously escalating challenges.

21
Super Cat Tales

Publisher: Neutronized Games
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Platform
Find out more about Super Cat Tales
Super Cat Tales

Super Cat Tales looks an awful lot like the 16-bit platformers of the '90s, but its pared down controls and bite-sized levels are pure smartphone magic.

22
Leo's Fortune

Publisher: 1337 Game Design
Available on: iOS + Android
Genre: Action, Platform
Find out more about Leo's Fortune
Leo's Fortune

When you have a 10-year-old game and you're still at the top of the genre, you know that you've created something special. Leo is a ...fluff ball that got his gold stolen, and now he's after it. The thief left a trace of coins, so not all is lost. The design and artwork of Leo's Fortune picked prizes before, but we have to note once again that the game is darn beautiful.

23
Suzy Cube

Available on: iOS + Android
Find out more about Suzy Cube
Suzy Cube

There aren't many 3D platformers on iOS, but Suzy Cube is like a little slice of Mario 64 (or rather Super Mario 3D Land) right here on your mobile.

24
Little Orpheus

Publisher: The Chinese Room
Available on: iOS + Apple Arcade
Genre: Adventure
Find out more about Little Orpheus
Little Orpheus

Little Orpheus is a deeply cinematic platformer that places far more emphasis on story than most games of its kind. Guide your little cosmonaut through a series of flights of fancy.

25
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

Publisher: Dotemu
Available on: iOS + Android + Switch
Genre: Action, Platform, Retro
Find out more about Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

A wonderful reinvention of the classic adventure-platformer, with beautiful hand-drawn graphics and an orchestral soundtrack. Yes, it's a port with non-optimal virtual controls, but the underlying game is fabulous.

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Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.