No internet? No problem! The best Android and iPhone games to play offline

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Want offline games for your Android or iOS device? Picture this: You’re on a long, boring train, bus, or plane ride, and you’ve already read the onboard magazine a hundred times? Then here’s what you can do: You can find both free and paid offline games on our list for the year 2023.

Here are some offline games that we really like. The list has a mix of different types of music. As always, this list is just our opinion, and we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for more offline games. This list has been updated with the best offline books as of March 2023. Just because old is gold doesn’t mean that all of these books are new.

1. Dead Cells

Do you happen to like roguelike games? If the answer is yes, then Dead Cells should be one of your first choices. This game is available for both iOS and Android, and we can say for sure that it will keep you busy for hours.

In the game’s settings, you can choose from different framerates like 30FPS, 60FPS, and unlimited FPS. This lets you get the most out of the latest smartphone technologies. In fact, if your phone is powerful enough, you’ll be able to use the HD graphics option without losing any frames.

This action platformer has fast-paced and dynamic 2D action. To stay alive, you have to stay on your toes and learn the patterns of your enemies. Since new levels are unlocked each time you die, the game can be played over and over again. On November 29, there will be a new free update with new bosses, enemies, weapons, and even an entirely new ending!

To get the most out of this game, you should definitely get a more expensive phone (any flagship device will do, but if you are constrained to mid-range devices, then the ones that fall under the flagship killer category would do just fine). Here’s a helpful hint: Those who feel they need tactile feedback from physical buttons will do better with a controller, but the touchscreen controls are fine. Call us old-fashioned.

2. Dadish 3

best Android and iPhone games to play offline

This is the third part of Dadish’s story, and it’s also the most exciting one so far! It’s an old-school platformer with 50 great levels to jump and move through. Basically, you are a radish who is going on an adventure to stop his kids from being used as the main ingredients in a hearty bowl of radish soup. You might have to get through a sewer, a desert, or even a mount that looks like a dolphin (that’s just nuts!).

Cute and creative enemies include killer ice creams, cupcake snakes, bad-tempered bread that isn’t mouldy, and other enemies that look like junk food. There are a total of 5 bosses to beat, and if you’re not careful, the music can get stuck in your head.

3. Plague Inc.

It’s kind of sad that a game like “Plague Inc.” became very popular when the Corona virus spread. But the game is a great way to pass the time because it has a new idea. In the standard version, you have to spread fear around the world like a virus while people try to find a cure.

You can use mutations to change your disease, but you shouldn’t do it too quickly or the game will be over. So the whole point of the strategy game is to spread the disease wisely without making things too crazy.

The game has different levels of difficulty, which you can access after you finish a level. You can also unlock gene mutations to make your disease worse from the start, which is very important, especially at higher levels. “The Cure” is another movie.

Here, you play a researcher trying to find a cure for an unknown disease. But the way you play doesn’t change. Plague Inc. is a good choice if you want to play a strategy game where you don’t have to control hordes of armies.

  • 4.6 stars at Google Play / 4.7 stars at Apple App Store.
  • Price: Free, ads (Android) / $0.99 (iOS).
  • In-app purchases: Yes.
  • Download: Google Play Store, Apple App Store.

4. Stardew Valley

best Android and iPhone games to play offline

At least in your mind, living on your own farm can be very comforting. When it came out on PC in 2016, Stardew Valley was already known as one of the best independent games of all time. In games like “Hay Day” and “Farmville,” you are part of a community, but in “Stardew Valley,” you have your own little farm. It’s up to you if you want to take care of animals, farm fields, or go shopping in town.

This mobile game is worth the money for anyone who likes games like “Harvest Moon” or “Animal Crossing.” Also, “Stardew Valley” is also a role-playing game. This means that you can talk to NPCs to get to know them and build relationships with them. This will help you win the game for sure. The developer also adds new features and fixes bugs all the time, so you can spend a lot of time on your farm. I’ve decided to move to the country.

5. Alto’s Odyssey

We already told you about this scary game in another article because it has beautiful graphics. It works well with Alto’s Odyssey’s great sound and easy-going gameplay, so you can kill time even when you’re not online.

It’s a great title for times when you won’t have access to the internet for a long time, like when you’re on a flight. Then there’s no reason to get upset, since this game calms you down and keeps you interested even during a long session, making you feel like time went by (ba-dum-tsh!) quickly. Alto’s Odyssey has all of these things, which is why we think you should play this game that never ends.

  • 4.5 stars on Google Play / 4.3 stars on the Apple App Store.
  • Price: Free, in-game ads (Android) / $4.99 (iOS).
  • In-App purchases: Yes (Android) / No (iOS).

6. Exploding Kittens

best Android and iPhone games to play offline

Have you ever thought about how physical games get turned into digital ones? The card game Exploding Kittens is a lot of fun. In fact, it’s the most-funded game in the history of Kickstarter, so the fact that we can play it on our phones just blows our minds. The Party Pack, Betrayal, Streaking Kittens, and the brand-new Barking Kittens expansions will all be part of the mobile version.

One of the best things about this fun card game that can be played on the go is that you don’t have to carry around physical cards that get damaged after each round. You can play offline with your friends in person, and if you can’t find any, you can always play against the computer or cross a sacred line and play online with strangers.

7. Mini Metro

Are you born to run a city? In Mini Metro for both Android and iOS platforms, you are tasked with equipping the largest and most diverse cities worldwide with a functioning mass transit system. The game is fun right from the start, when you switch and move on a 2D map while looking at each city’s dark side.

Symbols are used in the game to show you which passengers need to be taken where they need to go. You have to link the stations together. Each week, you’ll get new locomotives, lines, tunnels, bridges, or waggons to help you keep building the city’s transportation system. In the game, time doesn’t work like it does in real life.

Here’s a useful hint: Watch out for the most important metro stops at all times. If a station is too full, the game is over. The point of the game is to keep stations from getting too crowded, which will obviously hurt your high score.

In normal mode, Mini Metro can be played offline at all times. There is also an online version of “Daily” mode where you can play against players from all over the world.

8. Bricks Breaker Puzzle

The iOS and Android game Bricks Breaker Puzzle is all about breaking things, but in a safe way. By tapping the screen, you can shoot a ball. To break the bricks, you have to hit them. The item’s durability is shown as a number. If the number falls to 0, the item will break, but only if it doesn’t fall to the ground. Okay, everyone probably knows how the game works because it is based on the old game Alleyway, right?

Bricks Breaker Puzzle also has a mode where you can play with other people and compare your scores. You can only use this feature when you are online.

9. The Room: Two – Puzzle fans, rejoice!

The Room Two is a mystery game that is also a physical puzzle. You jump right into the middle of the action in a beautifully made 3D world that you can touch. It is so good that it won a BAFTA award, so you know it deserves to be recognised.

Basically, you’re supposed to follow a trail of mysterious letters from a scientist you only know as “AS.” Be careful if you play this, because you might get so into it that you can’t tell the difference between real life and the game, as the world of mystery and exploration fills your every waking (and maybe even sleeping) moment.

There are a lot of clever puzzles that will keep you busy for hours, and the graphics do add to the creepy feel. Who says you can’t put a scary story on stage? There are a total of four books in this series.

10. Mekorama: Monument Valley for robot friends

If you’ve ever played Monument Valley, you’ll love both the Android and iOS versions of Mekorama. You guide a small, nameless robot through carefully made 3D worlds in this offline game. Using the “tap-to-move” button, you can tell the little robot in which direction it should go.

The towers that the robot moves on are what make this game hard. These towers are in 3D. In higher levels, you will have to turn your little robot around a lot and think about elevators and tunnels along the way to make sure it gets to its destination safely. To make things harder, the robot can also fall off. If that happens, you have to start the level over.

The great thing about Mekorama is that there are 50 levels to play, and you can also make your own. Then, you can use QR codes to share self-made worlds with friends all over the world. But most people already find the 50 levels hard enough. If you have VR glasses, you can also play Mekorama as a VR game, but it will cost you $3.99.

11. Bloons TD6

Want to use your mind for some strategy in this tower defence game? Bloons TD6 comes along just when you think this type of game has pretty much run out of ideas. It will blow your mind. It’s a lot like the games that came before it. The goal is simple: line a road with as many towers as you can afford to kill any bad guys who come your way.

There are 20 maps to play through, and each map has five levels of upgrades. To help you on your quest, you have heroes and 19 towers, each of which has three ways to level up. There are also upgrades for each tower to think about, depending on the situation. This game won’t get old quickly because you can turn up (or down) the difficulty level to match your skill level, and there are different game modes that make it fun to play again and again.

12. Crossy Road

Do you move around a lot while you’re waiting for the next bus or train because you don’t like sitting by yourself? Use this endless crosser to help ease some of that pain.

Yes, it’s not an endless runner. Instead, it’s a unique game where you have to keep moving forward while avoiding different obstacles so you don’t become road pizza. It’s a surefire way to keep you busy during the boring parts of your life.

There are in-app purchases, but most of them are just for looks and don’t change the way the game is played in any way. In other words, this is not a “pay-to-win” game, and all you need to get a high score is patience, skill, and a little luck. Love the pixelated graphics, which are just too cute to be real.

13. Badland: Offline game for action fans

This game is not one of the newest ones out there, but it is still one of the NextPit editorial team’s favourites. Badland is a side-scrolling action-adventure game for both Android and iOS that looks great and has a loving but sad atmosphere.

In the game, you are a bird, and you have to lead your character through a forest. There are many dangers and traps that will slow you down on your way. Badland keeps scrolling, and when your bird gets to the edge on the left, you’ll have to start over from the last checkpoint.

There are more than 80 levels to finish, but you can only play the first 40 for free. You can buy the other levels right inside the app. There is a multiplayer mode that makes it easy to play with up to four other people on one device and go through all 21 levels.

  • 4.5 stars on Google Play / 4.4 stars on the Apple App Store.
  • Price: Free, in-game ads (Android) / $0.99 (iOS).
  • In-app purchases: Yes (Android) / No (iOS).

14. Limbo: Lonely through the desolation

best Android and iPhone games to play offline

 

Limbo is a platformer for both Android and iOS. You control a young boy as he searches for his lost sister in a lonely, black-and-white world. The game is a classic independent game that started out on iOS and has been carefully moved to the Android platform (smartphones and tablets).

The world of Limbo is sad, creepy, and very interesting, and the story will quickly pull you in. This can only be played for a short amount of time, but it’s worth the price to help a small studio. Here’s a tip to help you get started: watch out for spiders.

15. Riptide GP: Renegade: Offline game for (jet ski) racers

Riptide GP Renegade is an Android and iOS jet ski racing game that will keep you busy for a long time: In a setting that feels a bit post-apocalyptic, you race through water courses that are not only full of obstacles but also full of people who aren’t afraid to beat you quickly.

You can turn on your turbo to go faster. Turbo doesn’t last forever, but you can keep it going by doing stunts during the race. The trick gives you more turbo energy the more complicated it is. In a tutorial, you can learn how to drive the jet ski and do tricks. The tutorial also gives you an overview of the story.

In addition to having great graphics, the game is also very hard to play: This is because you are not on solid ground; instead, you are racing across water, which requires a lot of intuition to keep the jet ski under control. It has hard tracks, great graphics, and you can even play it when you’re not online: What could you want more of?

Why do we actually need offline games?

There are times when our phones can’t connect to the internet. For example, we go offline on purpose when we want to get away from the stress of social media, WhatsApp, the news, or even work emails. Also, getting on a metro or subway train is a common time when our LTE connections (let alone 5G networks) drop, or when we want to avoid being surprised by our phone bills when we return from a trip abroad.

Apps that work without a data connection make sense if you want to be able to use your phone even when you don’t have a data connection. This gets more important as time goes on and you can’t connect to the Internet.

This article will give suggestions for games that can be played without an internet connection. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean that these titles will never be able to get on the internet. Some, like Google Play, have cloud features or need you to download new levels when you want to play them.

By the way, if you use Google Play Games or Apple’s Game Center and want to keep your in-game achievements, you can play these games without worry when you’re not connected to the Internet. The next time you connect to the Internet, these achievements will be updated automatically.

Hot tip: Start the game once while you’re connected to the internet so that it can load all of the data and information it needs. You’ll need to remember to do this before takeoff if you’re in an aeroplane. You can also start the game if you’re not connected to the internet, but you won’t have the most recent game data.

Remember that these suggestions are just the beginning. We want to hear from you because there are so many great offline games for iOS and Android. If you know of any games that you think should be on this list or if you have a personal favourite that you’d like to share, please let us know in the comments. Your suggestions could help other gamers find their next favourite game.

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