Top 10 Most Addictive iPhone Games

The games currently installed on this author’s iPhone.

When I first got an iPod touch (which I got about two years before I managed to get myself an iPhone), one of the first things I did was peruse the games section of the App Store in search of a few things to play when I got bored or something.

Those of you who also frequent the App Store probably know how quickly “a few things” turned into “a lot of things” and “when I got bored or something” turned into “any time I got a tiny bit distracted from the task at hand.” According to Apple’s website, there are over 100,000 games available in the App Store. I have not, of course, played anywhere near all of them, but in the years since I first started collecting iOS games, there have been many I tried and discarded, but also a number of gems that have stood the test of boredom and a desire to avoid studying. Here’s ten of my favorite addictive iPhone games.

10. Plants vs Zombies

In this game, you use plants which have a variety of defensive functions (shooting projectiles, acting as walls, etc) to defend your house against zombie onslaught. Things start out simply but, naturally, get more complicated as the game progresses. The zombies move from attacking your front yard to your backyard (with pool!) and finally end up attacking your roof – where you must put down flowerpots before you can place plants. It sounds pretty nonsensical, but it’s surprisingly fun and definitely one of those games I keep coming back to.

9. Robot Unicorn Attack

Robot Unicorn Attack is as insane as it sounds. Featuring a fabulously cheesy theme song that plays over and over (and over and over) again as you play, fairies, dolphins, and plenty of rainbows, this game is well worth the price of admission. You, a robot unicorn, essentially just try to keep going through the scrolling rocky landscape, avoiding obstacles and smashing giant stars. You’d think the song along would keep you from getting addicted, but you just can’t turn away. (And then you’re humming the song at random times even though it drives you crazy…)

8. Tiny Wings

In Tiny Wings, you are a tiny round bird with even tinier wings. In order to fly, you must slide down hills and use the momentum to launch yourself into the air as you go up the next hill. You fly from island to island, trying to get as far as you can before the sun sets and you fall instantly asleep. They also recently added a new section of the game in which you are one of four baby tiny birds racing your siblings to the nest, where the mommy bird is waiting with fish of decreasing size for your dinners (biggest fish goes to the winner). The game is deceptively simple – timing is everything, and that can get pretty tricky. But once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty satisfying. And kind of addictive.

7. Nuts!

Nuts casts you as a squirrel climbing an endless tree, collecting coins and acorns whilst attempting to avoid branches. It’s relatively easy to get the hang of, and an excellent way to waste all kinds of time when you should be doing other things, like studying or writing papers or whatever. They’ve also added a variety of challenges you can complete, such as collecting a certain number of coins, picking up a certain number of acorns, etc.

6. Jetpack Joyride

In this game, you steal a jetpack from a top secret facility and then fly it as far as possible through the hallways, until you get taken out by an electric zapper, a laser, or a missile. There are a bunch of different jetpacks – my favorites are the classic, steam-powered, and rainbow jetpacks. There are missions to complete, some easy (high-five a given number of scientists or fly over a given number of zappers, for example), some harder (go a distance within a very specific range, which is difficult because you slide when you fall). It’s definitely addictive.

5. Fruit Ninja

Fruit Ninja has three different game modes in which you slash fruit as it flies up from the bottom of your screen. In regular mode, you slash as many fruits as possible until you either miss three of them or accidentally hit a bomb. Arcade mode gives you one minute, and you must slash as much fruit as possible (with no penalties for missing any) whilst avoiding bombs, which in arcade mode subtract points from your score rather than end your game. Finally, zen mode gives you no bombs and 90 seconds in which to slash as much fruit as possible, with no penalties for missing any. It’s easy to convince yourself that with just one more game you can improve your high score exponentially, and that keeps you coming back for more.

4. Temple Run/Temple Run: Brave

The original flavor of Temple Run pits you against a trio of angry monster monkeys who are chasing you out of an ancient temple of some sort. As you run from them, you collect coins and avoid obstacles. It’s very much in the mode of Indiana Jones, and in fact one of the characters you can play as is dressed very obviously as Indy. I was already addicted to that, but then with the release of the excellent Disney/Pixar movie Brave came Temple Run: Brave, in which you play as Merida running away from Mordu the big scary bear. I immediately dropped the original Temple Run in favor of the Brave version, which in addition to featuring Merida instead of a random Indiana Jones wannabe, also has “archery” bonus areas where you can pick up a bunch of coins/points at once. It’s very addictive.

3. Cut the Rope/Cut the Rope Experiments

This is one of those games where when they release an update with new levels, I will play OBSESSIVELY until I’ve completed them all, and then I will impatiently await the next installment of new levels. And that applies to both the original and “experiments” flavor. Cut the Rope is a puzzle game in which you must cut ropes and manipulate other aspects of the Rube Goldberg-like setups so that you can collect all the stars and feed cute little candy-loving monster Om-Nom a piece of candy. Sometimes the solution is simple, and sometimes I get stuck on a level because I refuse to move on until I’ve collected all the stars and I can’t quite wrap my head around how to do so until I’ve tried all kinds of combinations of steps. It’s definitely an incredibly addictive game.

2. Zookeeper DX

This game is basically the product of Japan looking at Bejeweled and saying “Dude, we can make that SO MUCH CUTER and also more stressful, because we are JAPAN and that’s how we roll.” Essentially, you are a zookeeper at a zoo run by a mean rich dude. To maintain the animals, you must “catch” a target number of each type before you can move on to the next level. You catch them by manipulating them as you would the jewels in Bejeweled. Unlike Bejeweled, the game is always timed and your game does not end if you run out of matches (in fact, you get bonus points every time the game has to give you a new board!). Also unlike Bejeweled, when the time starts to run low, the animals all start to shake and the music gets sinister, and sirens sound. It’s surprisingly high-stakes for an iPhone game. There’s also break times after a given number of levels, and depending on your score, your mean rich boss either insults or compliments you as appropriate. It is seriously the most adorable iPhone game I have ever played and I highly recommend it.

1. Doodle Jump

The title of this game in the App Store was for some time actually something along the lines of “Doodle Jump BE WARNED – HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!” It’s true. This is the first iOS game to which I became addicted, and I still am prone to relapse into my shameful Doodle Jump addiction at any given moment. Especially since they regularly come out with updates that give you new courses to jump through, things to collect, and new ways to jump through the course. It’s pretty fabulous, and absolutely worth the cost of the app. You’ll get plenty of play time for your money, I promise you that.

Honorable Mention: Angry Birds and its spin-offs

I don’t really play Angry Birds. I bought it when it first hit big, and I played it for a while, but ultimately I got kind of frustrated by it, so I pretty much quit playing it. It’s still on my iPod touch, but I don’t usually have it on my phone, and that’s what I’m usually playing on these days. That being said, amongst the general population of iPod/iPhone users Angry Birds is pretty freaking popular. That being the case, I figure I had better mention it even if I’m not a big player of it, because if I didn’t then surely people would call me out for it.

So, those are the top 10 iPhone games that I’m most addicted to (and a bonus game). Did your favorites make the list? Did I miss something major? Let me know in comments!