Classic

These are classic RPGs, from old-school to modern. Lots of quests, enchanted equipment, interesting storylines and even moral challenges, and turn-based combat.

Adventure To Fate - Lost Island

Adventure To Fate – Lost Island

Another game in the marvellous retro Adventure To Fate series (see also A Quest to the Core and A Quest to the Future), this latest RPG features 12 Classes, 10
Afterplace

Afterplace

A brilliant pixel retro RPG adventure game that's full of hidden secrets, quirky characters and surreal dystopian mystery. It's quite forgiving, with loads of respawning heal chests all over the
Septourian

Septourian

Sometimes a brilliant game comes along and delivers both nostalgia and excellent fun. Septourian is such a game: it's also surprisingly rich despite its simple graphics and the generated world.
The Quest - Curse of Linmore

The Quest – Curse of Linmore

The Quest - Curse of Linmore is an expansion to The Quest, recommended for Level 80 players. It can also be played standalone. You are summoned by the Tiarnaigh of
Grim Tides - Old School RPG

Grim Tides – Old School RPG

Grim Tides is a slick, made-for mobile RPG and the prequel to Grim Quest. As with that game, the interface is simple and more gamebook/text-base adventure like, but dungeons are
Heroes of Steel

Heroes of Steel

Heroes of Steel is an extremely long RPG with a very detailed storyline. It's a "top down" view which takes a little getting used to, but works really well. It's
Yorozuya RPG

Yorozuya RPG

Very similar to Tenmilli RPG, this is a retro JRPG that's a lot of fun to play. It's the "adventure of a boy aiming for a legendary merchant" - you
Tenmilli RPG

Tenmilli RPG

Tenmilli RPG is a brilliant retro-style JRPG which reminded me of the early Dragon Quest games. It has also been compared to Dragon Warrior. You travel the world, fighting enemies
Saga RPG II: Evolution

Saga RPG II: Evolution

Saga RPG II is the ultra retro RPG to Saga RPG and much bigger game. Like the first game it's fully free with occasional 5-second ads when you save. The
Saga RPG: First Blade

Saga RPG: First Blade

Saga RPG is an ultra retro RPG that's still a very playable and well-rounded game. It's fully free with occasional 5-second ads when you save the game. The game does
Emergent Fates

Emergent Fates

Emergent Fates is a "modern JRPG" that features "water-coloured 2D graphics for an artistic and narrative experience". The game has multi-class levelling and player-chosen skill development to enable deeper customisation.
Sourcelight

Sourcelight

Sourcelight is an interesting RPG that's slightly gamebook-style but also has real-time combat and a host of minigames, and uses swipe gestures to move between rooms. The main quest is
Orna: Turn based GPS RPG

Orna: Turn based GPS RPG

Orna is a GPS-based RPG that offers "an 8-bit geocaching experience". You start out as a warrior, mage or thief (later accessing more advanced classes such as Spellsword or Centurion)
MazeQuest 2

MazeQuest 2

MazeQuest 2 is the sequel to the (no-longer-available) MazeQuest - An Adventure RPG a marvellous, retro-style game with very maze-like lands. MazeQuest 2 is built on an entirely new engine
Dragon Quest VIII

Dragon Quest VIII

Dragon Quest VIII is the first in the series to go fully 3D and it's impressive, even on a small iPhone screen. The storyline for this game is particularly fascinating
Archlion Saga

Archlion Saga

Archlion Saga is a deliberately short, "pocket-size" JRPG that only takes a few hours to play. As a result it's extremely linear and in some ways rather more like an
RPG Dragon Lapis

RPG Dragon Lapis

Dragon Lapis is a retro style JRPG with a unique "growth plates" system. You find, equip and unlock various growth plates throughout the game, which also unlock jobs. The story
Knights of Tartarus

Knights of Tartarus

Knights of Tartarus is a brilliant retro RPG from Crescent Moon Games. It uses wonderfully slick 8bit style graphics. The game is open world but some areas can't be accessed
Dragon Quest IV-VI

Dragon Quest IV-VI

These are iOS ports of the Dragon Quest titles that first came out for Nintendo back in the 1990s. They're highly polished ports and absolutely ideal for the iPhone screen.
Farm Dungeons

Farm Dungeons

Farm Dungeons is a very slick little JPRG where you generate money by growing crops on your farm and explore increasingly challenging dungeon levels. In the dungeons you'll find materials
The Quest - Asteroids

The Quest – Asteroids

Asteroids is a space-themed expansion for The Quest HD, which can be played as a standalone game or plugged into the base game. It's a lower level scenario, they recommend
Aruna's Adventure

Aruna’s Adventure

Aruna’s Adventure aims to "take you on a nostalgic trip back to the early '90s action adventure games". It has a colourful 8-bit pixel art style, and emphasises action combat
Dragon Quest I-III

Dragon Quest I-III

These are the iOS ports of the original Dragon Quest game, so Dragon Quest I. The iOS icon is actually labelled "DQ1". I'm also adding Dragon Quest II and III
The Quest - Mithril Horde I & II

The Quest – Mithril Horde I & II

These are expansions for The Quest by Redshift, and they are all incredibly detailed, fully-featured classic role playing games. They can all be played as standalone games, but to play
Queen's Wish

Queen’s Wish

Queen's Wish is the first game by classic RPG devs Spiderweb Software to be released for iPhone as well as iPad. Like all Spiderweb games it's open world, with dozens
Wanderer of Lifetimes

Wanderer of Lifetimes

Wanderer of Lifetimes is a role playing game set in an "Eastern-inspired land" where the rules of life and death are governed by the cycle of karma. The player sets out
The Greater Good

The Greater Good

The Greater Good is a "stylised, throwback, turn-based RPG" featuring unique graphics and an original, explosive soundtrack (from electronic producer EnrightBeats). It's inspired by classic turn-based RPGs of the 16-bit era
Fateful Lore

Fateful Lore

Fateful Lore is a retro-inspired, 8-bit RPG with turn-based battles, inspired by classic JRPGs such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. There's a huge open world to explore, numerous optional
Doom & Destiny Advanced

Doom & Destiny Advanced

Doom & Destiny Advanced is an absolutely brilliant RPG - managing to be both classic and highly feature-rich and original. Four heroes - "a pastafarian cleric, a wizard, a barbarian
Castle of White Night

Castle of White Night

Castle of White Night is another retro-pixel graphic RPG from Game Stew (devs of the amazing Tower of Fortune series). This latest game isn't a hybrid but a true dungeon-crawler.
Wasco

Wasco

Wasco is a lovely little RPG - it's just a shame it's not longer. It's a deliberately ultra-retro style sci-fi themed JRPG, where you play as a robot that has
The Quest: Hero of Lukomorye I-V

The Quest: Hero of Lukomorye I-V

These are expansions for The Quest by Redshift, and they are all incredibly detailed, fully-featured classic role playing games. They can all be played as standalone games, but to play
The Quest - Basilisk's Eye

The Quest – Basilisk’s Eye

Basilisk's Eye is the latest HD expansion for The Quest. It features "an exotic world where basilisks, camels, elephants, tigers, scorpions, snakes and vicious roosters, as well as fabulous monsters
Siege of Dragonspear

Siege of Dragonspear

Siege of Dragonspear is an "an epic Baldur’s Gate tale, filled with with intrigue, magic, and monsters" with around 30-hours of gameplay. Amazingly, despite all the intricacies of the Baldur's
Merchant RPG

Merchant RPG

Merchant RPG is a fun little game which is all about crafting and equipping various heroes who farm more materials for you. You also need to generate gold by selling
Devil Shard

Devil Shard

Devil Shard is an amazing match-3 RPG from Game Stew, the devs of the very popular Tower of Fortune series as well as Hell Raider. This time instead of a
Pixelot

Pixelot

Pixelot is a brilliant little game, and hopefully the first of many more RPGs by this talented indie dev. It's enormous fun and very slick, and I loved the fact
The Quest - Celtic trilogy

The Quest – Celtic trilogy

These are expansions for The Quest by Redshift, and they are all incredibly detailed, fully-featured classic role playing games. They can all be played as standalone games, but to play
Hell Raider - Wheel of Fate

Hell Raider – Wheel of Fate

Hell Raider - Wheel of Fate is a marvellous game from the Tower of Fortune devs. This time the mechanic is a wheel-of-fortune type device where you have to stop
The Quest: Caerworn Castle

The Quest: Caerworn Castle

Caerworn Castle is the latest HD expansion for The Quest. Set in Wales in 1600, it contains 75 quests. Caerworn Castle is haunted by ghosts and demons and in desperate need
Amethlion

Amethlion

Amethlion is a wonderful game, a retro-style indie RPG where you can "explore, craft and survive". The story is about unravelling the mysteries of a lost race, but there are
The Quest: Macha's Curse

The Quest: Macha’s Curse

Macha's Curse is the latest HD expansion for The Quest. It features a rich story, based on Celtic mythology, where you'll need to explore, solve quests and kill plenty of
Pixel Dungeon

Pixel Dungeon

Pixel Dungeon is a feature-rich, retro rogue-like where you need to work your way down 25 randomly generated dungeon levels to find the Amulet of Yendor. The graphics are lovely
Baldur's Gate I & II

Baldur’s Gate I & II

Baldur's Gate and Baldur's GateII: Enhanced Edition are the remakes of the 1998 RPG Baldur's Gate and its 1999 expansion pack Tales of the Sword Coast, and the sequel Baldur's Gate
Tower of Fortune 3

Tower of Fortune 3

Tower of Fortune has gone full colour for the third instalment of the series, and it looks beautiful while keeping the overall retro style. There's still the tavern with its
Tower of Fortune 2

Tower of Fortune 2

Tower of Fortune 2, the sequel to Tower of Fortune, is a role playing game with combat mechanics drawn from slot machines. You’ll need to earn money to progress, by
Royal Bounty Remastered

Royal Bounty Remastered

Royal Bounty HD was crafted for the lovers of old adventure RPGs like King’s Bounty (1990). This game has a little bit of a patchy history, being removed (without reason)
iPhone Screenshot 3

MazeQuest – An Adventure RPG

MazeQuest is a marvellous, retro-style game where you explore and loot your way through five different lands. Most lands are quite maze-like, but one of the best features are teleport
iPhone Screenshot 1

Galaxy of Pen & Paper

A follow up to the hugely popular and innovative Knights of Pen & Paper, Galaxy of Pen & Paper is a turn-based, space-themed meta RPG about a group of players rolling
The Quest: Thor’s Hammer HD

The Quest: Thor’s Hammer HD

Thor’s Hammer is an entry level expansion for The Quest HD. This expansion has been designed for low-level players, and it’s recommended to start with a newly created party.The story is
Vay

Vay

This party-based RPG first came out in 1994 and is described as a cult classic. It's a linear story with no character customisation, but the graphics are very cute and
QuestLord

QuestLord

QuestLord is a retro-style RPG, billed as a dungeon crawler, but its wide gameworld, quests and single, overarching story make it much more of a fully-realised, classic RPG. You take
iPhone Screenshot 5

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition is the highly anticipated remake of the 1998 RPG Baldur's Gate and its 1999 expansion pack Tales of the Sword Coast. Baldur's Gate is a party-based
RPG Quest - Minimæ

RPG Quest – Minimæ

RPG Quest - Minimæ or Minimae, in case people are googling that, is a "neo-retro" RPG in the tradition of classic 8-bit RPGs. It has a large world with open
Dink Smallwood

Dink Smallwood

Dink Smallwood is an iOS port of the classic 1997 RPG. Surreal humour is one of its unique features. You play as Dink, a pig farmer, who is "thrust into
Doom II RPG

Doom II RPG

While Doom is traditionally considered a FPS/first person shooter, Doom II RPG has more of a focus on strategy and exploration. Combat is turn-based, and the game also features puzzles.
iPhone Screenshot 2

7 Stories

7 Stories is a lovely little classic RPG with a nice slick feel and clear, bright graphics. You pick your main character from one of seven pre-designed characters: the original
Dawn of Magic

Dawn of Magic

Dawn of Magic is a wonderful old-school JRPG that is nicely balanced, it doesn't need too much grinding (except to get to a high enough level to use certain equipment).
Book of Heroes

Book of Heroes

Book of Heroes is an online but single player classic RPG. It has turn-based combat. You get a maximum of twelve "charges" which you use to do quests or to
Silversword

Silversword

Silversword is a party-based classic D&D-style RPG. It has been compared to The Bard's Tale and Wizardry. You can create a party of up to seven characters: six are pre-generated
Adventure Bar Story

Adventure Bar Story

Adventure Bar Story is best described as a SIM RPG - you progress the story by running a restaurant and cooking different recipes for it. Each day you choose a
Tower of Fortune

Tower of Fortune

Tower of Fortune is a role playing game with combat mechanics drawn from slot machines. You'll need to earn money to progress, by microtransactions or fighting monsters. There are four
Sorceria 1: The Mad Doctor

Sorceria 1: The Mad Doctor

Sorceria is an original RPG from the developers of the innovative RPG name generator/RPG board game. The name generation is built into Sorceria, so while you can't choose your party
Knights of Pen & Paper

Knights of Pen & Paper

Knights of Pen & Paper has been described as "role playing in its purest form". It's a retro-style RPG where you get to control both players and dungeon master, and
Eve of the Genesis

Eve of the Genesis

Eve of the Genesis is a well done JRPG with the typical pre-defined characters and cut-scene combat, and very nice, bright graphics. The reflections of the team members in water
Final Fantasy I-V

Final Fantasy I-V

From Wikipedia: Final Fantasy is a science fiction and fantasy media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square). The franchise centers on a series
Gurk III - the 8-bit RPG

Gurk III – the 8-bit RPG

Gurk III is an ultra retro 1980s style RPG (Gurk I and Gurk II aren’t available for iOS). It’s a very big, long game with over 50 dungeon levels, 125
Avernum series

Avernum series

Spiderweb Software makes traditional role-playing games with hundreds of quests, and open world exploration. Combat is turn-based, but many encounters are unique and require careful strategy as enemies have different
iPad Screenshot 1

Avadon: The Black Fortress

Spiderweb Software's Avadon: The Black Fortress is a huge and detailed game that features extensive quests and moral choices. You start out by serving Redbeard, head of the Black Fortress,
iPad Screenshot 1

Avadon 2: The Corruption

Spiderweb Software's Avadon 2: The Corruption is a sequel to its amazing game Avadon: The Black Fortress. Like all Spiderweb games, it’s a huge and detailed classic RPG with zillions
iPad Screenshot 1

Avadon 3: The Warborn

Spiderweb Software’s Avadon 3: The Warborn is a sequel to its amazing game Avadon 2: The Corruption. Like all Spiderweb games, it’s a huge and detailed classic RPG with zillions
Dungeons of Chaos

Dungeons of Chaos

A retro RPG treat - an absolute must-play for fans of the genre. There’s a huge amount of item types and the opportunity to evolve your class. The devs are
Ackeron Darksun

Ackeron Darksun

An amazing sci-fi themed RPG, highly original with heaps to do and upgrade, and a truly engaging storyline. Progress is a bit fits-and-starts, this is a very hard game in
The Quest: Lost Archipelagos

The Quest: Lost Archipelagos

Lost Archipelagos is another expansion for the excellent The Quest game. As with all the expansions, you can also play it completely stand-alone, without needing to buy The Quest if
The Quest - Cursed Chess Set

The Quest – Cursed Chess Set

Cursed Chess Set is another expansion for the excellent The Quest game. As with all the expansions, you can also play it completely stand-alone, without needing to buy The Quest
The Quest - Asteroids trilogy

The Quest – Asteroids trilogy

These are expansions for The Quest by Redshift, and they are all incredibly detailed, fully-featured classic role playing games. They can all be played as standalone games, but to play
The Quest: Islands of Ice & Fire

The Quest: Islands of Ice & Fire

This is the first expansion for The Quest. It can be played stand-alone or installed into the original game. Importing your character from The Quest is a breeze. It's a
The Quest HD

The Quest HD

This 3D single-player RPG by Redshift came out for Palm OS and other devices some years ago. It's so great that even if you played it back then, it's worth
The Quest: Dragon Jade

The Quest: Dragon Jade

Dragon Jade is a medium level expansion for The Quest. It's officially recommended to be around Level 21 to play it. The story is set in mythical Ancient China, where
The Quest: Cursed Stone

The Quest: Cursed Stone

Cursed Stone is a low to medium level expansion for The Quest. It's officially recommended to be around Level 16 to play it. The story is set in a new