Thinky Games

The best adventure games for iPad

Adventure games are a genre of video games that take place from the perspective of a character and feature narrative elements prominently. Under the control of the player, a main character explores a cohesive world and interacts with various non-player characters. Advancing the plot requires solving puzzles which are often seamlessly integrated into the game’s environments.

Since this narrative framing establishes no particular constraint on the nature of the puzzles being solved, adventure games may often be described in relation to additional video game genres. While the adventure genre has been associated historically with point-and-click games and “puzzle-adventure” games, adventure elements have also been included in detective games (e.g. Tangle Tower, Duck Detective), platformer games (Portal 2, Fez), and even sokoban games (Isles of Sea and Sky, Void Stranger).

Incidentally, first-person non-systemic puzzle games like Myst have become known as “puzzle-adventure” games. It should be noted, as evidenced by the games previously mentioned, that video games may feature both puzzle and adventure elements yet still be very different from so-called “puzzle-adventure” games.

The games listed below are the most favorited adventure games for iPad in the Thinky Games database.

  • Detective Grimoire
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    iPad
    iPhone
    Gather clues to uncover the secret of a swamp and its alleged mythical creature.
  • Samorost 3
    Windows
    MacOS
    iPad
    iPhone
    Android
    Play magical flutes through surreal, fantastical worlds filled with adventure puzzles.
  • There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension
    Windows
    MacOS
    Nintendo Switch
    iPad
    iPhone
    Android
    You were told not to play this game — why don't you ever listen?
  • Creaks
    Windows
    MacOS
    Nintendo Switch
    PlayStation 4
    Xbox Series X|S
    Xbox One
    iPad
    iPhone
    Descend through the cracks in your walls to a world of avian folk and furniture monsters.
  • Corrypt
    Windows
    MacOS
    iPad
    iPhone
    Explore an intricate and mysterious world full of strange creatures and surprising depth.
  • How to Say Goodbye
    Windows
    MacOS
    Nintendo Switch
    iPad
    iPhone
    Android
    A picture book-inspired puzzle game about guiding ghosts through a shifting liminal space.
  • Year Walk
    Windows
    MacOS
    iPad
    iPhone
    Follow an eerie Swedish folk ritual to catch a glimpse of the future.
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