No Man’s Sky comes to iPhone and iPad as the App Store celebrates Indie Games Week

Apple has launched an interesting event on the App Store. As part of the platform’s Indie Games Week, some well-known titles are coming to iPhone and iPad, some of which are available now. The biggest name in the group is arguably No Man’s Sky.

After Hello Games brought No Man’s Sky on Mac in 2023, a team member claimed they could run the game on an iPhone, according to studio co-founder Sean Murray. Although the iPhone and iPad version includes all of the updates to the space exploration and survival game from the last decade, it has the same initial restrictions as the Nintendo Switch port: you won’t be able to access multiplayer or colonies on iOS or iPadOS at first. Hello Games eventually brought these features to the Switch 2 version. “Depending on feedback and player numbers, we will support iOS in the same way,” Murray said.

The iOS port has rebuilt touch controls. It supports TV streaming, controller inputs as well as mouse and keyboard on iPad. Moreover, No Man’s Sky takes up less than 5 GB of storage on iPhone and iPad. “A lot of games on PC and consoles, while they can move to mobile, are limited to the latest iOS devices, but we’re very proud that we’ve been able to do this. No Man’s Sky playable on iPhone 11 and iPad Air 3rd generation and later,” Murray said.

You can pre-order No Man’s Sky for iPhone and iPad starting today. It will be available on these devices on October 28 and will be free to try.

Other indie titles you can buy on iPhone and iPad include Sifuthe tough revenge fight of Sloclap in which your character ages after each death. The iOS version has a reworked camera system and touch controls. It ran without a hitch on my iPhone 16, which is essential given that it’s a fast-paced action game that demands quick reactions.

I also briefly checked Crawling vampireswhich is a more strategic map-based approach Vampire Survivors. It feels just as smooth on my iPhone as it does on Xbox, although it’s not exactly the most resource-intensive game. The same goes for Dome Guardiana roguelite that merges mining and tower defense.

A few other titles are being highlighted as part of Indie Games Week, including Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfallstrategy game 9 kings and the delicious adventure Little kitten, big city. All three are now available for iPhone and iPad. The App Store editors have selected other indie games available to you and put together a separate indie games guide for titles running on Mac.

“Indie games are constantly pushing the creative boundaries to deliver unique gaming experiences for Apple users, and we wanted to take a moment to celebrate these games and the teams who take creative risks to push gaming forward,” said Carson Oliver, head of Apple’s Worldwide App Store. “Whether it’s a solo developer or a growing studio, the App Store gives global reach to bold ideas, turning bold visions into global successes. We’re thrilled with the incredible games launching on the App Store this week and amazed by their breathtaking artistry, brilliant design, and deeply moving stories.

Indie games are the best, and it’s nice to see a number of them getting a moment in the spotlight on the App Store.