The best indie arcade and platformer games for iPhone and Android in 2026 are made by people you could email: Firu Firu Games packs an endless climber and a 50-level bubble arcade into one app built around a real Cocker Spaniel; Dusk Climber is a physics climber in which you swipe, leap and haul yourself up through five worlds; Bufo Jump is a cozy isometric 3D platformer you pay for once; Bunny Hop turns a single charge-and-release jump into a combo game with 32 characters; Blobby's Quest is a precise retro jump-and-run through trap-filled dungeons; Boss Rush: Mythology is twenty mythological boss fights and nothing else; and Overshoot asks you to draw the platform your ball is about to land on. Seven games, seven small teams, not a battle pass between them.
Arcade is the genre the app stores broke first. Search for a platformer and you will scroll past a wall of hyper-casual clones with an ad after every death. The games below are the opposite kind of arcade: each one was made by a solo developer or a studio you could fit in a car, each has a mechanic of its own, and most of them either charge once or charge nothing at all. We checked every price, rating and install count on both stores on September 25, 2026; Dusk Climber joined the list after an App Store check on October 4, 2026.
How we picked
This collection was put together by Lisa, chief editor at MadFox, with our CEO Ilya Azarov, for the indie section of the site. The rules: a solo developer or a small studio, arcade or platforming at the centre of the game, controls that work with one thumb on a phone, and monetisation that does not interrupt a run. Games that gate progress behind rewarded video did not make it.
Firu Firu Games is two arcade games in one app, and the thing holding them together is a real dog. Firu is the developer's Cocker Spaniel; the whole world grew out of her rather than out of a mascot brief. Paw Jump is the vertical half: a fast endless climber where you hop from platform to platform, collect golden bones, catch rockets and try to read a layout that deliberately refuses to settle. Fake platforms turn up in clusters in one run and barely at all in the next, hazards and power-ups rotate, and there is a dog-themed time machine called the Pawdis that shows up if you climb far enough. Bubble Paws is the other half: a bubble-popping arcade of 50 handcrafted levels across five worlds, with combos, special bubbles, power-ups and boss encounters at the end of the runs.
What makes it worth the opening slot is the layer underneath. Both games feed one progression: XP from either side evolves Firu through five visual stages, from puppy to pirate captain, and unlocks themed skin sets — Cyberpunk, Cowboy, Beach, Rocker — that change the environment, the sound and the platform style around her rather than just recolouring the dog. You also upgrade her cabin, which acts as the hub between the two games. It plays fully offline, and the only purchase is a one-time "remove ads" unlock; there is no subscription and no energy bar.
The developer is Eren Özgümüş, a metallurgical engineer who builds this alongside a full-time job, and he has been shipping to feedback rather than to a roadmap: recent updates added clearer tutorials for new players and extra control options for Paw Jump after players asked for them. There is also a companion app outside the games, Firu Firu Dog Training, with step-by-step training content, vaccination and walk tracking. The catch is the one every new indie has: the app went out this September, so Google Play still shows 10+ installs and neither store has collected a rating yet. You are early, which is the point of this section.
Interesting concept · iPhone and Android · free, one-time remove-ads · offline · solo developer
Dusk Climber is a climbing game in which the climber has weight. You swipe to aim, release to leap and tap to pull yourself up onto a ledge; in between you run along a platform, crouch before a jump and hang on long enough to get your strength back. Ropes swing, branches give, some footholds crumble under you and some platforms move or balance, so every grab is a small physics problem rather than a button pressed on cue. Clean chains of moves earn combos and technique points, and a missed catch costs you height in the most honest way a climbing game can.
The climb runs through five worlds: a twilight valley, overgrown gardens, an underground world, rocky cliffs and a snowy summit. Each one unlocks as a starting point once you reach it, with a fresh score. Scores go to Game Center leaderboards against friends and the world, there is a Daily Trail, challenges, secrets and a journal of achievements, and after a fall you can continue from your latest safe foothold instead of starting over. The October 1 update (version 1.0.4) added fifteen obstacle variants and fifteen support variants across the biomes, from gusts and unstable footing to springy and balancing platforms, plus recovery ledges on the harder climbs. It is the work of one independent developer. The game came out on September 17, 2026, it is free with optional spark packs from $0.99 and no subscription, and it has only a handful of App Store ratings so far. Russian is among its six languages.
iPhone only (iOS 16+) · free, optional spark packs, no subscription · Game Center leaderboards · solo developer
Bufo Jump is a small 3D platformer about a frog, and it is the most relaxed game on this page. You hop through ponds, caves and one genuinely unpleasant industrial site, dodge traps and slow-moving enemies, and hunt the secret fruit hidden in each level. The camera is fixed isometric, the palette is clean and loud, and the jumps are forgiving enough that a child can finish a level while an adult is still hunting collectibles. When you want a break from platforming there is a wardrobe of hats and sunglasses for the frog.
It comes from Neutronized, the one-man Italian studio behind Super Cat Tales, which has more than a million installs — so this is a developer with a long mobile track record choosing to release something small and premium. Bufo Jump costs $3.99 on both stores and that is the entire transaction: no ads, no in-app purchases, nothing to unlock with money. On Google Play it sits at 4.2 with a little over a hundred installs, the kind of number that says "paid indie platformer" rather than "bad game"; the App Store version last updated in May 2026 and the Android build in August 2026.
No ads, ever · iPhone and Android · $3.99 one-time · solo studio
Bunny Hop is built on one verb. You hold the screen to charge a hop, release to launch, and try to land on the next pillar above the water — and that is the whole control scheme, one thumb, portrait, no buttons. The depth comes from the scoring: clean landings chain into a multiplier, and the advanced techniques the game teaches you late, including a Double Hop, are what separate a twenty-point run from a two-hundred-point one. There are 32 playable characters, each with genuinely different speed, jump strength and bonus-star rates, so picking one is a real decision rather than a skin choice.
The seasons are the nice touch: spring blossom, summer, autumn leaves and winter snow, chosen manually or cycling as you play, each with its own art and seasonal challenges. It runs offline, connects only for Google Play Games achievements and the leaderboard, and — this is the rare part for a free arcade game — it carries no ads and no in-app purchases at all. Made by Austin Greco under the Zorse name; 4.3 on Google Play with over 100,000 installs, 4.8 on the App Store, and updated in September 2026.
No ads, ever · iPhone and Android · free, no purchases · offline · solo developer
An arcade game earns its place when a run ends because you missed, not because an ad loaded. Bunny Hop has no ads at all, Bufo Jump asks once and never again, Firu Firu keeps two games on one progress bar. That is the bar.
— Ilya Azarov, CEO
5. Blobby's Quest
Blobby's Quest is the straight-ahead retro platformer of the group: pixel dungeons, spikes, moving saws, torch-lit corridors and a round blue hero who runs and jumps and nothing else. It is deliberately old-fashioned, and it lives or dies on its controls — which are the good kind, precise enough that when you land on a saw blade you know exactly whose fault it was. Levels are short, checkpoints are fair, and the difficulty climbs steadily rather than spiking, which makes it one of the few platformers here you can hand to a child without a tutorial.
It is made by Matthias von Rohr (Dunking Dog Games, published on Google Play as Polybench Games), a Swiss solo developer who keeps shipping updates years after launch — the Android build was refreshed in August 2026. It is free on both stores with ads and no in-app purchases, plays offline, and holds 4.3 on Google Play with more than 10,000 installs and 4.3 on the App Store. If you grew up on 8-bit jump-and-run games and want that exact feeling on a phone, start here.
iPhone and Android · free, ads, no purchases · offline · solo developer
Boss Rush: Mythology cuts everything out of an action game except the part people remember. There are no corridors, no trash mobs and no inventory grind: you play a nameless knight who walks from one world to the next fighting twenty bosses drawn from Greek, Norse, Slavic and Egyptian mythology. Combat is built around rolls and spacing, you choose from six weapons and six items before a fight, and the difficulty is yours to set, which matters because the hard setting is genuinely hard. Touch controls are fully customisable — you can move the buttons where your thumbs actually are, which too many mobile action games still refuse to allow.
It is the work of Alexey Suslin, published under Go Dreams, and the monetisation is refreshingly blunt: $3.49 once, no ads, no in-app purchases. There is also a free demo on Google Play with a 4.9 rating if you want to try the combat before paying. The honest caveat: this one is Android only — there is no iPhone build, and the paid version sits at 4.0 with more than 10,000 installs, last updated in August 2026.
Interesting concept · Android only · $3.49 one-time, free demo available · no ads · solo developer
Overshoot is the strangest idea on this list and the easiest to explain: one ball, one line. The ball bounces between the walls of your screen and falls; you drag a line underneath it, and whatever angle you drew is the angle it leaves at. Every drag is an aim taken half a second before impact, with no ground to fall back on. The camera follows the climb and never comes back down — when the ball drops past the bottom of the screen the run is over and the camera simply keeps travelling to the next start.
The higher you get, the stranger the climb: bonus rings to fly through, breaker blocks that want smashing, rare regions that bend the ball's flight or swallow the platform you just drew, and prisms — the rarest object in the game — which take one ball in and send three out, each climbing on its own and each still yours to catch. It is made by Little Bird Solutions, plays entirely offline, and carries no ads, no purchases, no energy timers and nothing to log into. Like Firu Firu, it is brand new: released this August on both stores, still with 10+ installs on Google Play and no ratings yet.
Interesting concept · No ads, ever · iPhone and Android · free, no purchases · offline
Our indie section exists to give small studios the attention the store charts do not. If you make an arcade game, a platformer or anything else for iPhone or Android and you would like us to look at it, write to hello@madfox.dev with a store link and a few words about what makes the game yours. We play everything ourselves and check both stores before we publish.
FAQ
Which of these indie arcade games have no ads at all?
Bunny Hop and Overshoot are free with no ads and no in-app purchases. Bufo Jump ($3.99) and Boss Rush: Mythology ($3.49) are paid once with nothing else to buy. Blobby's Quest is free with ads but no purchases, and Firu Firu Games shows ads you can remove with a single one-time payment. Dusk Climber is free; its only purchases are optional spark packs from $0.99, with no subscription.
Which ones work offline?
The original six all play offline. Firu Firu Games, Bunny Hop and Overshoot only reach out to the internet for leaderboards and achievements; Bufo Jump, Blobby's Quest and Boss Rush: Mythology do not need a connection at all. Dusk Climber's store page does not say whether it runs offline; its leaderboards and Daily Trail work through Game Center.
Are these games available on iPhone as well as Android?
Five of the seven are on both stores. Boss Rush: Mythology Mobile is Android only as of September 2026, with no iPhone build announced, and Dusk Climber is iPhone only (iOS 16 or later) as of October 2026.
Which is the best pick for short sessions?
Bunny Hop and Overshoot are the pure one-minute games: a run ends in seconds and starts again instantly. Paw Jump inside Firu Firu Games works the same way, while Bubble Paws, Bufo Jump and Blobby's Quest are level-based and ask for a few minutes at a time. Dusk Climber sits in between: one bad grab can end a climb, but you can pick it up again from your latest safe foothold. Boss Rush: Mythology wants a proper sitting.
Are they suitable for children?
Firu Firu Games, Bufo Jump, Bunny Hop, Blobby's Quest and Overshoot are non-violent arcade games with no chat and no social features. Boss Rush: Mythology is a combat game with cartoon violence and is the one to check yourself first. Dusk Climber is rated 12+ on the App Store for mild cartoon violence and mild fear themes.