Best Offline Shooting Games for iPhone and iPad
Eight shooters whose App Store listings say they play without internet, from Cover Fire to Into the Dead 2. All free to download, with in-app purchases.
Start with Cover Fire if you want a campaign and Dead Target if you want zombies. Both developers say in plain words on the App Store that the game plays with no connection.
That sentence on the listing is the test we used for this whole page. A game is here only if its own App Store description says it works offline, and where part of it still needs a connection we name the part. The descriptions below come from those listings.
Offline shooting games for iPhone at a glance
| Game | What it is | Download | What still needs a connection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover Fire | Squad shooter with a story mode | About 970MB | Online tournaments |
| Dead Target | First-person zombie shooter | About 640MB | Nothing the listing mentions |
| Into the Dead 2 | Zombie shooter with a long story | 2.1GB | Nothing the listing mentions |
| Sniper 3D | Sniper missions | About 450MB | Matches against other players |
| Pure Sniper | Sniper campaign | About 460MB | Matches against other players |
| Bullet Force | Multiplayer-style shooter with bots | 1.4GB | Matches against other players |
| Major Mayhem 2 | Light-hearted arcade shooter | About 360MB | Survival leaderboards |
| Zombeast | First-person zombie survival | 1.1GB | Nothing the listing mentions |
All eight are free to download and all eight sell in-app purchases. Each one also runs on iPad. The App Store rates seven of them 18+, and Major Mayhem 2 is the exception at 13+.
The eight games
Cover Fire
Viva Games puts offline play at the top of its feature list. The listing recommends Wi-Fi for the download, which is close to 1GB, and says you do not need Wi-Fi after that.
You lead a squad of mercenaries against an enemy called Tetracorp, switching between soldiers such as a sniper and a hacker in the middle of a fight. There is a timed sniper mode where every hit adds three seconds to the clock, and a zombie event on the side. The online tournaments are the one part that needs a connection.
Dead Target
A first-person zombie shooter from VNGGames, set in 2040. The listing says you can kill zombies anywhere without an internet connection, and it repeats the point several times in case you missed it.
You work through missions in places like oil fields and military bases, unlocking and upgrading guns as you go. There is a battle pass, and a lucky-wheel game for bonus items. At about 640MB it is a much lighter download than Into the Dead 2.
Into the Dead 2
PikPok’s zombie game has the most story of anything here: seven chapters, 60 stages and more than one ending, in a race to save your family. Dogs fight beside you, and there are side stories tied to Night of the Living Dead and Ghostbusters.
The listing says no internet connection is required. The catch is the size. At 2.1GB it is the biggest download on this page, so fetch it at home. The listing also offers a VIP subscription at $9.99 a month in the US, which you can ignore.
Sniper 3D
Wildlife Studios’ sniper game sends you around the world to take out targets, with more than 180 weapons to unlock and upgrade. The listing describes an offline mode in which you can complete missions with neither Wi-Fi nor mobile data.
The other half of the game is real-time matches against other players, and that half is online. At about 450MB it is one of the smaller downloads here.
Pure Sniper
Miniclip’s take on the same idea. Its listing says the campaign can be played offline, with the player-against-player mode kept separate for when you have a connection. The campaign mixes straight sniping with hostage rescues, police shoot-outs and missions fired from a helicopter.
It sells a VIP Club subscription at $6.99 a week in the US. A weekly charge of that size comes to about $363 over a year, so be careful what you tap.
Bullet Force
Bullet Force is a multiplayer shooter first, with matches of up to 20 players. It earns its place because Blayze Games’ listing says you can still play without a connection, against bots, in a skirmish mode and a campaign.
That makes it the one to take if what you like is running around a map with a rifle and not picking off targets through a scope. It is a 1.4GB download.
Major Mayhem 2
The odd one out, in a good way. Rocket Jump’s game is a light-hearted arcade shooter in which you fire from behind cover and rescue hostages. There are hats. It is the only game here rated 13+ and, at about 360MB, the smallest of the eight.
The listing has an offline mode that it says plays anywhere. The survival mode’s leaderboards are the online part. The first Major Mayhem is still on the App Store too, at about 250MB, and its listing says it plays fully offline.
Zombeast
AKPublish calls Zombeast an offline survival shooter in the first line of the listing. It is first-person, with campaign missions, an endless mode and levels that make the zombies faster and tougher. You shoot from behind cars and barricades with pistols, shotguns, miniguns and explosives. The download is 1.1GB.
Which one to pick
- A campaign to work through: Cover Fire. It has a story mode and a squad to manage, and its listing is blunt about not needing Wi-Fi.
- Zombies on a phone that is nearly full: Dead Target, at about 640MB.
- Zombies with a proper story: Into the Dead 2, if you can spare 2.1GB.
- Sniping: Sniper 3D. It and Pure Sniper are close, and Sniper 3D’s listing is the more specific about offline play: missions with no Wi-Fi and no data.
- Something a younger teenager can play: Major Mayhem 2, the only one rated 13+.
If you are loading up a phone for a long trip, our list of offline car racing games covers iPhone as well.
What happened to the games we listed before
This page first went up in 2019 with ten games. Two of them, Cover Fire and Dead Target, are still here. The rest did not survive the check.
- Sniper Fury: still on the App Store, but Gameloft’s listing says an internet connection is required to play. It is also a 3.9GB download.
- Dead Trigger and Dead Trigger 2: both still on the App Store under Deca Games. Neither listing says the game plays offline, so we cannot promise it.
- Gun War: Shooting Games: still listed, and the listing still says offline. It also still asks for iOS 6 and carries a 2017 copyright line, which suggests nobody has maintained it for years. We left it out.
- Battle of Bullet, Modern Critical Warfare, Death Race, Blazing Sniper and Mega Killing Squad: we could not find any of them on the App Store.
Before you go offline
Download the game and open it once while you still have Wi-Fi, in case it wants to fetch more data on first launch.
Expect less of the game with no connection. In-app purchases cannot go through, and anything played against other people is off the table until you are back online.
Quick answers
What is the best offline shooting game for iPhone?
Cover Fire is our pick. It has a story mode, and its App Store listing says outright that you do not need Wi-Fi to play.
Are there free offline shooting games for iPhone?
Yes. All eight games on this page are free to download. They all sell in-app purchases, which you can leave alone.
Is there an offline first-person shooter for iPhone?
Dead Target and Zombeast are first-person zombie shooters that their developers describe as offline. Bullet Force lets you play its skirmish and campaign modes against bots with no connection.
Are there offline shooting games for iOS without ads?
None that we could confirm. The App Store flags advertising on seven of these eight games. Cover Fire’s listing carries no such flag, but it does not promise an ad-free game either.
Do these games work on iPad?
Yes. Every game on this page lists iPad support on the App Store.
