The Best Games Like Diablo for iOS

Get your game on with these Diablo clones

by
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Writer
Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, The Spruce, and other publications.
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Daniel Nations
Updated on November 14, 2019

Diablo holds a special place in role-playing game (RPG) history. A mashup of the 1985 Gauntlet arcade game and the random dungeons of a roguelike coupled with a dark fantasy setting, Blizzard Entertainment's 1996 game defined the action RPG genre from the moment it leaped onto the screen. As good as Diablo was, however, Diablo II was even better, expanding on all that was great about the original. What about Diablo III? Well, it was okay, but it wasn't Diablo.

Maybe someday Blizzard Entertainment will announce that it's porting Diablo II to iOS, but until that happens, here are eight games that can soothe the longing.

01
of 08

Baldur's Gate

Game scene showing a ring of fire

Baldur's Gate
What We Like

  • New heroes and technical tweaks.

  • New Multiplayer mode is cross-platform.

  • Explore more of the Sword Coast.

What We Don't Like

  • Mobile controls can be clunky.

  • The game is text heavy.

  • Not optimized for iPhone.

Previous to the 1996 release of Diablo, a major game magazine gave the RPG genre a premature "rest in peace" photo cover tribute. Certainly, Diablo proved that there was still a large market for RPGs, but BioWare's Baldur's Gate shows that gamers are still interested in intricate stories complete with memorable characters and plot twists.

02
of 08

Wayward Souls

Game scene showing combat among 4 players

 Wayward Souls
What We Like

  • Beautiful, old-school sprite animations ooze nostalgia.

  • Each playable character has a unique story, providing plenty of replay value.

  • Fantastic soundtrack.

What We Don't Like

  • Gameplay can be punishingly difficult.

  • Nothing original about gameplay or the combat system.

  • Each new level resets amor, weapons, and pets.

If you were ever curious about what Diablo might have been had it been created in the 1980s, look no further than Wayward Souls. The retro style harkens back to the days of Atari and Commodore 64 computers, with gameplay that manages to walk the fine line between action RPGs and roguelike features such as random dungeons and permadeath. It's a perfect complement to Diablo. 

03
of 08

Bastion

Game scene showing multiple levels and score

 Bastion
What We Like

  • Witty narration adds depth to an otherwise run-of-the-mill story.

  • Levels are well designed and filled with challenges.

  • An App Store Editor's Choice.

What We Don't Like

  • Hack-and-slash combat starts to feel repetitive after a while.

  • The plot is simple, with no post-story content.

  • No keyboard controls mean that you can't control weapons locks.

Diablo is a great game for so many reasons: It was a dark game with a dark storyline, you had plenty of options for building your character, there was lots of loot, and the fights could get downright chaotic. If that last part thrilled you, then check out Bastion. Bastion was originally released for Xbox 360 and Windows; the iOS port fundamentally redesigned the game controls to work better with a touch screen, and the designers scored a home run in this department. Bastion is fun: It provides plenty of challenge and captures the fast-paced thrill of Diablo. 

04
of 08

Titan Quest HD

Game scene showing a gate and two wizards

 Titan Quest 
What We Like

  • Support for pinching and zooming.

  • Characters include the ancient Greek and Egyptian gods.

  • Full premium experience: no add-ons or in-app purchases.

What We Don't Like

  • No multiplayer option.

  • Periodic frame rate issues.

  • The smart button for attacking changes if there's an object you can pick up, even during combat.

Titan Quest is one of the best Diablo clones for PC, and now it's available for iOS. One thing Titan Quest gets particularly right is the item-hunting nature of the game, especially when it comes to finding runes. The rune system enables you to augment items you find in the game with customized properties so that you can focus on life leeching, regeneration, elemental resistance, and so on. 

Titan Quest also has a fun multiclassing system. The ability to combine two of the 30 available classes means that you can get a lot of play out of the game.

05
of 08

Battleheart Legacy

Four characters gathered around green bubbles

 Battleheart Legacy
What We Like

  • Unparalleled character customization.

  • Dialogue choices greatly affect how the story plays out.

  • Lots of freedom to customize classes.

What We Don't Like

  • It's not always clear where you're supposed to go or what you should do.

  • Occasional minor bugs creep up.

  • Limited number of quests.

A different take on the isometric role-playing game, Battleheart Legacy is the polar opposite of Bastion. Where combat in Bastion can get your heart pumping, the combat in Battleheart Legacy seems to crawl along at times. If you can get beyond the pace of the combat, though, you'll find a beautiful game with a lot of depth and a great sense of humor. In particular, Battleheart Legacy offers a lot of options and a freedom that most other RPGs simply don't offer.

06
of 08

Oceanhorn

Battle scene with score at the top

 Oceanhorn
What We Like

  • The soundtrack and graphical presentation are top notch.

  • The game is easier than most RPGs for newcomers to pick up and play.

  • No in-app purchases means you don't have to pay to win.

What We Don't Like

  • Some elements, like sailing, seem unnecessarily ripped off from Legend of Zelda.

  • The characters and their voice actors are flat and uninspired.

  • Text is small and hard to read.

Oceanhorn may belong more on a list of games similar to Legend of Zelda than Diablo, but to be fair, it is the best Legend of Zelda game that is not actually named Legend of Zelda. If you haven't played a Zelda game, think of them as one part action RPG, one part platform game, and one part puzzle solving. It may not have the deeper role-playing elements, but Oceanhorn is fun to play, beautifully crafted, and offers a huge chunk of gameplay for the price. As an added bonus, it's even available for Apple TV.

07
of 08

The Bard's Tale

Character descriptions from the game

The Bard's Tale 
What We Like

  • Voice acting by Cary Elwes and writing are excellent.

  • Summoning system adds tactical depth to battles.

  • Optional quests add hours of content to the main game.

What We Don't Like

  • Can't save your game anywhere you want, so dying between save points gets annoying fast.

  • Beating the game on normal difficulty requires a good deal of grinding.

  • Can't restore in-app purchases.

The Bard's Tale is a solid game but never takes itself too seriously. It isn't the best RPG for iOS, but it is one of the most fun to play simply because it's fun to be The Bard, a character who cares more about his own good fortune than about doing good for the sake of it.

The iOS version of The Bard's Take was a dramatic change from The Bard's Tale series from the 1980s, which were turn-based dungeon crawlers. And, this brings us to the special reward for old-school gamers: The original trilogy is included with the game, so if you want to go back to Skara Brae, you can do just that. 

08
of 08

Dungeon Hunter 5

Battle scene with score

 Dungeon Hunter 5
What We Like

  • Engaging plot and characters.

  • Theoretically, you can complete the game without spending a penny.

  • You can test your home defenses.

What We Don't Like

  • Multiplayer mode has been replaced by a tower defense mini-game.

  • The gear upgrade system seems annoyingly random.

  • Takes a lot of time and grinding to level up.

Dungeon Hunter 5 makes the list simply because a Dungeon Hunter game must be on a Diablo clone list: The actual game is the closest thing there is to Diablo on an iOS device. Of all the games on this list, Dungeon Hunter 5 most closely resembles Blizzard Entertainment's masterpiece.

Although Dungeon Hunter 5 is a great game, it mixes in all the worst aspects of freemium games. After a while, it feels like the designers are just offering the promise of a carrot if you would only spend a little bit more, and then a little bit more in the in-app store. Plenty of freemium games have been done right, and it's hard not to notice when greed takes over.

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