The best one handed games for iPhone use a single simple input, such as a tap or one-thumb steering, play in portrait and keep every control within reach of your thumb. Turn-based puzzles work well too, because nothing rushes you between moves. Below: what to look for, iPhone settings that help, and three picks.
A quick disclosure: the three games at the end are all made by the solo developer behind Honest Little Apps. We included only games whose details support one-handed play, and we say plainly which one shows ads.
One input at a time. A tap, a hold or a single thumb drag is ideal. Games that need two thumbs at once, such as a virtual joystick plus action buttons, are hard to play with one hand.
Portrait orientation. In portrait, one hand can hold the phone while the thumb covers most of the screen. Landscape games usually expect two hands.
Controls in the lower half. On a large phone, buttons near the top are a stretch. Menus up there are fine if you can bring them down with Reachability.
No pressure to multitask. Turn-based games, or games with an easy pause button, let you shift your grip, sip a coffee or hold a bus rail without losing.
A practice or easy mode. Practicing without penalties lets you learn the timing with one thumb before you play for score.
Short rounds. Runs that last a minute or two suit the moments when you only have one hand free.
Apple says Reachability lowers the top half of the screen "so it's within easy reach of your thumb" when you use iPhone with one hand in portrait. Turn it on in Settings, then Accessibility, then Touch. On an iPhone with Face ID, swipe down on the bottom edge of the screen. On an iPhone with a Home button, lightly double-tap the Home button. Tap the upper half of the screen to return to full screen. It is handy for reaching a pause or menu button at the top of a game.
AssistiveTouch puts a button on screen that you can drag to any edge, where it stays until you move it. Tapping it opens a menu for things that usually need gestures or physical buttons, such as Control Center, Home, the App Switcher, volume and screenshots. Turn it on in Settings, then Accessibility, then Touch, then AssistiveTouch. Under Custom Actions, you can assign an action to a single tap, double tap or long press of the button. For multi-finger gestures, choose Device, then More, then Gestures in the menu, and one finger moving on the screen controls all the virtual fingertips.
If the screen keeps flipping when you play lying on your side, open Control Center and tap the Lock Rotation button. Apple says it is red when the orientation is locked and gray when it is not. If you do not see it, add it to Control Center.
For hand tremors or trouble with fine motor control, Apple's Touch Accommodations (Settings, then Accessibility, then Touch, then Touch Accommodations) can make iPhone respond to longer or shorter touches with Hold Duration, treat repeated touches as one with Ignore Repeat, and use the first or last place you touch with Tap Assistance. Apple notes that with some of these on, taps and swipes within the set duration are ignored, so test your games after changing them.
Guided Access keeps iPhone in one app. When you start a session, you can circle areas of the screen to disable, which helps if your palm brushes an edge, and turn off Motion so the screen does not switch between portrait and landscape. Set it up in Settings, then Accessibility, then Guided Access. Apple warns that Crash Detection and Emergency Services are not available during Guided Access, so end the session before you need them.
Hold the phone in the hand you will actually use, in portrait.
Play three rounds using only that thumb.
Check that pause, retry and menus are reachable without changing your grip, with Reachability if needed.
Watch for any move that needs two fingers at once.
Notice whether the game switches to landscape.
Try it where you will really play, such as on the couch or standing on a train.
One-tap arcade games, turn-based puzzles and other games that play in portrait with a single input. Avoid games built around virtual joysticks or two-thumb controls.
Yes. Reachability, in Settings, then Accessibility, then Touch, lowers the top half of the screen within reach of your thumb when you hold iPhone in portrait.
Open Control Center and tap Lock Rotation. The button turns red when the orientation is locked.
All three games below play offline. For tips on playing without Wi-Fi, see our guide to offline iPhone games.
All three games come from the same solo developer behind Honest Little Apps.
One tap reverses gravity, so you run on the floor or the ceiling to dodge obstacles, and Zen mode lets you practice with no wipeouts. It needs no account, no login and no internet. Fluxo is free to download and shows ads; a Remove Ads purchase is available, and the optional Premium Unlock is a one-time purchase, never a subscription.
Get Fluxo free on the App Store
A rolling-orb adventure that its website says uses one-thumb steering, with a Weather Dial that switches between three weather modes, so try the first stage in your usual grip. It has 36 hand-built stages across six regions plus an endless mode, with no ads, no account and full offline play. It is free to download with optional in-app purchases, including a Plus subscription and one-time packs.
Get RushOrb free on the App Store
A turn-based number puzzle: launch a number at a beast so the sum is exactly 10 and it pops, with optional aim assist and no rush between shots (the separate real-time arcade mode is the exception). Its App Store description lists VoiceOver labels and Reduce Motion support. It is free, with no ads, no accounts and no in-app purchases, and the whole game works offline.
Get Number Beasts free on the App Store
Apple Support: Reach the top of the iPhone screen with one hand
Apple Support: Use AssistiveTouch on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch