5 Roguelite Shooters for iPhone, Plus Zombie Defence in Alpha

Enter the Gungeon brings its dense room-by-room bullet hell to iPhone, where the gun you find can change how you handle the next wave. Dodge rolls cross incoming fire, cover buys a moment, and a table flip can interrupt a crowded line of attack. Apple documents movable touch buttons, an auto-aim toggle and gamepad support, so players can choose how much target placement to handle directly.

The free download lets you try the first area before one US$6.99 purchase unlocks the full game on the checked US listing. Its wide arsenal and dodge timing reward attention, but the screen can get busy on a phone. It suits players who want active dodging and an optional layer of direct aim more than a relaxed auto-fire run.

The verdict

Choose Enter the Gungeon for top-down bullet-hell rooms and a mobile control layout you can adjust. The trial lets you sample its dodge-and-loot loop before buying the full game.

Exit the Gungeon keeps the series' bullet-hell pressure but changes the shape of a run: fight through side-on chambers as you climb toward an elevator exit. Its current App Store description calls out an ever-changing weapon, loot and dodge rolls. That narrower, vertical route gives the fights a different rhythm from Enter the Gungeon's top-down rooms, even though both reward reading projectile patterns.

The current standalone iPhone listing provides a free trial followed by one full-game purchase and lists game-controller support. Its one-purchase model makes it easy to sample before committing, while the side-on climb keeps each run focused on the next elevator route.

The verdict

Pick Exit the Gungeon if you want bullet dodging in a side-on climb rather than a top-down dungeon. Its current standalone trial is a useful way to check the pace before the one-time unlock.

Gunfire Reborn takes the camera into the fight. Randomized stages feed a changing mix of guns, Occult Scrolls and hero skills, so the run asks for both target tracking and build choices. The iPhone listing describes mobile-adjusted shooting and supports PlayStation and Xbox controllers, giving players a gamepad option alongside touch controls.

The current US listing prices the base game at US$6.99 and includes in-app purchases for additional heroes; it also advertises multiplayer for up to four players. That makes Gunfire Reborn the pick here for first-person aim and group builds, with more screen work and menu decisions than an auto-aim dungeon shooter.

The verdict

Choose Gunfire Reborn for first-person roguelite runs built around weapons, scrolls and hero abilities. Its documented controller support and four-player option make it the strongest fit for co-op FPS sessions in this group.

Soul Knight turns each run into a sequence of pixel-art dungeon rooms, with weapons, hero skills and enemy patterns to manage. Its iPhone listing describes auto-aim and more than 400 weapons, so firing can stay simple while the active task is moving through bullets, choosing a pickup and timing a skill. The listing also supports online co-op and local wireless play.

It is the easiest fit here if you want room-by-room shooting without tracing every target yourself. Soul Knight is free to install with in-app purchases, leaving the core dungeon runs open to try before choosing whether to spend.

The verdict

Pick Soul Knight for quick dungeon rooms, auto-aim and co-op. It keeps the main touch task on movement and weapon choices rather than continuous reticle control.

Tesla Force is the top-down build-and-upgrade pick. Procedural levels, a roster of four heroes, weapons and scientific gadgets change the tools available in each attempt. The App Store lists game-controller support and its version history notes touch-control improvements, giving iPhone players documented input options.

When a run ends, persistent base upgrades give the next attempt a longer arc than a single arena clear. Tesla Force is a paid US$5.99 iPhone game on the checked listing, with iCloud support. Its layered gadgets and upgrades offer plenty to vary, though those systems make it less immediate than an auto-aim room shooter.

The verdict

Choose Tesla Force for top-down shooting that links changing runs to upgrades at a persistent base. It offers a middle ground between quick room clears and Gunfire Reborn's first-person build management.

Zombie Defence connects active horde fights to a separate Scrap extraction run and a persistent shelter. Picked-up Scrap is retained on extraction or defeat up to storage capacity, then supports fixed shelter stations, crafting and research that persist between attempts. The loop gives a shooter run a useful aftermath instead of treating every result as a clean reset.

Touch fire targets the nearest living enemy; desktop play uses cursor aim. That input keeps attention on movement through the horde, while the shelter loop adds planning between expeditions.

The verdict

Choose Zombie Defence if active horde shooting and Scrap extraction feeding a persistent shelter sounds like a better long loop than a run reset. Touch fire targets the nearest enemy, and shelter stations, crafting and research give carried-over goals.