The best iPhone Duo games so far, and what each does with the fold

The best iPhone Duo games so far are the ones built around its fold. Battlefleet Duo, Greens, PianoFold, Tiny Computers and RetroRapid use tabletop mode, with the view standing up and the controls or board lying flat. In Orisuji, Toastie and Nardy, folding the phone is a move in the game. SAPPER, Delta and Asobi keep a game going between the cover screen and the inner display, and Planet of Lana, a CNN reviewer’s favourite, now has a wider view.

iPhone Duo went on sale on 23 October 2026 (Apple). Apart from our own two, every game we recommend describes iPhone Duo support in its App Store listing or release notes as of 26 October. We haven’t played them on an iPhone Duo, so each description comes from the source linked beside it.

9io makes two of these games, Bitfold and Football Kick. Neither is on the App Store yet, so they have their own section after the others. For apps other than games, see the best iPhone Duo apps.

What a fold-aware game does in each posture

iPhone Duo folds like a book, with a 5.4-inch outer display and a 7.6-inch inner one (Apple). Apple’s design guidelines describe people holding it partly folded like a book, setting it down on a surface or standing it on its edges, and ask that games stay playable in every pose (Apple).

• Closed. The game runs on the outer display, and the same run carries on when you open or close the phone.
• Open flat. The game fills the inner display. Apple asks games to change their aspect ratio rather than add black bars.
• Folded like a book. Partly open, the crease drops out of the usable area, so a fold-aware game keeps buttons and text off it or splits into two pages.
• Tabletop. Folded partway like a laptop and stood on a table. CNN found apps such as Camera move to the upper half here when their developers build for it (CNN). Games put the view on the standing half and the controls, board or pitch on the flat half.

iOS 27.1 tells apps whether the hinge is closed, partly open or fully open, its angle, and where the crease is (Classmethod).

The best iPhone Duo games for tabletop mode

In each of these, the view stands up and your fingers work on the flat half.

Battlefleet Duo (Brian Corrieri, naval strategy) is a 3D take on the classic hidden-fleet board game. In tabletop mode your fleet lies on the flat half and the enemy’s waters stand up in front of you, and a face-to-face mode gives two players a board each. Two battles a day are free, and unlimited battles cost $4.99 once. Pocket-lint picked it at launch.

Greens: Mini-golf (BSR Films, mini golf) has 144 holes of putt-putt. Folded like a laptop, you putt on the half resting on the table while the standing half becomes a caddie camera aimed down the hole. Opened flat, the whole hole fills the screen. Three classic courses and a daily challenge are free, and $2.99 buys thirteen more.

PianoFold (Brian Corrieri, rhythm) plays classical pieces tile by tile, over 40 levels. Folded like a laptop, the standing half shows your room through the camera while tiles slide towards pads under your fingers. The first two chapters are free and the full game is $4.99, as BGR also reports.

Tiny Computers (Fountain Interactive, computer simulator) is a museum of ten miniature computers from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. In tabletop mode each one has its screen standing and a working keyboard lying flat, and with the phone closed you browse the collection. It’s closer to a toy than a game, though each computer has a game with a medal to win. It costs $3.99, and Pocket-lint chose it too.

RetroRapid (Daniel Devesa Derksen-Staats, arcade racer) has you dodging traffic across three lanes. Since version 2.0 on 16 October, a partly folded phone shows the road above the hinge and the controls below it, and moving the hinge pauses the race. Daily plays are free, and unlimited plays cost $2.99 once.

Vector Racer (Stefan Sturm, arcade racer) races four cars on six circuits drawn in flat-shaded polygons. Version 1.2, on 20 October, added layouts for the inner display, and FoldHunt describes the race on the top half with steering, brake and throttle below. It’s free to download, and the full game costs $5.99.

Games that use the fold as a move

Here, opening or closing the phone is part of the game.

Orisuji (Adrien Friggeri, puzzle) is a paper maze you solve by folding the phone, which lays the left page over the maze so its paths bridge the holes underneath. Closed, you keep playing the combined maze on the cover screen. It has 69 turn-based levels and costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

Toastie (Tomasz Szykulski, cooking) makes iPhone Duo a toaster for grilled cheese sandwiches. Closing the phone shuts the lid, and opening it shows how your sandwich is doing. It costs $2.99 with no in-app purchases, and BGR and Pocket-lint both mentioned it at launch.

Nardy: Backgammon & Long Narde (Artem Novichkov, board game) plays both games against a friend or the computer. Held half open like a board, the fold becomes the bar and snapping the hinge throws the dice. Close the phone and the game continues on the outer display. It’s free, and Nardy Pro costs $4.99 once.

Penalty Area: Face2Face (Eray Dinç, football) is a penalty game released on 21 October. Its listing says the fold puts you face to face with the goalkeeper, ED, but doesn’t describe the layout. Your swipe’s speed and curve shape each shot, and you can duel a friend on the same phone. Free runs come first and $4.99 buys every mode. BGR picked it at launch.

Games that follow you from the cover screen to the inner display

These keep your game going, with a layout for each posture.

SAPPER: Infinite Minesweeper (Francisco Martinez, puzzle) is mine-sweeping with no edges, on one daily board shared by every player. Since version 1.8.1 on 10 October, the open phone shows the board on the big screen with the controls in the side bar, and folding mid-run continues the same run on the cover screen. The daily board is free, and a one-time purchase adds two more modes.

Delta (Testut Tech, emulator) plays games from classic consoles and handhelds, from files you supply. Version 2.0, on 22 October, added controller skins for every pose and Split View, and folding the phone shut puts dual-screen handheld games to sleep, like closing a lid. Riley Testut’s simulator screenshots show its library laid out for the cover, the open display, a tent and a laptop fold (Mastodon). It’s free, with optional patron purchases. More retro game apps are in a separate roundup.

Asobi: Remote Play (Inside Internet, remote play) is a remote-play app for your home console, with iPhone Duo support since version 1.6 on 22 October. Simulator screenshots reviewed by FoldHunt show the game on the top half and a touch controller below when the open phone is held upright, and a card for each console on the cover screen. It’s free, and Premium costs $4.99.

Planet of Lana (Playdigious, puzzle platformer) follows a girl and her animal companion across a hand-painted alien planet. Version 1.0.6, on 15 October, added iPhone Duo support, and its App Store event promises a wider view with a HUD fitted to each screen. CNN’s Lisa Eadicicco called it her favourite app on the Duo so far. It costs $8.99.

Bitfold and Football Kick, the two games we make

Both are on their way to the App Store, and each has a free browser version you can play for five minutes a day.

Bitfold is a retro game console app for iPhone and iPad, made for iPhone Duo, with ten original games. Closed, it’s a pocket console on the outer display. Folded like a laptop, it becomes a clamshell with the game on the top half, controls and a companion screen below, and the console’s hinge drawn over the real fold. Folded like a book, it opens into two pages so nothing sits on the crease, and the game keeps running through every change. Sprout’s Quest, Prism Drop and Noodle play free at bitfold.9io.ai/play.

Football Kick is a one-finger football game for iPhone and iPad, made for iPhone Duo. Folded like a laptop on a table, the bottom half lies flat as the pitch and the top half stands up as the goal, and you swipe the ball across the fold into the net. Folded like a book, one page shows a camera behind the net. Version 1.0, which we’re finishing now, has a 30-level World Tour and six keepers who react to the ball. A five-shot penalty game plays free at footballkicks.9io.ai.

FoldHunt’s games guide lists no football game as of 26 October. Football Kick still won’t be the first on the App Store, since Penalty Area: Face2Face came out on 21 October. Both games live on 9io.ai/games.

iPhone Duo games compared: closed, book and tabletop

Prices are from the US App Store as of 26 October 2026. A dash means our sources don’t say what the game does in that posture, and it may still work there.

Big games that weren’t optimised at launch

CNN’s Lisa Eadicicco, testing iPhone Duo before launch, found popular apps including Call of Duty: Mobile, Google Maps, Gmail and Uber not yet updated for the big screen. Some looked like floating windows in the middle of it, and others kept a black bar down one side (CNN, 21 October). Engadget’s Sam Rutherford found Sword of Convallaria, which plays sideways, still heavily letterboxed (Engadget, 21 October).

Apple says apps built with the iOS 26 SDK or earlier sit in the middle of the open display with empty space around them. Apps built with the iOS 27 SDK fill most of it but leave the status bar’s edge empty, and only apps built with the iOS 27.1 SDK use the whole display (Apple). Apple opened App Store submissions for iPhone Duo on 5 October (Apple), and the current version of Call of Duty: Mobile dates from 7 September.

FoldHunt’s games guide, updated on 26 October, lists Genshin Impact, Fortnite, Roblox and PUBG Mobile among big games with no Duo announcement (FoldHunt), and their App Store notes didn’t mention it either. Gameloft has updated Asphalt Legends, and says its 23 October version is optimised for iPhone Duo, with Split View support.

How we picked, and what’s not on the list

A game made the list if its App Store listing or release notes described iPhone Duo support on 26 October 2026, and something in it changes with the fold beyond a bigger window. The groups follow what each game does with the fold, and the order within a group isn’t a ranking. Foldable iPhone games are still arriving, so this list will change.

Four games FoldHunt covers didn’t make it:

• Letters: its developer showed iPhone Duo layouts on 5 October (X), but its store notes mention only larger screens.
• Nonogame: version 1.1 added iPhone Duo support, but its notes describe no layout for the fold.
• Backgammon with Buddies: support was announced on 26 September (Bluesky), but the App Store version dates from March 2021.
• Scoundrel Solitaire: a 15 October update added play in any pose (App Store), but the only layout details we found predate it.

An App Store search on 26 October turned up dozens more games that mention iPhone Duo, many of them two-player games played across the fold.

Which iPhone Duo game to play first

• If you want to try tabletop mode for free, play Greens.
• If you want a game for two at a table, play Battlefleet Duo or Nardy.
• If you want a puzzle built around folding, play Orisuji.
• If you want a free daily game that follows you from the cover screen, play SAPPER.
• If you want a quick arcade racer, play RetroRapid.
• If you want an emulator that adapts to every fold, play Delta.
• If you want to play your home console from the phone, use Asobi.
• If you want one premium adventure, buy Planet of Lana.
• If you want football, play Penalty Area: Face2Face now, or our Football Kick free in a browser while it waits for the App Store.
• If a big game shows black bars, check its App Store notes for an iPhone Duo update.

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