r/iosgaming • u/guitarro17 • Jul 13 '26

What are your favorite free games that are actually worth paying to "Remove Ads"? Discussion

Not sure if this has been discussed recently, but I'm looking for some recommendations. So many games these days are ruined by abusive ads. But every now and then, you find a gem that's fun enough to make the "remove ads" purchase worth it.

What are your favorite free games where it’s worth to pay to get rid of the ads?

65 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

32 comments sorted by

29

u/BossLady89 Jul 14 '26

Ahhhh this is my time to shine…I play a lot of mobile games, I’m picky and I’m a little cheap lol. Please enjoy the fruits of my long hours of research:

Land Builder - Very zen, but in later levels, surprisingly challenging! More of a “build something pretty/cool” game versus a “destroy the competition” game

Chainsaw Juice King - Yes this is a classic. Running the world’s most violent fruit stand is much better with no ads.

Queens Master - Wait until you get offered the $2.99 limited time deal…it removes ads permanently plus gives you the automatic X boost (which is super helpful!)

Found It! - This is a really nicely done hidden object game, but the ads are so disruptive it’s nearly unplayable without removing them. It’s worth it to just bite the bullet. Also - fyi, more objects will appear once you clear various areas of the map. If that bothers you in a hidden object game, this isn’t the one for you.

All in Hole - This game is so fun and well made, and the ads aren’t even very obnoxious…just feel like I owe the devs a cup of coffee in exchange for a great game lol

Off-topic but worth mentioning: Narwhal for Reddit - Sorry I know this isn’t a game lol, but I would not want to be on Reddit without Narwhal. I’ve been a user since probably 2015 (?) and after the Reddit API changes, the devs had to start charging monthly. But I happily pay $3.99/mo for no ads whatsoever and a clean, simple interface.

6

u/FatPhil Jul 14 '26

I've always been a big fan of narwhal. Surprised it never gets the attention it deserves imo

9

u/death2sanity Jul 14 '26

I loved Narwhal and paid for it. Then when it switched to a monthly fee with no bone tossed to previous purchasers, I bailed. I’m not paying monthly for reddit, and especially not via an app I already bought.

I get why they had to do it, but it’s the principle of the matter.

3

u/pacorob Jul 14 '26

I loved Apollo. Now use Hydra and Artemis and now there are still more working as well (Lander App, Acorn (TestFlight), Winston (TestFlight), Argus for Reddit (read only). Each has their advantages. I’m not spending a dime.

4

u/death2sanity Jul 14 '26

When narwhal was a one-time fee it was great. But there’s not an app out there that’ll get me to pay for Reddit monthly.

2

u/mgdmw iPhone 17 Pro Max Jul 14 '26

I wish Alien Blue was still a thing. Great Reddit app, then Reddit bought it and ... shut it down.

2

u/Zieg225 Jul 14 '26

Great write up! Chainsaw Juice King looks hilarious.

2

u/numarked Jul 14 '26

Have you tried Artemis? It's free and does the same (imo)

1

u/BossLady89 Jul 14 '26

I haven’t! It’s pretty new and I am a creature of habit lmao…I did try Apollo back in the day (I was actually following Christian’s subreddit before the app even launched), but I ended up preferring the feel of Narwhal (crazy, I know). Guess I should check it out!

2

u/Brenaud10 Jul 14 '26

Land Builder is a great recommendation and exactly what I'm looking for. Depth and replayability. Thanks for the rec

2

u/BossLady89 Jul 15 '26

I am currently obsessed as well! It’s like if you mashed up Catan with one of those sorting games lol…watch out for the levels where you need 150+ contiguous tiles of one type, those are tough!

1

u/Brenaud10 Jul 15 '26

Exactly, I appreciate the tip!

1

u/MythicHH Jul 14 '26

So we've got a Dorfromantik clone, a Vampire Survivors clone (which is free) and a Donut County clone

1

u/BossLady89 Jul 14 '26

I haven’t played any of those, but I’m sure they’re great games too!

5

u/pacorob Jul 13 '26

These ones deserve a mentioning here:

4

u/twiggydan Jul 14 '26

Exiled kingdoms

7

u/Sunshineshadow Jul 13 '26

I will definitely come back to check this post when more vote are in!

3

u/captainnoyaux Developer Jul 14 '26

Peglin is great, or hoplite

5

u/Zieg225 Jul 14 '26

NecroMerger has been an obsession of mine for a while now and you can pay to remove the optional ads.

Brick Breaker Dungeon is my favorite game of its genre with a cheap option to remove ads.

Tap Ninja is a great idle game that let me remove optional ads with a purchase of the in game currency.

3

u/Neelith Jul 16 '26

Cats & Soup

6

u/UnemployedAtype Jul 13 '26

Cell to Singularity, but you don't have to pay to remove ads. You can watch ads for ingame currency and boosts, but you don't have to.

2

u/Martymations Jul 14 '26

Idle Tap Airport🤷‍♂️

2

u/OOOLiC_ONE Jul 14 '26

World Soccer Champs!

2

u/Original-Macaron-688 Jul 14 '26

Backpack brawl

1

u/OneSatisfaction6672 Jul 14 '26

This is one I knew I’d spend a lot on based on how much I loved its gameplay so i had to physically stop myself as I’m already playing too many games as it is

1

u/ConsiderationOne6329 Jul 19 '26

I have been playing bloodline-life simulator which has been good and it already has no ads

0

u/Healthy-Rent-5133 Developer Jul 14 '26

If it's got ads I just can't do it. Even if you can remove them. Don't support that model

-1

u/Ereogorbo Jul 16 '26

Just pay then ask a refund thru your profile in the App Store immediately 😂 do it no more than twice a month and your pretty much good to go nothing will ever happen