Infinity Blade III

Infinity Blade III closes out the trilogy that, in 2013, brought touchscreen action combat close to perfection. The game is controlled with gestures: swiping a finger across the screen delivers a sword attack, a circular motion blocks a blow with the shield, and a well-timed sidestep dodges deadly combos. Fights are fast, built on reading the opponent's animations and reacting within a split second; between them, the character moves through linear arenas, collecting weapons, armor, and runes, and upgrading equipment before facing the next boss.

The series was created by Chair Entertainment in collaboration with Epic Games and built on the Unreal Engine, which was an unusual luxury for a mobile phone at the time of the first game. Infinity Blade proved that the iPhone and iPad could handle graphics comparable to consoles of the time, and it became a showcase title Apple used to present the performance of its new chips at its keynotes. The third installment added more playable characters, a more elaborate story, and closed out the storyline players had followed since the first Infinity Blade through the second.

Today, the game can no longer be bought on the App Store or Google Play – the entire trilogy was pulled from the stores after support ended, and a new install on a current device is not possible; it remains available only on older phones where it was previously installed. Despite its age, the gesture controls hold up surprisingly well, because they were designed for the finger from the start, not adapted from a gamepad.

Why play it: For players with an older iPhone where the game is still installed, it's a reminder of how a touchscreen could replace a gamepad – unfortunately, a new purchase is no longer possible anywhere.