Games that work with the aeroplane mode switch on
Offline is a slippery word in mobile games. Some run completely without a connection. Some play offline but check in on launch. Some are offline until an advertisement needs loading, at which point they stop. The distinction only matters on a plane or a metro, which is exactly when you find out.
The four degrees of offline
| Behaviour | What happens with no signal | How common |
|---|---|---|
| Truly offline | Everything works, forever | Uncommon and worth seeking out |
| Offline with a launch check | Works once opened, fails if you open it cold | Very common |
| Offline until an ad | Plays until it wants to show a video, then blocks | Common in free games |
| Offline mode as a feature | A reduced version of the game | Usually honest about it |
Advertisement
Games that pass the aeroplane test
A full paid game with no advertising and no connection requirement. Hundreds of hours of it, entirely offline, and one of the best value purchases on Android.
Short, beautiful, completely self-contained. The kind of game a long flight is for.
Endless snowboarding that plays perfectly with no signal and has a genuinely relaxing offline mode called Zen.
Unfashionable and completely dependable. Works offline, small, and it is the game people actually play on a delayed train.
Old, tiny, works offline, and still fun in thirty-second bursts.
Physics driving with offline progression. Advertising exists but the game does not stop when it cannot load.
The best offline option if the phone gets handed to a child on a journey. No ads, no chat, no connection needed.
Flow Free. Hundreds of puzzles, no timer and no connection needed. Passes the aeroplane test cleanly.
Sudoku.com. Plays offline at every difficulty. Advertising appears only when it can load, and play continues when it cannot.
Spider Solitaire. The patience game for a long wait, entirely offline.
Swordigo. A full action adventure with no connection requirement at all.
Stick War: Legacy. A campaign of strategy battles that plays with the radio off.
BADLAND. Atmospheric side-scrolling that runs offline, and it looks wonderful on a long flight.
Plants vs. Zombies. The original tower defence runs offline, as it always did.
Nonograms Katana. Thousands of picture logic puzzles, tiny and fully offline.
Preparing a phone for a long journey
- Open every game once on WiFi Launch checks, first-run downloads and asset unpacking all happen here rather than at the gate.
- Let each one reach the main menu Some games download assets after the splash screen, which is a nasty surprise at 30,000 feet.
- Turn off automatic updates An update that starts on airport WiFi and finishes nowhere can leave a game unplayable.
- Check the storage A game that cannot write a save file fails in confusing ways. Leave a couple of gigabytes free.
- Paid games with no advertising
- Puzzle and strategy with local state
- Anything with a Zen or endless mode
- Games from before about 2016
- Anything with a daily login bonus
- Multiplayer of any kind
- Games with an energy system
- Anything whose progress lives on a server
Offline gaming and the battery
An offline game with the radio off is one of the least demanding things a phone does, provided you help it. Aeroplane mode alone saves a great deal, because a phone with no signal otherwise burns power hunting for one.
Beyond that, drop the brightness, cap the frame rate if the game offers it, and resist charging while playing. On a long flight that combination is the difference between arriving with a usable phone and arriving without one.
Install, open once on WiFi, then test in aeroplane mode. Paid games without advertising pass that test most often.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know a game works offline before installing?
The store listing rarely says. The reliable method is to install it, open it once, then test in aeroplane mode before you rely on it.
Why do offline games ask for internet permission?
Usually advertising and analytics. The permission does not mean the game needs a connection to play.
Will I lose progress playing offline?
Not in a well-built game, which saves locally and syncs later. Games that keep progress only on a server are the ones to avoid for travel.
Read next
Nothing has infected your phone. Something you installed has permission, and the fix is a list in settings.
A phone will happily run a keyboard, a mouse and a memory stick. It will not power a desktop hard drive.
Hard and fast are different things. Almost every game confuses them, and these do not.
