By Orion Voss

Free AR Games for iPhone: How to Find the Truly Free Ones

Most AR games are free to download. Far fewer are free to play. Energy timers, ad breaks and in-app purchases are common, and in an AR game, where you have cleared space and are moving around, an interruption is worse than usual. Here is how to find AR games free of all that.

Down The Drone app icon

Down The Drone · Free AR shooter for iPhone

Down The Drone: an AR drone shooter that plays offline

Hostile drone swarms fly in over your sofa, down your hallway, across your backyard. Aim, fire and hold the line, right where you’re standing.

Down The Drone: aiming at a hovering drone inside an industrial warehouse
Down The Drone: a drone explodes in a real living room as the player fires
Down The Drone: drones swarm a desert canyon while the player aims down the sights
Plays offline No ads, no trackers Full game: US$5.99 in-app purchase AR in your own room

Free to download · No ads · Plays offline · Full game: US$5.99 in-app purchase

AR games free to download vs free to play: four kinds of "free"

ModelWhat it means in play
Free with adsAdverts between rounds or on demand for rewards
Free with in-app purchasesProgress or items sold separately
Free trial / subscriptionFree for a few days, then a recurring charge
Actually freeNo ads, no purchases, no subscription

How to check an AR game free listing

  1. Scroll the App Store listing to In-App Purchases. None listed is the best sign.
  2. Check the App Privacy card: ad-supported apps often list tracking data.
  3. Read recent reviews for "ads", "paywall" and "energy".
  4. Check the last update date.

The best free AR game to start with

Our pick is our own, so weigh that: Down The Drone is free to download with no ads, and it plays fully offline; the full game is a US$5.99 in-app purchase. It is a first-person AR shooter, so the whole game happens in your room.

Down The Drone is our first-person AR shooter for iPhone: hostile drone swarms are anchored into your real room, and you turn, aim and fire to hold them off. It is free to download with no ads, plays fully offline, and runs on iPhone XS or later with iOS 17+; the full game is a US$5.99 in-app purchase. Rated 12+.

Other free AR games

For a ranked list of free AR shooters, with what each one charges after install and whether it works offline, see the best free AR shooting games for iPhone. For the subscription route, see Apple Arcade vs free AR games.

Ready to try AR Shooter: Down The Drone?

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Frequently asked questions

Are there free AR games with no ads?

Yes. Down The Drone is free to download with no ads; the full game is a US$5.99 in-app purchase. Check any AR game’s In-App Purchases list before installing.

Is there an iPhone shooting game free of ads?

Yes. Down The Drone is a free-to-download AR shooting game for iPhone with no ads; the full game is a US$5.99 in-app purchase.

What is the best free AR game for iPhone?

For a room-scale shooter, Down The Drone: free to download, no ads, offline, with the full game as a US$5.99 in-app purchase. See our ranked list of free AR shooters for more.

Related guides

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