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App Store Indie Games Week: the 7 featured games
Seven independent games arrive on iPhone and iPad with a showcase from Apple itself. All of them were on Steam first.
SUMMARY FOR WHEN YOU'RE SHORT ON TIME · 2 min
Apple kicked off App Store Indie Games Week on October 12, 2026, featuring seven independent games on the iPhone and iPad store: Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, No Man's Sky, "Little Kitty, Big City", 9 Kings, Dome Keeper, and "Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall". All of them were already on Steam, and No Man's Sky only reaches mobile on October 28.
- Apple kicked off App Store Indie Games Week on October 12, 2026, with seven independent games for iPhone and iPad.
- The seven: Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, No Man's Sky, "Little Kitty, Big City", 9 Kings, Dome Keeper, and "Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall".
- Four could already be downloaded at the time of the announcement; No Man's Sky arrives on mobile on October 28.
- The store promises to feature the games every day throughout the week, with curated collections.
- All seven were already on Steam, where they launched between 2016 and 2026.
- Apple did not disclose prices or the date the week ends.
Your first step: Open the App Store on your iPhone, look up one of the seven games, and compare its page with the same game's page on Steam: see what changed in the images and the text for mobile.
What did Apple announce?
On October 12, 2026, Apple kicked off App Store Indie Games Week on the App Store, the app store for iPhone and iPad1. An indie game is an independent game, made by a small studio without a big company paying for everything. There are seven games, available to download or preorder, and the store promises to feature them every day throughout the week, with collections curated by its team1.
Apple did not disclose prices or the date the week ends1.
What are the seven games?
| Game | What it is about | On iPhone and iPad | On Steam since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sifu | Third-person kung fu fighting, a revenge story | Not specified in the announcement | March 28, 20234 |
| Vampire Crawlers | Card battles in a dungeon, a spin-off of Vampire Survivors | Not specified in the announcement | April 21, 20263 |
| No Man's Sky | Exploring a computer-generated universe | Arrives October 28, 2026 | August 12, 20162 |
| Little Kitty, Big City | A curious cat exploring a city | Available now | May 9, 20245 |
| 9 Kings | Building a kingdom and an army of cards against rival kings | Available now | May 23, 20256 |
| Dome Keeper | Digging a mine on an alien planet and defending the base | Available now | September 27, 20227 |
| Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall | Hard decisions to save a kingdom in crisis | Available now | May 8, 20258 |
Descriptions and iPhone and iPad availability according to Apple1; dates from each game's Steam page.
What does this change for people who want to make a game?
All seven took the same path: they came out first on computers, on Steam, and only later reached mobile, some almost ten years later (our math, based on the dates in the table). Now they get a showcase in Apple's own store. In our view, it is a sign that starting in one place and taking the game to another store later is a common path, not a lost shortcut.
Bringing a game to mobile, however, takes work. For Sifu, Apple mentions touch controls, a reworked camera, and controller support1. Thinking about mobile from the start avoids some of that rework (our take). See what your first game should be and how to put a game on Google Play, the store for Android phones.
The other side
These are games picked by Apple, which had already been on sale on computers for months or years and, in several cases, had a company helping with the launch1. The feature lasts one week, and the store decides who gets into the showcase. As the stories of games that started small show, for every game that makes it into a showcase, there are many that almost nobody saw.
Related questions
Which games are in App Store Indie Games Week?
Seven: Sifu, Vampire Crawlers, No Man's Sky, "Little Kitty, Big City", 9 Kings, Dome Keeper, and "Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall", according to Apple.
When did App Store Indie Games Week start?
On October 12, 2026, according to Apple's announcement. The company did not say when it ends.
When is No Man's Sky coming to iPhone?
On October 28, 2026, according to Apple, with every major update released so far. Until then, you can preorder it.
What is an indie game?
An independent game: made by a small studio or a single person, without a big company behind it paying for everything. Sometimes a smaller company helps with the launch and marketing.
Are the Indie Games Week games free?
Apple's announcement does not include prices. You have to check each game's page on the App Store.
Can a computer game move to mobile later?
Yes, and all seven games this week did exactly that: they all came out on Steam first. For Sifu, Apple mentions touch controls, a reworked camera, and controller support, which shows that bringing a game to mobile is extra work.
Sources
- Apple Newsroom, "App Store Indie Games Week kicks off today" (October 12, 2026). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, No Man's Sky page (released August 12, 2016). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, Vampire Crawlers page (released April 21, 2026). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, Sifu page (released on Steam March 28, 2023). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, Little Kitty, Big City page (released May 9, 2024). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, 9 Kings page (released May 23, 2025). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, Dome Keeper page (released September 27, 2022). Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Steam, Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall page (released May 8, 2025). Accessed October 14, 2026.
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