There was a new version of the original Myst for the iPad that was promoted recently. For sure hours of fun and headaches in that one.

Check out Pocket City 2 if you like city builders. It threads the needle of depth, but also acknowledging the limitations of a touchscreen interface.

I looooove many of the Glitch games, like Forever Lost. If you haven’t played it, The Room is also a classic.

I don’t normally use iOS devices so when I borrow my friend’s ancient iPad it is to play a couple digital boardgame implementations that are available for iOS but not Android: Finished! and Dead Man’s Draw

Finished! in particular is pretty addictive and very satisfying when you finally get that win.

FTL for iPad. Just a brilliant game through and through that makes the transition from desktop to tablet perfectly.

Thanks for these recs all! I will try to comment back after my trip with the one I spent most time with

Is ‘There Is No Game’ compatible with your iPad? That’s been one of my favorites!

The Room games are great puzzle/escape room type things where you use the screen to rotate items, flip switches, drag things, etc; it’s very tactile and clearly built for a touch screen. Each one takes about 2-4 hours.

Been playing through the ages for a few years now and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s got only one expansion and has a one time fee. No MTX, no ads, no requirement for online.

I’d recommend playing with the expansions right away because they don’t overwhelm you or feel “harder” to play with; it just gives you more options while you play.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/through-the-ages/id966245474

if you like puzzle games, the Rusty Lake/Cube Escape series of games are pretty cool. They give off a sort of Twin Peaks vibe, if you’re into that.

Stardew Valley! Time killer and loving it while traveling.

I wanted to recommend DOS2 :( but I’m pretty sure that the 9th gen is enough to run all Baldur’s Gate games, and they’re great too (I had this iPad before my M2 and they worked well)!