Last updated on January 4th, 2026 at 11:11 pm
SteamWorld Heist – Action Game Review
SteamWorld Heist is a Action/Strategy/Entertainment game from Image & Form International AB, first launched in 9th November 2016.
It’s rated 9+ and currently has 713+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes SteamWorld Heist Stand Out
10/10 – Touch Arcade: "A genuine must-have. Don't miss it."
10/10 – US Gamer: "Everyone should play"
9/10 – Pocket Gamer: "Excellent 2D strategy"
In SteamWorld Heist you command a steam-driven pirate crew in a series of epic tactical shootouts. It's turn-based strategy with an action twist: You manually aim the guns of your robots, allowing for insane skill shots and bullet-bouncing action!
As the captain you will board, loot and shoot your way through enemy spaceships. Overcome the challenges of the vast frontier by upgrading your recruits with unique abilities, weapons – and even stylish hats!
Available languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Russian.
Key features:
- Strategy focused on skill rather than chance
- Procedurally generated levels
- 15-20 hours of playtime, followed by New Game+
- Kind to newcomers, deep and challenging for veterans
- Soundtrack by Steam Powered Giraffe
Recommended devices: iPhone 5, iPad 2 or any newer iPhone or iPad with iOS 8 or higher.
This Action game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, SteamWorld Heist is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 14th November 2016
Recent improvements include:
This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.
- Various fixes to the SteamWorld Heist page on App Store
- New home screen app name
Download & Availability
SteamWorld Heist is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get SteamWorld Heist on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Great game but needs update to fill screen. Would be much easier to read the text.
Great Game. Played it as a kid and came back to it. Still as fun as we remember.
Play fantastically on iPads, but doesnt fit the screen of iPhones after iPhone X.
We beat Chop Sue but we dont see Fen :(.
We loved this game, the gameplay is intuitive and combines a lot a mechanics we like in turn based strategy games. The music is great, we finished our second playthrough and still love listening to it.
Its a very amazing game very fun and enjoyable. We just wish there was more to the story and gameplay as well as releasing more games like these keep up the good work.
Great game love it need more and need an update for it to fit our iPhone XS Max screen. Now that a sequel is announced do we get an iOS update for this game along with the dlc.
A port of Steamworld Dig w/ controller support would be amazing.
We love the story but speaking on the game itself, it is only rivaled by games under Goliath developers. Ive played RPGs like final fantasy and dragon quest, but this series actually pulls us in and never lets go. We would give it 6 stars if possible. If you like this game, then we recommend trying the other Steamworld games given you have the systems. We havent played quest yet, but Steamworld Dig 1&2 are amazing Platformer RPGs.
We love this game so very much because of the beautiful artwork, plot, and effects. The music is creative and has great characters. We have been playing this game since we were seven and enjoyed it very much. The game Devs have a huge mind. We recommend this game a whole lot. Thank you. Enjoy the game.
Oh, this game is wonderful, we started so many new games just to try and re-experience it. But no matter what we do, nothing can out live our memorys of the first mission, we got all our characters to max level, we got all the reputation, we even did a melee only run with a speedrun, 6 hours was our best, the music is great and the artwork is amazing. We wish there were a steamworld hiest sequel, we hope anyone who buys this game has a better time then we ever did, if possible.
We got this game back in 2016 at its release and it is still one of the best App Store games ever. Its art is interesting and beautiful and the gameplay reminds us of some of our favorite strategy games like X-COM. We love this game so much its definitely worth it.
If you havent downloaded this game yet, hurry up and do so. This is one of the best games Ive downloaded from the Apple Store. It doesnt interrupt your game with ads, not being bombarded asking for money because your constantly losing energy, or losing your lives. You pay for it one time only and thats it. The play action, the characters, levels, weapons you get to use its really a super cool game. We played this game before on our handheld Nintendo, didnt know they had the game for iPAD. So happy that we found it here in the Apple Store. Wish the developer would come out with another NEW Steamworld for iPAD.
We bought this game on the Switch, but for some reason we enjoy playing on iOS more. Would love to see controller support added.
Would love to see an expansion pack though. More customizations with regards to items would be nice.
Dont let the 2-D scrolling platform dissuade you: This is a rich and fun turn-based romp thru a robot-space-pirate-steam-punk world with an awesome soundtrack (available on Apple Music: Yay!). Procedurally generated levels, reactive enemy AI, and a seemingly endless loot table of rare weapons and gear make it infinitely replayable. And then theres the hats. When a rare, as yet uncollected hat adorns the head of an enemy, you will risk everything to spend a turn shooting it off rather than deliver max damage. Ive played thru on experienced veteran and elite difficulties, and still want more. Elite is ruthless. But in a good way. There are just enough RPG elements to let you invest your imagination without option paralysis. The shared inventory size doesnt allow for nostalgia over your early gear. While loading-out for a mission, each crew member gets to equip only 4 things. Each has their own ability progression, but no choices to leave you pondering options. The variety comes from which members you develop by taking them on missions. The only technical glitch Ive encountered is that sometimes after playing a good while (an hour or 3), the sound effects track goes silent. Restarting the app restores it. Otherwise rock-solid. Cant wait for the sequel! [Devs: Please please PLEASE port the Outsider DLC to iOS!].
First of all the idea of the game is really Amazing and the graphics are great too. Its everything you want in a strategy game. The one thing that Im wondering about is another coming out soon. At the ending of the game it left the game at a cliffhanger if there is another one coming out please tell us.
We know there have to be people like us, who find 99% of mobile games (even some very popular ones) woefully shallow, basic, boring, and generally aimed at kids. At least half of them are just a veneer for micro-transactions, many are ports of games that are much better experienced the way they were intended, and the ones that you can tell are from original creative developers that LOOK SO GOOD in the trailers often just feel incomplete and underwhelming after about an hour. If you love mobile games, thats great, Im glad for you. Our entire point is that if you are like us and you keep finding disappointment in this medium, this is one of those 7 or 8 diamonds in the rough games on iOS. Its fun for a mobile game, its fun for a game just in generalthe game is just a lot of fun. Play it on veteran difficulty, get a scoped pistol as soon as possible, and have a blast ricocheting bullets into robot skulls, with light but well done RPG mechanics. Worth 5 bucks. PS If you do happen to read this, happen to feel similar to us, and buy the game and happen to enjoy it, go buy the Banner Saga trilogy too. Thanks.
This game has brought so much joy to us just because of the pure creativity in it. All the weapons and options you have are great and the story itself if so fun! Fight back evil and keep on finding more and more bigger, badder enemies ahead. Highly would recommend to anyone who enjoys good old pirate steam punk themed action! Only request we have is to have the DLC available on iOS. To have that added will give the game even more replay value and the extra weapons and items would be a welcomed addition to anyones game. Thank you Devs for such a wonderful game we hope to see more of this fine work in the future.
….this is a FUN game. Just bought it in 2020. Runs flawlessly on current OS. Turn based action, upgrades, storyline, funny writing, fluid animation, and visceral combat. Love this: A+.
This game is one in a million. Graphics, how the game plays and story line are all super great. But we feel like its also a bit empty in spaces. We know there are only three campaigns but seriously why three. Can there be different story lines to go through throughout the game. Also a multiplayer mode would be really cool having other players bots vs yours. We think that would be a really great addition to the game. The last thing is that the character choices are a bit blank. There are only so many slots but cant there be more allys to choose from in the game. Otherwise this game really stands out from all the others Ive played, Nice job.
Have played it over twice. Loved every second. Balanced, fun, and lots of room to customize your crew! Ive only found a single bug in over 15 hours of playtime. 5 stars.
Got over 50 hours into this game. Love that we can play in small chunks of time. Great looking and well balanced gameplay. Pay once and youre done! Completely offline so you can play anywhere without worrying about data or WiFi connectivity. Mobile gaming done right; flawless execution.
The game is fun. Stage 1 is fun because you have to learn the mechanics of trick shots. Stage 2 is tough because the enemies are far tougher. After that is gets very easy because the characters you play with are fully buffed with abilities. But the enemies are more varied and you find more crew. We also like that at any level you can change the games difficulty level. How nice is that! Cons are the replay value is why bother?. You do not get any areas new to explore or new abilities / stages to unlock after winning the game. There are 5 difficulty levels as we mentioned, so a bit more on that now… The experienced is the standard medium. Anything less challenging and the game is too easy and goes too quick. Veteran is like a hard mode. Elite is a we are a glutton for punishment and abuse mode, especially in the beginning of the game. But as stated, the replay factor is not there so after the first run through you likely will not want to invest the hours to play again so our suggestion is try the hardest level first and scale back if its too difficult. You lose nothing this way during first play through.
The game is a lot of fun and perfect for the iPhone. We really want the dlc now. We hope they have plans to do that soon.
We completed the game 3 times and am looking forward to playing for a completion of the game on hard. But anyways this game has a great and a unique art style, plus it is as challenging as it is addictive, however it would be great if you could release a new feature that would keep people interested, such as a multiplayer or endless mode. Other than that the game is perfect.
We loved this game every second of it the only problem we had with it was the new game plus and all it does is reset the story and all you keep is the characters that you got over the story and they are all level 1 again which to us is stupid the hole point of a new game plus is to go through the story and destroy everything in your path but we loved the game over all and when we were read the comments we have no idea what they are talking about we have a super new IPhone and we had no trouble at all with anything and reading the comments saying the game is overwhelming and hard to understand for us because we understood it extremely well and we think it was worth every penny.
There are few interesting strategy games on iOS and this is one of them. The later levels were less fun but it still is a great experience.
We had recently watched Firefly when we came across this game, and as a Browncoat, we can say that it is well worth the buy. The story and graphics are great, and the characters are pretty good too. 5/5.
Its a GREAT game, with an amazing story! Its magnetizing and has the perfect length to not get boring but keep you challenged for weeks! We love the rpg strategy aspect of the game and the creators did an AMAZING job!! We want another one.
Love us some SteamWorld Heist! Any plans for iPhone X display support.
Please make it able to fit the iPhone X full screen please.
Put some headphones on and enjoy the ride!! Awesome game!! Well worth the money.
Theres no way this game deserves all this hype..it looks awesome but boring as hell The camera is too close and probably makes the game feel claustrophobic Thats two examples of the negative assumptions we made before buying this game but there was also a strange feeling that we should still give it a try..and Im so glad we did. Also, we think Ive only ever left like one or two reviews in the years Ive had our iPhone because most games are decent and there are plenty of awesome classic RPGs, newer Indy games, etc. But we almost never feel like its awesome enough for us to write a review. Thats not the case for this gem. They integrated a strategy into a 2D world perfectly, the dialogue/characters are awesome and surprisingly developed with their own personalities, the game play is fluid and super satisfying..we could go on but instead Im just gonna tell you to stop reading these reviews and get it. Its seriously 5 dollars. We wouldnt have felt ripped off even if it had cost us $20..but the awesome devs made it cheap enough for almost anyone to get. So make sure youre near a charger because youre about to drain the hell out of your battery from not being able to put it down! And on the super small off chance that the dev(s) see this, please keep making games. We absolutely love how you spend money to buy the game and get the actual game without being bombarded with ads and pop ups begging you to give them money for their premium currency. Nope, you spend 5 bucks and the game is 100% yours. The designs/art is phenomenal and the bright color palette is so pleasing to the eyes..so we really hope you all have something in the works after seeing that almost 100% of the reviews are 5 stars and that the very few negative ones are almost all due to something other than the game itself. So again, thank you so much for this awesome and cheap game.
We havent played since we beat the last update. Please add more content and we would love to play and beat the game again. Thanks.
We saw this game a while back, but only just now decided to buy it, a couple months ago. From the minute we opened it up, we could see the talent that went into the artwork of this game. We love the style in which the characters are created, and we love how each one is so individual. We can definitely tell a lot of hard work was put into developing this game, and it does not disappoint.
Choose and equip your crew for each mission. Choose when and where they shoot and move. The bosses are a challenge, and its fun to repeat missions to not only build up points but also teach yourself the best way to deal with each kind of enemy. Beware the black hole at the end, though. Maybe we misunderstood but it reset our game progress to noth8ng, leaving only with a postcard for all the hours, and hours and hours, we spent building our experience and inventory. We are too sad to replay the game now.
Ive had an itch for a good turn-based strategy game and SW Heist gives that to us in spades. It satisfies the nostalgia for our 90s RPGs but is modern enough to keep us entertained. The pace is quick and the battles truly feel tactical (Ive had devastating losses because of poor aim). Sometimes the robots arms waving slightly as you aim is a bit of an annoyance, but it keeps us paying attention to each shot. Overall the game is excellent, Im just sad we may already be near the end of it. We hope they add an expansion or some kind of award tracking system to incentivize playing the game on the higher difficulties so we have a reason to keep coming back.
In a world full of games that are all the same… This one stands out. We love the art direction and the quirkiness of this game. Plus its just plain fun to play. Good job.
You rarely find a game this good for the iPad. It is really a gem! Well thought out, lots of fun, and does not indulge in money gouging, forcing you to buy gold, jewels, etc. This game is well worth the money.
Our one quibble: virtually every conversation between characters has NOTHING to do with the game. You spend an inordinate amount of time clicking to get past word balloons to get to the actual gameplay. We hate to think of all of the time spent inventing conversations that are meaningless to the game. Perhaps next time they can put that effort into the actual game itself.
Downloaded for a quick distraction, discovered a deep satisfying and fun strategy rpg. Over 12 hours in now and its continuing to surprise and challenge. Far past our expectations for an iOS game. 10/10.
This is an amazing game and we have played it for years. We hope they make another one that takes place afterward.
A lot of games that appear on multiple platforms suffer with touch controls but Steamworld Heist does not. Best of all, no in app purchases!!! Pay once, and its worth it.
This game definitely is one of the best games in App Store. The experience is great, we judge that by if we would play a game through nonstop. We spent seven hours to finish the game, nonstop. It reminds us Jagged Alliance a lot. They are all great turn based tactical games. But compare to JA, Steamworld Heists system is much less sophisticated. For one thing the dev chose side view, it makes the game completely 2 dimensional. And since units can not stay at ladders, the game space is shrunken too much. But JA uses 30 degree view, and units can go up to roofs, that makes JA 3 dimensional. So strategy part is much wider. JA also uses a well designed motion point system. In this system, shooting costs motion points just like walking and other actions. Spending more points makes aiming more accurate. This is greatest system Ive ever seen. But STeamworld Heist uses an oversimplified system, which makes the strategy much less variable. We dont know if there are certain reasons why iOS games could not reach the same height of PC games. We just dont want to give any iOS game 5 stars. They are not worth it yet.
Its a rare fortune to come across a gem like this. The gameplay is just outstanding. This is one boldly innovative game that doesnt seek to make unjust profits by flooding it with in-app purchases. You gain your in-game currency through your skill, experience and progress within the game, which is a huge breath of fresh air nowadays. A heartfelt thank you to the makers of this untainted beauty. For anyone reading this review, this one is a MUST PLAY. You wont be disappointed, if you dont mind exercising your brain a bit since it involves some juicy strategy.
We absolutely loved Paper Mario and playing this game was the closest we've ever come to playing it again. The story is cute but can be skipped if you're not into it, the physics with bullet ricochets and grenade bounces are challenging but engaging, and the little details all around this game gives a good sense of polished effort. There's so many different strategies you can employ with all the different characters, weapons, and utilities. And the hats are a fun sort of collection for the 100%ers out there.
This is one of the best games that we've ever played on mobile/tablet. The art style and graphics are gorgeous and very colorful. The gameplay is top notch. You will instantly be hooked and be wanting to play for hours. If you're on the fence about picking this game up, just know that it will be worth the asking price and you'll be getting a high quality game.
Ok so we don't really ever write reviews but we had to for a game this awesome. This game is quite the challenge which is a good thing we're always looking for games that pretty hard and this one is definitely at the top of our list. Very console like and worth the cost.
Such incredibly rich artwork, strategy, and tons of content. Don't wait, download this now. But don't pay it on anything less than elite. Earn those levels.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.1
- Size: 231.38 MB
- iOS: 8.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Developer: Image & Form International AB
Last updated: 14th November 2016 | Genre: Action, Strategy | Developer: Image & Form International AB