Apple Arcade: How to decide where to start, based on your tastes
Apple Arcade is a blessing for fans of mobile games, but also a curse: with so much great stuff to choose from, where do you even start?
Some people will no doubt download absolutely everything and then randomly pick things to check out until something clicks (hi, it me). That's a perfectly reasonable approach to take, but some of us have tighter constraints on our time.
Lucky for you, I play lots and lots of games, and I've spent the past week tooling around with every Apple Arcade game I had time for. I still haven't touched every single one – it's a lot to go through! – but I've played enough to get a good feel for what's on offer and single out some favorites.
If you look at the games list and are immediately afflicted with analysis paralysis, read on for a rundown of my own Apple Arcade favorites so far based on the different tastes I think each one appeals to.
I've still got so many more games to go through, but I'd like to think there's a little something for everyone represented here.
For fans of deceptively complex puzzles
Spek, from RAC7, is an immediate standout. Its minimalistic look belies the frequently challenging puzzle game that lies beneath. It's a touchscreen game where the goal is to collect a set pulsing squares in each level by playing with perspective. Spekis a chill and immediately intuitive experience – this is a game where you learn by doing – that feels simultaneously fresh and familiar.
Also check out: Dear Reader(for word nerds), Patterned(for art lovers)
For tabletop nerds
Most mobile game enthusiasts are familiar with Candy Crushand games like it: match adjacent like-colored gems/blocks/whatever scattered across the playing field to make them disappear and bring more gems/blocks/whatever tumbling into view. Think of Grindstoneas a bloody take on Candy Crush.
You're a blue-skinned barbarian with only one goal: get to the top of the level. You can only get there, though, by carving your way through hordes of different-colored monsters. You do that by using your finger to trace out a (cartoonishly) bloody path of carnage, with different rules like gems and angry monsters forcing you to tweak your strategy as you play.
Also check out: Card of Darkness(more of a card game)
For music-loving arcade jockeys
Simogo is the studio behind some of mobile's greatest hits to date, including Year Walkand Device 6. But the latest, Sayonara Wild Hearts, is like nothing that came before.
It's a trippy, neon-lit arcade game that's as much about the music and visuals as it is about the play. "As the heart of a young woman breaks, the balance of the universe is disturbed," Simogo's description reads. There are motorcycle gangs, swordplay, dance battles, and running wolves all coming together in an exciting, eye-catching game that doubles as an extended music video.
Also check out:Explottens(if you're more into cats than music)
For people who have many hours to kill
There's been buzz around Overlandfor years now. The latest game from Finji, the studio founded by Canabaltcreator Adam Saltsman, is a post-apocalyptic, turn-based survival game with an eye-catching visual aesthetic and endless replayability. The game unfolds around a cross-country road trip that sees you stopping frequently along the way to gather supplies while fending off monsters.
There's a broader explanation for what's happening in Overland's world, but the real story in each playthrough is the one you write for yourself. Many aspects of the game are randomized, including the survival gear you scavenge and the personalities of people who could potentially join in on your journey. I've only scratched my way through a few hours and I now can't wait to wrap up work so I can play some more.
Also check out: Oceanhorn 2(if you like Zelda), Shinsekai Into the Depths(if you have a controller)
For people who just like weird shit
What the Golfmakes no sense whatsoever, but in a way that's effortlessly charming, funny, and obsessively playable. It's a a collection of off-the-wall and vaguely golf-themed (veryvaguely) minigames that are more weird than they are golf.
How weird? One challenge asks you to score a hole in one... by knocking a carved out golf hole into a much larger pit that's been carved in the shape of the number "1." Another challenge has you maneuvering a desk chair around obstacles in a race against a sheep; first one to the golf green wins. (That sheep is a jerk, btw.)
Also check out: Cricket Through the Ages(if you like Monty Python and have a second player), Sneaky Sasquatch(if you want something more involved, but still bizarre AF)
TopicsAppleGaming
-
The OLED BurnMoon’s approval rating tops 80% for 1st week in office吴理真非茶祖? 茶文化专家称该质疑是误解Everyone's favorite retro phone, the Nokia 3310, finally has a release dateWebb telescope discovers 6 rogue worlds. They didn't form the way you'd expect.LA's iconic Pink Wall is undergoing some changesOver 500 draw lots to attend Park's first hearing17 Android Apps Caught Hiding and Displaying Aggressive AdsIt's Unnecessary But, AMD Is Basically Lying About CPU PerformanceLA's iconic Pink Wall is undergoing some changes
- ·Wordle today: The answer and hints for August 29
- ·These Ethiopian superheroes fight for girls' rights in badass new TV series
- ·劣质低价厂商遭淘汰,速冻丸子行业迎来大洗牌
- ·'Bridgerton' star Jonathan Bailey has voiced a dreamy bedtime story for Calm
- ·Doosan scraps controversial Robotics
- ·Uh, you should really update Firefox. Like, right now.
- ·[Breaking] NK's missile flew about 500 kilometers: S. Korea's JCS
- ·What to do if your dog doesn't like other dogs or strangers
- ·Pixel 9 Pro XL hands
- ·First heat wave advisory of the year issued for Daegu
- ·Philippines vow to 'crash the party' against N Zealand
- ·PSG say Saudi's Al Hilal can talk to Mbappe
- ·When Are Next
- ·Twitter is calling BS on Theresa May for claiming her shoes got someone into politics
- ·Bayern buoyant over Kane deal
- ·Twitter is calling BS on Theresa May for claiming her shoes got someone into politics
- ·[Graphic News] Average book price nears 20,000 won
- ·Everyone's favorite retro phone, the Nokia 3310, finally has a release date
- ·雨城区工商局东城工商所积极争创“人民满意工商所”
- ·Hong meets with McCain to outline Moon's policy on alliance, N. Korea
- ·21 Unexpected Wonders in Colorado’s Vibrant Cities and Small Towns
- ·Mattis: Military solution to N. Korea would be 'tragic on an unbelievable scale'
- ·'Bridgerton' star Jonathan Bailey has voiced a dreamy bedtime story for Calm
- ·南农晨读丨天天有鱼 年年有余
- ·Flying spaghetti monster and unworldly life filmed in deep sea footage
- ·[Breaking] S. Korean President Moon convenes NSC meeting on NK's missile launch
- ·A global problem is preventing the wars in Ukraine and Gaza from coming to an end.
- ·Bayern buoyant over Kane deal
- ·'Bridgerton' star Jonathan Bailey has voiced a dreamy bedtime story for Calm
- ·东莞常平镇积极推进“四小园”建设,点亮乡村美丽幸福新篇章
- ·29 Dive Bars, Saloons, and Taverns Where the Vibe Is Unbeatable
- ·Amazon Prime's newest perk: Exclusive concerts
- ·Chalmers takes heart from Popovici flop
- ·Marquinhos hopes for solution to Mbappe dispute
- ·热浪来袭 科学应对防中暑
- ·New security chief says Seoul should ‘take the lead’ in restoring two