Apple Arcade, which launched in 2019, represents Apple’s first intrepid steps into the gaming sphere. No, it’s not a new console, or an esoteric metaversal initiative, or a clunky virtual-reality headset. Instead, all you need to participate is an iPhone, a Mac, or an iPad and a willingness to put up a $5 annual fee. Make the payment, and you’ll immediately have access to a trove of mobile games — originals and ports from other platforms alike — available to download. Apple has done a good job of recruiting a number of esteemed developers to supply content for its platform. No, the Arcade isn’t home to megaton triple-A earthshakers like Call of Duty or Diablo IV, but if you’re eager to check out a variety of charming indie games optimized for the touchscreen, it’s a worthy investment.
We focused on those indie titles in this list, as well as games that were designed specifically for Apple Arcade. But we also made sure to mention a few long-standing staples, previously available on PCs and Switches, that have recently washed up on Apple’s shore. It often seems like it’s only a matter of time before Apple becomes a larger player in the games business. With Arcade, they’re getting off on the right foot.
Neo Cab
In the near future, self-driving cars have totally eradicated the nascent rideshare industry, leaving only one human driver — hooked up to a suitably dystopian Uber facsimile — prowling the neon streets of Los Ojas. Neo Cab is less of a driving game and more of an interactive confessional booth. Miscreants and ne’er-do-wells pile into your backseat, and bare their soul to the stoic driver at the helm, who ceaselessly merges onto highways under the eternal starless night. There are mysteries to crack and conspiracies to unfurl — a gripping cyberpunk tragedy churns the heart of Neo Cab — but the game is at its best when it pays tribute to the almost ritualistic unburdening of a long car ride; something we all know too well.
Samba De Amigo: Party-to-Go
On consoles and in arcades, Samba De Amigo asks players to waggle their limbs, with two controllers, as if they were brandishing dueling maracas. It’s a fixture of every great rhythm game: the hilarious debasement of those playing them, much to the enjoyment of everyone else in the living room. But in Party-to-Go, the embarrassment is kept to a minimum. You’ll simply be tapping all of the notes you need to hit on an iPhone, no motion controls necessary. This makes it the perfect distillation of the series for the more timid gamers among us, especially given how robust the rest of the package is. Party-to-Go keeps the huge catalogue of licensed songs and even adds a story mode — a first for the series — which is perfectly tuned to the private sanctum of mobile gaming.
The Room
There are adventure games that ask you to straddle whole continents of mystery. Broken Sword touches all corners of the earth, Monkey Island uncovers a new cursed archipelago with every entry, but in The Room, all you must concern yourself with is a puzzle box waiting to be cracked in the middle of a dank mausoleum. That’s it. That’s the whole gimmick. You’ll orient around the device, looking for hidden levers and mechanisms, tapping all the pressure points to unlock its secrets. It’s a puzzle in miniature, and far more tactile than the annoying cartoon logic you’re occasionally asked to entertain in other classics of the genre. The Room asks for an hour of your time, and there’s a chance you’ll feel pretty smart when all is said and done.
Really Bad Chess
Great chess players think 20 moves ahead. Even the most minor decision — a pawn inching out from the phalanx — is coated with centuries of theory and stratagem. It can all be a bit much for newcomers, which is why developer Zach Gage threw out all of those principles with Really Bad Chess. In Gage’s world, you’re staring down at a normal chessboard with a randomized set of pieces. You might have a king and six rooks, or seven bishops. All of the pieces move under standard chess rules, but with, say, a cavalry’s worth of knights (and therefore a whole lot less to think about), your approach will change dramatically. It all makes the game much faster and less stodgy than Magnus Carlson’s marathon 12-hour matches. Maybe Gage could do the same thing with Go, next.
What the Golf?
What the Golf? isn’t a golf game. Yes, in essence, you will be putting a ball into a hole, but after the first few levels, developer Triband rips the rug from under you. You’ll be golfing around Metal Gear Solid security cameras, or dodging Frogger-style traffic, or mounting your ball on horseback for a wild-west chase to the flag. What the Golf is daffy nonsense — a meme masquerading as a video game — and yet it never grows exasperating or obnoxious. The joke is funny for all six hours of the campaign, which is quite a feat indeed.
World of Demons
Apple Arcade has managed to distill a number of obtuse, input-heavy genres down to the touch screen, but I don’t think anyone expected PlatinumGames — responsible for the acrobatic, million-hit combos of Bayonetta and Vanquish — to find a home on the platform. And yet, here is World of Demons, a gorgeous, watercolor samurai saga, where players will be dodging, riposting, and unleashing fastidious sword slashes with ease. It is PlatinumGames at its most primal — a man on a mission with a cavalcade of monsters in the way — and the developer somehow hasn’t lost a beat without a joystick or a quadrant of buttons in tow. Never underestimate a studio at the top of their game.
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the single most influential game of the last ten years, cultivating a huge number of imposters desperate to catalyze the game’s furtive, spontaneous magic for their own commercial purposes. Oceanhorn 2 is less egregious than the others because, well, it’s nice to carry around a fugazi Zelda adventure in our phones. You take control of a hero who looks a lot like Link, in a fallen kingdom that looks a lot like Hyrule, and are encouraged to venture far off the beaten track of the main quest. There are pots to break, treasure to plunder, and an evil warlock to usurp; the premise may be shallow, but it makes up for that with efficiency. Imagine if Nintendo ever took their mobile initiatives seriously? Until then, Oceanhorn 2 fits the bill.
Dead Cells+
Dead Cells+, the mobile port of Dead Cells, can turn skeptics into believers. Roguelikes — the genre bestowed to games that ask players to complete the same set of levels, over and over again, resetting from scratch after death — can be a tough sell. Who wants to venture back to ground zero after taking one unlucky break in the middle of a great run? And yet, Dead Cells is so stylish with its sickly pastels and apocalyptic aura, and so violent with its huge array of weaponry and blood magic, that it’s surprisingly easy to dust yourself off and gear up for a fresh fight. Dead Cells can consume entire weekends, and as the “+” implies, all of the game’s previously released DLC is integrated on Apple Arcade.
Sneaky Sasquatch
At its core, Sneaky Sasquatch is about a hungry cryptid in rural western Canada, who must steal food from the campsites and settlements around his home forest to survive. But the more you delve into the game, the more you’ll uncover the huge number of charming little gimmicks developer RAC7 has baked into its world. When your Sasquatch accumulates enough capital, he can start purchasing property, or enjoy weird, Yakuza-esque mini-games (skiing, karting, and snowball fights). Play your cards right, and the Sasquatch might even be elected mayor of his adopted town. Sneaky Sasquatch is far more ambitious than it has any right to be, and that’s helped enshrine it as one of Apple Arcade’s first bona fide classics.
Stardew Valley
As soon as Apple Arcade was announced, Stardew Valley seemed like a no-brainer addition. Developer ConcernedApe’s ludicrously popular farming simulator plays it straight. You’ve inherited a dilapidated barnyard in a rural hamlet — complete with a charming town and a number of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes — and it’s up to you to turn that plot of land into a functioning business. Crops will be planted, livestock will be reared, and maybe a family will be started. Stardew Valley is a little slice of paradise, and on Apple Arcade, you can take it with you everywhere.
