“Do you play Candy Crush ?!”
This question still resonates in the ether with an accusatory tone. A few years ago Candy Crush was the most popular mobile game in the world and playing it wasn’t exactly considered a boast. In a sector made up of console and PC games of the highest level, the mobile gaming it was almost unlucky.
Then things changed. Smartphones and tablets have become more powerful, with better screens and much more space for installing apps and games. More and more interesting and intriguing titles have flourished, with some small pearls that we still struggle to forget today. And yes, we’re talking about Monument Valley.
The industry has changed so much that it has introduced the subscription formula: you pay a small amount a month in exchange for access to dozens of games.
Apple Arcade belongs precisely to this category. In fact, in 2019 Cupertino presented its subscription gaming service, involving developers to propose captivating and stimulating titles. Today you will find many and so we decided to advise you 10 Apple Arcade Games You Should Try Now.
Mini Motorways
Mini Motorways is It was possibly the first Apple Arcade game we downloaded and, even now, it remains one of our favorites.
The basic idea is similar to that of its predecessor, Mini Metro, only instead of creating the subway line you will have to create the roads. By taking advantage of a grid map and a series of elements that are gradually made available to you – roads, traffic lights, bridges and tunnels to name a few – you will need to make sure that the houses are connected to the road network, allowing cars to reach buildings characterized by the same color.
Know that time is not unlimited so traffic jams and delays can lead you to game over.
At your disposal then you have different maps inspired by as many cities, with periodic new arrivals to risk getting bored.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
LEGO Star Wars Battles
LEGO Star Wars Battles it’s for fans of the George Lucas saga and no, it doesn’t look like the titles that TT Games normally offers, even if the humor is practically the same.
We are facing a PvP tower defense which, translated, means that LEGO Star Wars Battles is a strategy game that involves battles with other real people.
The title provides for the presence of a deck of cards with different characters, troops and towers. You will unlock others by playing and then you will have to experiment with them on the pitch to understand how they behave, which ones suit the style of play best and which ones do not match your tactics. Also keep in mind that, from time to time, you will take on the role of the Light or Dark Side of the Force, so you will need cards from both factions in order to proceed.
The presence of different planets, trophies – which you will get even in case of defeat – and a flood of precious resources dedicated to the winner that allow you to expand and enhance the army complete the picture.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Best Apple Arcade Games: Wurdweb
You know Scarabeo? The basic idea is very similar. You have a table on which to place a variable number of words that no, you don’t have to compose yourself. The terms are provided directly by the system and are augmented by placing the words on the boxes with the numbers 1, 2 and 3 which, as you can easily guess, add one, two or three words to your list.
There are available different modes in which the objectives change, the theme around which the terms provided revolve and the length of the words. Plus they exist daily, weekly and monthly challenges where the goal is to place as many words as possible.
If the Scarabeo has always amused you, you will also love Wurdweb.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City
A fascinating desert, a surfboard, the chance to do some stunts to bring home more points and to unlock new power ups, moving around and discovering other biomes along the way. This is Alto’s Odyssey: The Lost City, expanded version of the mobile game released in 2018.
It is about un endless runner, therefore of a potentially endless game, where the goal is to increase your score from time to time, letting yourself be lulled by the splendid scenarios designed by the developers.
If you want a hit and run game, it might be for you.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm
The Legend of Zelda is one of the most loved series in the history of video games and is unlikely to land on mobile platforms. However, you can console yourself with Oceanhorn 2, the game for smartphones and tablets that probably comes closest to him.
Knights of the Lost Realm, despite what the numbering suggests, is the prequel to Monster of Uncharted Sea, which landed on iOS in 2013, and is set six years earlier. The main character is an unnamed hero who finds himself facing an entire army of enemies by poaching himself with the help of two companions, Trin and Gen.
Between fights, puzzles and well-thought-out levels, you’ll have a lot to do.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Best Apple Arcade Games: Galaga Wars +
In 1981, Galaga was released, a fixed-screen arcade video game that teleported gamers into space, with alien ships to take down, bosses to face and bonus screens.
Galaga Wars is a sort of remake of the original game, a mobile version created to celebrate the 35 years of the original title and released in 2016. This year Namco Bandai has taken a further step forward with the plus version, landed exclusively on Apple Arcade and devoid of the advertisements and microtransition that characterize the basic version of the game.
The game experience offered by Galaga Wars + is much more enjoyable and less stressful, allowing you to face opponents, grab coins and buy all the upgrades needed to continue in the game without worrying about anything else.
A little hint: on the iPhone, given the small size of the display compared to the iPad, the ship is perhaps easier to steer.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Reigns: Beyond
At the beginning we talked about Monument Valley as one of the most interesting mobile games ever. However, it is not the only one. It is also what has left its mark Reigns with Devolver Digital che has staked everything on black humor and an interface that recalls… well, Tinder.
The first title of the series in fact put you in the shoes of a king and forced you to make decisions with a swipe to the right or left. Card after card, you had to try to balance wealth, church, people’s needs and military power with the aim of ruling for as long as possible.
After him there were Reigns: Her Majesty, Reigns: Game of Thrones and finally Reigns: Beyond, available exclusively on Apple Arcade. The last title, however, leaves the medieval scenario and catapults you on a spaceship as one of the members of an intergalactic indie band. So you will go from planet to planet and from concert to concert trying to achieve fame.
Really unmissable!
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Fantasian
Fantasian it’s a Japanese role-playing game and it really has nothing to send to the titles released on consoles. On the other hand, its creators are not exactly the latest arrivals: Hironobu Sakaguchi is the creator of Final Fantasy and Nobuo Uematsu the composer of the homonymous saga.
Fantasian therefore takes its cue from the most classic and famous of the JRPG, it makes us take on the role of a hero in search of his lost memories and confronts us with dozens of clashes in an attempt to save the world from a mysterious entity.
Skills to develop, turn-based combat, characters to interact with and fairytale settings: these are the cornerstones of a game that is more demanding than other mobile titles but also more ambitious and satisfying, perfect for those looking for hours and hours of entertainment instead of the more common disease and flight.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
LEGO Builder’s Journey
Yes, another LEGO game but here the formula is again different. It is not a strategy game with Star Wars Battles and it is not a fun and caciarona adventure like the ones we are used to experiencing on PC and consoles. LEGO Builder’s Journey takes us back to the heart of the LEGO experience: the constructionbrick by brick, following and violating the instructions as needed.
The story, barely hinted at, sees a father busy teaching his son the secrets of this art, secrets that allow the little one to reach the parent and to pass from one pattern to another. To set the scene for all this we find dioramas studied in the smallest details and a delicate soundtrack. A choice that helps young and old to immerse themselves in this little pearl that goes beyond the classic LEGO offer and that we hope will have a following in the future.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Best Apple Arcade Games: Sayonara Wild Hearts
Sayonara Wild Hearts it is a very difficult game to frame. It does not belong to a specific genre, so much so that the developers themselves have defined it “pop album video game“. You must therefore think of it as a sort of musical album, where each level is a track that lasts a few minutes and offers different ideas and ideas but which, taken as a whole, defines a specific direction.
Everything starts with a broken heart, continues chasing a butterfly in a futuristic and colorful world and goes on, piece by piece, continuously varying the gameplayThere are motorcycle chases, fights, crazy races, even parts you will soar through the air.
Sayonara Wild Hearts è a little pearl in the mobile gaming universe, you shouldn’t miss it.
Price:
Exclusive to Arcade
Our list of the best Apple games ends here …