Apple’s Arcade service started as something which everyone thought of as a project that will be scrapped in no time. However, the subscription service was soon packed with great games across every genre, from sprawling adventures across dozens of hours to simple pick-up-and-play puzzlers.
This service doesn’t require you to get an external device for you to play your favorite games, it can be simply done on your iPhone. You get a pretty good amount of quality unclocked just at a subscription of $5 for the service.
So let’s look at some of the games which are the current best to be played on Apple’s Arcade platform.
Fantasian
This game is the brainchild of Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu who are best known for their JRPGs from the early days of the Final Fantasy series. Sakaguchi’s powerful writing combined with Uematsu’s incredible music, we get some of the best gaming experiences ever.
The game is a massive two-part adventure that has an excellent and twisting story and the soundtrack by Uematsu is simply amazing lifting the game to greater heights.
Bleak Sword
This game is pretty Retro in its entirety, we have small areas with randomly generated enemies and a hero made up of a few pixels, and everything is in black and white. This little pixelated hero can roll, dodge, parry, and more as he fights through hordes in forests, swamps, and castles.
Grindstone
This is a typical match-3 puzzle game at first glance, however, this is a different game than other puzzle games out there. The concept is that the hero Jorj is in the middle of the colored monsters, and the players have to chart a path of like-colored creatures for the hero to travel through.
The publishers of the game have created quite an addictive puzzler in Grindstone, and it’s recommended to play this highly addictive game and have a run through this surprisingly solid slasher.
Overland
This is a powerful survival game set in a post-apocalyptic world where we have a band of travelers that must make it across the United States. On their journey, they have to go scavenging for supplies while fighting off untold horrors.
Well, this concept has been used many times, however, Overland’s turn-based grid system, dotted with small events that progress the story, puts a simple and yet marvelous touch to the game.
Overland offers tension across the entire game while leaning on tension and weighty choices instead of offering simply running from or mowing down hordes of enemies.
Magazine
Mutazione is an adventure game and offers exploration fantasy for players where they have to navigate a meteor-stricken resort inhabited by friendly mutants. During their adventure, they have to establish new relationships and solve puzzles. The game offers many personal interactions and the storytelling is terrifically displayed, and there’s always something to keep you coming back to the game. You’ll get hooked.
Monument Valley+
Monument Valley is one of the first breakthrough mobile games, since its debut back in 2014. the game has a very basic concept and we simply have to move a structure to find hidden paths to lead a princess to a goal.
Threes+
This game will keep the players coming back to solve one more puzzle while just keep saying “just one more round”. The concept of Threes+ is simple, it’s to just combine the tiles of like numbers while making the tiles of exponentially-increasing numbers and scoring points for every tile on your board at the end.
The game is simple and many have the initial impression that it will be quick to play puzzles, however, before you know it an hour has flown by and you’re still swiping tiles.
Spelltower+
The game is a simple one and will test your brain to its fullest while challenging even the most erudite among you to find the words hidden in the mess of letters before the tower hits the top.
Spaceland
This outer space-based adventure brings back the grid-based strategy combat to the iPhone or iPad while offering one of the best Apple Arcades in the space turn-based strategy genre.
We have seven heroes to choose from and each of them has their unique abilities, and we as players have to them to the fullest to take on the hordes of hostile aliens on the planets you traverse.
The Oregon Trail
The classic PC adventure game which we enjoyed in our childhood has now been re-imagined on Apple Arcade. This is just like the old-school game, but with fleshed-out characters to follow and striking new visuals that give the frontier color and life.
The overarching story and its renewed historical accuracy is now the most attractive part of the game and the care which the developers have taken to provide the historical facts alone makes a trek on this Oregon Trail worth it.
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm
This feels like a knockoff of the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the wild however, this is more than a simple knockoff. We can certainly see many elements similar to Zelda, however, the game’s quality makes it far more than a simple clone.
The game introduces you to the world of Arcadia, and you can adventure as you see fit, and Arcadia is a massive map with plenty to do and we also have a vast ocean perfect for sailing exploration. This is a perfect game for everyone to play who is waiting for the breath of the wild 2.
What is The Golf?
A golf game offers simplicity and escape from all the bombastic tendencies of the games for a simple game of 18 holes on a quiet course. However, this game is exactly the opposite of a traditional golfing game, as it will turn the reserved sport into a wacky physics-based game that offers a ton of goofy fun.
The game is pure gold and calls itself a “golf game for people who hate golf,” and it shows in the wacky things you’re able to do. Give it a try.
