A no-brainer deal for iOS gamers

Apple Arcade immediately feels like a confident first step for a company that has generally kept video games at arm’s reach.

That’s a funny thing to say about Apple, more than a decade after its inaugural iPhone effectively created a new market for mobile gaming. But while plenty of developers and publishers have hopped on the iOS gaming (and later, Android gaming) train, Apple itself has been content to just watch it all unfold.

No longer. Apple Arcade is a subscription service that unlocks access to a library of games that you won’t be able to find on any other mobile platform (even a la carte from the iOS App Store). The premise is simple: for $4.99 per month, roughly the cost of one or two mobile games, you get access to an entire library of titles, plus any add-ons released for the same.

This isn’t exactly a Netflix or Hulu for games. Some of the Arcade titles offer online features, but the games themselves aren’t streaming. You can play them offline during subway commutes and long flights. The better comparison is to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, since both give subscribers access to a library of offline-friendly titles.

Where they differ is content and who makes and/or publishes it. Microsoft’s service draws primarily from the Xbox maker’s first-party catalog and indie publishing relationships. Apple hasn’t made the same kind of investments into homegrown gaming IP, but the company is working with established publishers and developers – and providing financial support – on Apple Arcade titles.

Of course, the make-or-break factor here is the library Apple’s assembled. The intent is to deliver a curated catalog filled with “premium” games. It’s a list that should surpass the “more than 100 titles at launch” promise by mid-October, and Apple intends to continue growing it monthly. 

Based on a brief look at a limited selection of titles in the week before Arcade’s launch, the library is off to a solid start. Knowledgeable gamers already have a bunch of options to look forward to, with buzzy titles like Sayonara Wild Hearts, Jenny LeClue: Detectivu, and Exit the Gungeon all confirmed for Arcade.

But there’s plenty more. Here are six promising and – importantly – wildly different gaming experiences that subscribers can look forward to playing with at Apple Arcade’s launch.

Where Cards Fall

Fans of puzzle-centric mobile hits like Monument Valley, take note. Where Cards Fall is an eye-catching puzzler where each level has you erecting and knocking down different-sized houses of cards, using them as temporary platforms to guide the protagonist from the level’s start to its exit.

The game, published by Snowman (Alto’s Adventure) and developed by The Game Band, takes you on a wordless journey through the protagonist’s life – from childhood into adulthood. The diorama layout of each level bursts with color and detail, and The Game Band hopes that the engaging story will keep players hooked across all 52 levels – yes, one for every card in the deck.

Skate City

Skate City is a side-scrolling skateboarding game in the vein of indie darling OlliOlli. The Snowman-developed and published title sends players through randomly generated locations in three different parts of the world, tasking them with stringing trick lines together using controls that are simple to grasp but will take skill to master.

The game breaks down across endless free skate modes for each location as well as more focused and bite-sized challenges. There’s also a video recording feature that lets you capture your favorite trick lines from a variety of angles and then share them online and/or sell them in-game for currency you can use to customize your skater’s appearance.

Shinsekai Into the Depths

Shinsekai Into the Depths is an underwater adventure that emphasizes exploration and survival. It opens on a world that’s been flooded into oblivion, with the protagonist having carved out a home in the open air confines of an otherwise submerged apartment building.

The story opens with a slowly advancing wall of ice forcing you out of your safe and comfortable home. Your air supply is low and there are threats all around you. All that’s left to do is push forward into the depths in search of shelter, survival tools, and answers. If you’re a fan of “Metroidvania” games, don’t sleep on Shinsekai.

Overland

Fans of the indie scene know all about Overland already. The post-apocalyptic, turn-based strategy game from Finji – the studio founded by Adam Saltsman, creator of the early mobile hit (and formative endless runner) Canabalt – has been cooking for a number of years, with screenshots and GIFs becoming something of a fixture on social media.

Well, it’s finally done. The end times survival scenario puts you in command of a small but growing group of randomly generated survivors making their way across the country. It’s not initially clear why the world ended, but a growing lineup of alien creatures from below the Earth seem to be a part of it.

Overland is a game of balancing needs against threats. Each diorama-style location is random laid out and potentially filled with useful tools and supplies – including always-necessary fuel for your vehicle – but also dangers. You’ve got to decide if it makes sense to fight your way to the next potential supply cache or simply cut bait and hope the next destination is kinder. The turn-based gameplay and touch controls are perfectly suited to iOS.

Spek

Spek is a tough one to describe; in truth, I think the best way to experience it for the first time is to just go in blind and figure it out as you go.

For those who’d like to know at least a little bit: it’s a minimalist puzzler that’s just black lines and geometric shapes on a stark white background. Using your fingers, you move the environment around and play with perspective as you try to collect a set of… well, they’re squares. You need to collect the squares.

There’s no story or narrative justification for this one; it’s just puzzles for the sake of it. But with a gentle ramping of difficulty and deceptively sticky gameplay, developer RAC7’s unique creation worms its way into your brain very quickly. There’s also a wild augmented reality mode – with its own AR-specific levels – that lets you solve a similar set of puzzles against a real world backdrop.

Sneaky Sasquatch

Sneaky Sasquatch is an odd video game. It’s another RAC7 creation, though it couldn’t be further from Spek. Instead, you’re cast as a sasquatch who’s just trying to live out their life peacefully. Yeah, some humans get terrorized occasionally. But it’s not what you’re there for, necessarily. 

Just like people, the sasquatch has needs. You’ve got to forage for food, take care of your place, and find things to do that fill your days in a meaningful way. All of which is to say: Sneaky Sasquatch is really more of a platform for different minigames. In addition to basic survival game elements, there’s car racing, fishing, skiing, golfing, and more.

The point is that there’s no point at all, really. You’re just trying to live out that sasquatch life, in whatever way seems the most acceptable to you. It’s unlike any of the other games I tried, but bright graphics and a vaguely irreverent sense of humor promise to cement this one very quickly as an entertaining diversion.