For several years, Apple has offered a catalog of video games accessible with a subscription. Called Apple Arcade and launched in 2019, it is getting richer and richer. To the point of getting lost.
After a whirlwind launch in 2019, the Apple Arcade service continued to slowly expand until it became devilishly chubby today. Despite a small desire for curation via different sections, it is not always easy to sort through this lush and sometimes tricky jungle where the nuggets are sometimes too well hidden. Here is a short list of 9 essential Apple Arcade titles, and more if you like, to play on your iPhone, iPad or any other compatible device.
Remember that the service is still offered at a monthly rate of € 4.99 and that it is integrated into Apple One. For the price of a single premium title, you have access to a rich catalog of some of the best representatives of mobile gaming. And since it’s non-binding, it’s typically the kind of little gift to give as the holidays approach when the TGV journeys and the afternoons lazing around with your feet in the water give all their meaning to the principle. gaming on iPhone and iPad. Unless, like me, you get irretrievably caught year round by the addiction of a Flip Flop Solitaire+ and become unable to give up your daily games, of course…
WHAT THE CAR?
As the name more or less suggests, WHAT THE CAR? is roughly the sequel to the delusional WHAT THE GOLF?, also on Apple Arcade and just as essential. This time, it’s not golf that gets subverted in every way, but the car game with dozens of tables. We must guide the craziest variations of racing cars (with legs, reactors, wheels on all sides…) towards the finish with always grotesque physics and an avalanche of wacky ideas waiting for you at every turn. A game that succeeds in the double challenge of offering a real challenge, while assuming a crazy atmosphere that is frankly funny.
Fantasian
If the orientation Devil May Cry of Final Fantasy XVI gives you anxiety attacks, play Fantasian. This is the latest RPG from sensei Hironobu Sakaguchi, father of the first Final Fantasy. At first glance, it’s a direct descendant of those adventures of yesteryear with an amnesiac hero and turn-based combat with a large element of strategy – so much so that it could almost pass for a caricature. However, it has a real modernity, especially in the management of the fights and also a striking artistic touch, thanks to its photorealistic diorama-style decorations which give it an astonishing singularity. A real epic long-term adventure with a little taste of Proust’s madeleine.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Need a vacation in the sun? Combine business with pleasure with Alba: A Wildlife Adventure and take advantage of it to fight against big Capital. In this pretty green tale, we play an apprentice Greta Thunberg who is determined to protect a small Mediterranean island from the destructive appetite of a few real estate magnates. For this, we accomplish a whole bunch of small missions in a mini open-world colored by caring for squirrels, by rendering services to the inhabitants and above all by taking pictures of all the animals that we come across to show the world the richness of this endangered fauna. A stay all-inclusive exotic that carries a nice message.
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
After the peaceful walk through the colorful and moving pictures of Old Man’s Journeythe Austrian studio Broken Rules is embarking on a re-reading of the endless runner with this twirling Gibbon: Beyond the Trees. We embody a monkey fluttering in the canopy of a peaceful primary forest in Malaysia, which we control with a few finger presses with a flow sensational reminiscent of the mythical Tiny Wings. But, quickly, the game moves into a poignant ecological fable in which the gameplay is fully expressed. Further proof of the studio’s talent for giving expressiveness to a gameplay a priori minimalist, as well as a really amazing artistic direction.
Lego Builder’s Journey
Lego in video games, we especially know the countless and often crazy adaptations of the most prestigious licenses of pop culture such as Star Wars Or Harry Potter. With Lego Builder’s Journey, we discover a much more sober vision of the best toy in the universe in a game subtly combining the exploration of small dioramas all in briquettes and the resolution of puzzles and riddles based, of course, on Lego pieces. A game that tickles the imagination with its settings shrouded in mystery and a gameplay terribly ingenious.
Reigns: Beyond
I don’t think I’m exaggerating too much in qualifying the series Reigns small phenomenon of mobile gaming. In addition to the insolent success of its original episode (more than a million copies sold), it will even have the privilege of being available in an official version. Game Of Thrones — excuse me. Apple Arcade also has its episode, Reigns: Beyond, where this time, at the head of an intergalactic rock band, we venture to the depths of the cosmos. This episode thus declines its so effective formula combining narration, management and offbeat humor, all with a simplistic interface inspired by browsing on Tinder. The game thus presents dozens and dozens of little dilemmas that you can solve with a simple swipe of your finger to the right or the left and which will gradually guide your progress. As simple and intuitive as it is perfectly brilliant.
Cozy Grove
Previously known for its puzzle game devious, the Spry Fox studio has also always shone thanks to the irresistible charm of the graphics of its games. Just for that, Cozy Grove worth the detour. But to tell the truth, you quickly want to stay there for hours and hours to discover all the hidden surprises on this island haunted by adorable ghosts. Especially since the title very clearly looks towards Animal Crossing. If you need some chill and cute stuff that makes you smile, Cozy Grove will gladly give you all this intravenously.
South of the Circle
This new game from the award-winning studio State of Play Games takes us to Antarctica as Peter, a scientist who survived a plane crash, fights for his survival. This narrative adventure is skilfully interspersed with flashbacks that take us back to 1960s England, in the midst of the Cold War, to discover our hero’s past in bits and pieces. The game is therefore as much a perilous journey in this hostile continent as in the emotions and intimacy of a character much more complex than it seems.
wurdweb
From afar, wurdweb looks like a simple word game derived from Scrabble. But, on closer inspection, it is in fact a jigsaw puzzle very clever in which you have to skilfully arrange a series of words on a grid using their common letters. Above all, you have to be strategic in order to be able to place as many as possible and reach bonus squares that prolong the game. The goal ? Boost our score. Simple and intelligent concept declined in different game modes, very intuitive handling, welcoming interface… wurdweb ticks all the boxes of the good little addictive game in which we dive daily with delight.
In addition to more or less new features that frequently integrate the service, Apple Arcade is gradually taking over older titles, sometimes updated with more content, and which are labeled with a small “+”. As they were once on the App Store in a paid premium version, this is an opportunity to (re)discover some of the most prestigious mobile games: Hidden Folks+, Dead Cells+, Spelltower+, Good Sudoku+, Lifeline+, Flip Flop Solitaire+, Really Bad Chess+, LIMBO+, Kingdom Two Crowns+, Very Little Nightmares+, GREY+, The Garden Between+… You get the idea: there are really beautiful people.
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