Apple Arcade, despite the general dislike that many have for mobile gaming, is a must-have service if you’re an Apple customer who loves a little bit of gaming here and there and you don’t want to sift through the wastelands of the App Store. I say this as somebody that has an ungodly amount of hours in Wylde Flowers on iPad.
The good thing about Apple Arcade is the quality assurance, the curation, and most of all the lack of ads and unavoidable microtransactions. And hey, the library itself actually has some pretty hard hitters. I once again point to Wylde Flowers here, but World’s End Club, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, WHAT THE GOLF?, and Mini Motorways are all also great examples of good stuff on the service.
Now, I can imagine there’s probably some folks here on this page ready to hit the comments section with a “What has this got to do with me? I am a PC owner/Android user. In turn, this is bad and you are a garbage rat who should be boiled in oil!”. I come to you as a PC owner and also an Android user myself. I truly believe in my heart of hearts that mobile platforms and tablet platforms, and that includes Apple devices, are just as deserving of quality titles as other platforms are. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these new titles eventually crossed over to outside of Apple Arcade exclusivity.
So! Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, today saw the release of 20 new titles on the Apple Arcade platform. Quite a few of them are titles that have previously seen a launch on other platforms such as PC, and some are also rejuvenated mobile titles with some newly added content. However, there are also four completely brand new titles that have been added to the platform, and I’m keen to talk about them! So that’s what I’m going to do!
TMNT: Splintered Fate
TMNT: Splintered Fate is a new adventure game from developers Super Evil Mega Corp that seems to be heavily inspired by Hades. You can play through each run with up to 3 other players or you can play on your own, and choosing different turtles allows you to master different fighting styles. A Hades-like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game is an incredibly cool pitch, and I’m excited to give this one a go.
Disney Spellstruck
Disney Spellstruck is a word puzzle game by Artist Arcade. I don’t really know how to describe it other than it’s pretty much Words with Friends for Disney Adults. There are a few different modes, including an Adventure Mode where you’ve gotta save Disney characters from being shadow versions of themselves. Doesn’t seem like my personal cup of tea, but I’m sure somebody who loves Disney and word games will like this. I’m sure there’s crossover.
Cityscapes: Sim Builder
Now this is an interesting one. Cityscapes: Sim Builder is a new citybuilder from Magic Fuel Games, a team comprised of old hats from Maxis. That’s right, the OG creators of SimCity. Funnily enough, a few of the folks at Magic Fuel Games also worked on 2013’s SimCity, which was unfortunately the entry in the series that ended it all. This, however, actually looks pretty neat and has a focus on sustainability. Keen to give it a go!
WHAT THE CAR?
Oh yeah. Alright. This is my personal highlight. WHAT THE CAR? is the newest mosey into madness from the lovable freaks at Triband. If you haven’t played their past two titles, WHAT THE GOLF? and WHAT THE BAT?, you’re missing out. They are the perfect sports games in the sense that they are not sports games at all. This newest game puts you in the role of a car with human legs. It’s also got a Mario Maker-style level editor. I am going buckwild for this game.
And more!
Then there are the other 16 titles heading to the service, which are all pre-existing titles with new content:
- Chess Universe+ (Tilting Point)
- Disney Coloring World+ (StoryToys)
- Disney Getaway Blast+ (Gameloft)
- Farming Simulator 20+ (GIANTS Software)
- Getting Over It+ (Bennett Foddy)
- Hill Climb Racing+ (Fingersoft)
- Iron Marines+ (Ironhide Game Studio)
- Kingdom Two Crowns+ (Raw Fury)
- LIMBO+ (Playdead)
- My Town Home – Family Games+ (My Town Games LTD)
- Octodad: Dadliest Catch+ (Young Horses)
- PPKP+ (SHIMADA TOSHIHIRO)
- Snake.io+ (Kooapps)
- Temple Run+ (Imangi Studios)
- TIME LOCKER+ (Sotaro Otsuka)
- Very Little Nightmares+ (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
All of these titles are on Apple Arcade from today, so you can jump right in if you’ve got a compatible device (iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac, or Apple TV). If you haven’t, that’s okay! All those games I listed in the second paragraph of this article eventually ended up on platforms like Steam (see links) and Nintendo Switch, so if one of those new titles tickles your fancy, it could potentially pop up later. Just gotta wait and see!
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