8 great Apple Arcade games for your new iPhone or iPad 2020

This time last year, Apple Arcade was still a fledgling service, but with a lot of potential. For $ 5 a month, you can get unlimited access to a large library of interesting games, the kind that no one else sells on the App Store. It’s still not a place to find the latest box office hits, but Arcade has steadily evolved into one of the best game offers. Its line of games is varied and consistently surprising, with everything from multiplayer games for the whole family to engaging puzzles and weird story adventures.

If you just bought a new device from Apple and signed up for Arcade (a new device offers three months free), the sheer number of games available can be overwhelming. Here are some great places to start.

We’ve put together our favorite and most used games, apps and entertainment. Check out our app choices for iPhones, Android Phones, Windows PCsand Macs equipped with M1; our favorite mobile games from Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass; and our best choices for Gaming PCs, a PS5, Xbox One and X / S Series, Nintendo Switchand VR. We also list our favorite streaming programs on the Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Plusand Netflix; some great science fiction books; and exciting new podcasts. (Note: the price was correct at the time of publication, but may change.)

Butter Royale

Image: Mighty Bear Games

With Fifteen days is no longer a viable iOS experience, Butter Royale may be your next best option. Like Epic’s big hit, Butter Royale is a colorful shooting game where the goal is to be the last player standing. But there are some important differences. Battles take place from a top-down perspective, like a classic arcade game, and the game is decidedly non-violent, with weapons that shoot ketchup and popcorn instead of bullets. Perhaps the best part is that, as part of Arcade, there are no in-app purchases, so you don’t have to worry about spending real money on a beautiful giraffe costume for your character.

Squeaks

Image: Amanita Design

Czech studio Amanita Design is known for dark, atmospheric point-and-click adventure games, but is also a developer who is not afraid to experiment. Squeaks maintains the unsettling vibration, but transposes it to a kind of puzzle / platform hybrid. You explore a sprawling mansion that never seems to end, while finding ways to manipulate machines and monsters to help you reach the end. As with Amanita’s previous work, it takes place in an absolutely beautiful hand-drawn world, but the action is a little more cerebral this time.

Games of Thrones: Tale of Crows

Image: Devolver Digital

Game of Thrones: Tale of Crows it’s a game where you don’t do much. It fits perfectly into the idle genre, where the idea is to put plans in motion and then see how they work. Here, you are in charge of the infamous Night’s Watch War of Thrones. It is a kind of management game. People come to you in trouble, you will have to send rangers on reconnaissance trips and the Westeros kingdoms will ask for your help. All of these things take time; you may have to wait a few hours before a group of rangers send a crow back detailing its battle with some savages. Raven’s Tale it’s a game full of death and danger, but it’s also surprisingly calming. And it fits your life perfectly: all you have to do is play a few minutes now and then to watch the story unfold.

Millstone

Millstone was one of the best launch titles for Apple Arcade, a game that takes the addictive nature of match-three puzzle games and combines them with absolutely brutal fantasy action. imagine candy Crush through Frank Frazetta. Since then, Millstone received a steady stream of updates that only improved the experience, with many more levels, weapons and enemies to keep things interesting.

Reigns: Beyond

Image: Devolver Digital

In its first entries, the Reigns The series is all about exploring stories in a fantasy realm. It works like an interactive version of Tinder: as you progress through the story, you are constantly faced with options and swipe left or right to decide what to do. Reigns: Beyond takes that same formula and explodes it in space, while adding a musical element. You are the captain of a conscious ship, guiding a crew through the cosmos while also booking shows for your intergalactic rock band. It is silly and strange, almost impossible to let go.

Roundguard

Image: Wonderbelly Games

The classic puzzle game Peggle is one that looks timeless, and yet Roundguard managed to give a new and fascinating touch to the formula. Essentially, the game takes the pin-breaking action and combines it with a fantasy RPG, where you will fight monsters and use spells, while still shooting balls to clear the level. The two elements fit together so well that it is a wonder that no one has tried this before.

Skate City

Image: snowman

Skate games are back in the spotlight this year thanks to the remastered collection of Tony Hawk professional skater games. But Skate City remains the best approach to sport on mobile. It simplifies things, with a side scrolling perspective and sliding-based controls, but it manages to capture the feeling of exploring a neighborhood in search of new ways to do tricks. It has also grown since launch, with the addition of new cities like Miami.

End of the World Club

Famous Japanese writers Kotaro Uchikoshi and Kazutaka Kodaka are known for some incredibly dark games, including the Zero Escape and Danganronpa series, and End of the World Club on Apple Arcade fits perfectly into that mold. At the beginning of the game, a small group of students wake up in an underwater amusement park and they all have to fight – or work together – to find a key to escape. The difference is that they only have an hour, and only one person can actually get the key. imagine O Hunger Games like a psychological thriller, and you’re halfway there.