Apple Arcade
What is it?
A new(ish) way to pay for games. These days you can get a subscription for anything: beer, socks and, believe it or not, pasta. While we’re not sure we’re ready to start a monthly commitment to tagliatelle, Apple Arcade seems like a reasonable way to buy games. For £5 a month, you and five ‘family members’ can download as many games as you like from a curated selection of new titles across iPhone, iPad and Macbook.
Are there any other games subscription services?
If you’ve got a PS4, PlayStation Now offers access to a huge back catalogue of games for £8.99. There’s also the imminent Google Stadia, which will cost £119 for a console, and then £8.99 for a ‘pro’ account. A range of subscription services are aimed at PC gamers, and even cloud services for people who want to play games without forking out on a gaming rig.
What games do I get?
We’ve had Apple Arcade for a month now, and the onus is on quality mobile games. Of late, app stores seem to be littered with free games that are little more than glorified slot machines, hoping to goad money out of you. Apple Arcade offers up refreshingly original games alongside new takes on classic formulas. It’s aimed that those of us who like to snatch a few spare minutes to play, and is also perfect for parents who want to let their kids game without wondering where they left their credit card. In the store there are familiar faces in the shape of Rayman, Sonic and Pac-Man, next to newcomers. From puzzlers to arcade games to sports, there’s legitimately a title for everyone.
Is it worth it?
Absolutely. For the price of a London pint, six people get access to over 100 games across their devices – as long as they belong to the church of Apple. As the end of our free trial nears, we’re struggling to find a reason to quit. Right now, we’re loving the absurdist, Dada-esque What The Golf. It’s a physics-based parody where you launch buildings into the sky, wrestle with cats and fire horses over trains. If we get bored, we can cancel the subscription at any time.
Are the games any good?
What The Golf and the brilliantly bizarre Cricket Through The Ages would be worth £5 on their own. But we’re also about to sink into the dazzling Sayonara Wild Hearts,a novel rhythmic game which is like playing through a psychedelic pop video. When we want something more ‘traditional’, we’re going to try Oceanhorn 2, an adventure game for anyone who’s a fan of the Zelda series.
What’s the catch?
Well, there’s nothing surprising. You have to own an Apple device, and some games will struggle on older devices. But if that’s a problem, you can cancel your trial before payments start, or indeed, at any time. Best of all there are no aggravating ads, or sneaky microtransactions. Apple Arcade may not appeal to some gamers – there’s no wars to reenact or demons to slaughter – but it does offer up a bunch of playful titles that won’t fail to put a smile on your face.