Apple Arcade launched this time last week alongside iOS 13.
For those unaware, it's a gaming subscription service for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and (soon) Mac. It works like Game Pass - for £4.99 a month, you get unlimited access to a library of regularly updated games.
Critically for the MTX clogged mobile gaming market, Apple have pledged that no game on the service will ever include in-app purchases. You get the whole tamale, so long as you're a subscriber.
Also of note is that so far, all of the games on the service are entirely exclusive to it. You can't buy them permanently (like you can with Game Pass titles), you have to be a subscriber to play them. Unfortunately for Android users this probably does mean some games that would have come to the platform now won't.
This is because Apple have funded a number of the games and are now effectively a games publisher, which is another interesting kink - as well as being another way for them to invade your life if you use their products.
You get 1 month free, so I took out the trial, and I have to say - the games I've tried so far are very good! It's great to be able to access more games that aren't ruined by the fact that it's so hard to make money out of pay-once games on the App Store.
My highlights so far:
Grindstone
OK, this is really fun. It's a puzzle game where you play a guy battling his way through rooms of monsters. You drag your finger through adjacent monsters of the same colour, trying to get as many as possible in one go. Then you tap 'Go', and the hero smashes his way through them. Get more than 10 in one go, and a shiny Grindstone appears. Pick up the Grindstone as part of a chain of enemies, and you can then continue the chain with enemies of a different colour.
Make that new chain longer than 10 enemies, another Grindstone will appear, so you can do the same thing, and - yeah, you can see how this becomes addictive. The longer you stay in a level, the more aggressive enemies will become. End a chain next to an angry one, and you'll lose a heart. Lose all your hearts, and you'll lose everything you've accrued that level, so it becomes a risk/reward thing of when to exit.
Gorgeously solid, elastic animation, too. Lovely.
Painty Mob
This chaotic looking game is basically all about running about like a loon, chucking paint on people, then running away when they (understandbly) get quite cross.
You run by moving your left thumb around, you chuck paint by tapping your right one, and everything happens very quickly indeed. You're constantly on the hunt for more paint to refill your stocks, and the more people you cover with paint, the bigger the angry mob chasing you is. Hit enough people with paint before you're caught, a bar will fill, and you'll be onto the next stage.
A very kinetic feel with good use of the iPhone's force feedback, and eye spangling splashy neon graphics. A nice little time killer.
What The Golf
A strange sort of joke of a game so far, reminiscent of other quirky, leftfield iPhone efforts like Desert Golfing and No Brakes Valet. It's golf, but it's not really golf. So far every level has been surprising - from chucking the hole at the ball rather than the other way round, to getting a 'Home In One' by whacking an entire house across the course.
Not sure what this one will be like in terms of staying power or if the joke will wear thin rather quickly, but it's definitely something different.
For me, I really like how so many of the games so far feel really tailored for mobile. There is a Squeenix RPG on the service, plus Zelda ripoff Oceanhorn, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with such a lengthy quest on my phone. I just want to chuck paint at people and run away from them till I get to my bus stop.
Has anyone else taken out the trial? [MENTION=960]Lebowski[/MENTION], I know you have, you mentioned it elsewhere. I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on these games.
For those unaware, it's a gaming subscription service for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and (soon) Mac. It works like Game Pass - for £4.99 a month, you get unlimited access to a library of regularly updated games.
Critically for the MTX clogged mobile gaming market, Apple have pledged that no game on the service will ever include in-app purchases. You get the whole tamale, so long as you're a subscriber.
Also of note is that so far, all of the games on the service are entirely exclusive to it. You can't buy them permanently (like you can with Game Pass titles), you have to be a subscriber to play them. Unfortunately for Android users this probably does mean some games that would have come to the platform now won't.
This is because Apple have funded a number of the games and are now effectively a games publisher, which is another interesting kink - as well as being another way for them to invade your life if you use their products.
You get 1 month free, so I took out the trial, and I have to say - the games I've tried so far are very good! It's great to be able to access more games that aren't ruined by the fact that it's so hard to make money out of pay-once games on the App Store.
My highlights so far:
Grindstone
OK, this is really fun. It's a puzzle game where you play a guy battling his way through rooms of monsters. You drag your finger through adjacent monsters of the same colour, trying to get as many as possible in one go. Then you tap 'Go', and the hero smashes his way through them. Get more than 10 in one go, and a shiny Grindstone appears. Pick up the Grindstone as part of a chain of enemies, and you can then continue the chain with enemies of a different colour.
Make that new chain longer than 10 enemies, another Grindstone will appear, so you can do the same thing, and - yeah, you can see how this becomes addictive. The longer you stay in a level, the more aggressive enemies will become. End a chain next to an angry one, and you'll lose a heart. Lose all your hearts, and you'll lose everything you've accrued that level, so it becomes a risk/reward thing of when to exit.
Gorgeously solid, elastic animation, too. Lovely.
Painty Mob
This chaotic looking game is basically all about running about like a loon, chucking paint on people, then running away when they (understandbly) get quite cross.
You run by moving your left thumb around, you chuck paint by tapping your right one, and everything happens very quickly indeed. You're constantly on the hunt for more paint to refill your stocks, and the more people you cover with paint, the bigger the angry mob chasing you is. Hit enough people with paint before you're caught, a bar will fill, and you'll be onto the next stage.
A very kinetic feel with good use of the iPhone's force feedback, and eye spangling splashy neon graphics. A nice little time killer.
What The Golf
A strange sort of joke of a game so far, reminiscent of other quirky, leftfield iPhone efforts like Desert Golfing and No Brakes Valet. It's golf, but it's not really golf. So far every level has been surprising - from chucking the hole at the ball rather than the other way round, to getting a 'Home In One' by whacking an entire house across the course.
Not sure what this one will be like in terms of staying power or if the joke will wear thin rather quickly, but it's definitely something different.
For me, I really like how so many of the games so far feel really tailored for mobile. There is a Squeenix RPG on the service, plus Zelda ripoff Oceanhorn, but I'm not sure I can be bothered with such a lengthy quest on my phone. I just want to chuck paint at people and run away from them till I get to my bus stop.
Has anyone else taken out the trial? [MENTION=960]Lebowski[/MENTION], I know you have, you mentioned it elsewhere. I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on these games.
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