Apple Arcade |OT| Here's to the Gaming Ones

[infiniteloop]

What is Apple Arcade?
Apple Arcade is a gaming subscription service for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS that will feature more than 100 "new and exclusive" games.
Apple Arcade games will have no in-app purchases, are downloadable for offline play, and can be played across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV.

When will it be available?
Apple Arcade is currently available for:

• iPhone and iPod Touch running iOS 13 - out now!
• iPad running iPadOS - out now!
• Apple TV running tvOS 13 - out now!

Coming Soon:

• Macs will need macOS Catalina, coming in October 2019. Catalina beta currently does not have access to Apple Arcade.

How do I sign up for Apple Arcade?
You access it through the App Store app, look for the Arcade button at the bottom of the App Store app and tap it/select/click it. A sign up screen with a Try It Free button will appear. You get the first month free, then it's $4.99 per month. Tap the button to sign up.

How much does it cost?
Apple Arcade costs $4.99 per month in the US, price may vary in your country. There is a one-month free trial. Set a reminder to cancel if you don't want to pay for the first month!

Do Apple Arcade games have microtransactions or in-app purchases?
No. Apple says "since every game includes access to the full experience, including all game

How do I access Apple Arcade games?
You can find Apple Arcade in its own tab along the bottom bar of the App Store app alongside the usual Games tab. You can sign up for the subscription service and download games through that menu.

Can you download Apple Arcade games for offline play?
Yes, but the game is tied to the Apple Arcade subscription service rather than a one-time purchase.

Is Apple Arcade a remote game streaming service like Google's Stadia?
No. All Apple Arcade games involve downloads, much as we see with the existing App Store. As it stands, nothing about Apple Arcade will rely on streaming.

Does Apple Arcade support family sharing?
Yes. You can share with up to 5 people under your family account.

Are Apple Arcade games available on other systems?
Apple says that Apple Arcade games "will not be available on any other mobile platform or in any other subscription service".
So while you won't see an Apple Arcade game on Android, those games can come to other consoles or PC (some have already)

Can I buy Apple Arcade games individually from the regular App Store if I don't want to pay the subscription?
The games are exclusive to the service, so no.

Am I able to keep playing Apple Arcade games if I decide to stop subscribing to Apple Arcade?
No.

Can I use controllers with Apple Arcade games?
Yes. In additional to traditional MFi (Made for iOS) controllers, you can pair some specific Bluetooth controllers for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with either your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or macOS. The Apple Arcade listing for each game notes controller support.
Apple TV supports up to 4 bluetooth controllers at once for local multiplayer.

What are all the games announced for Apple Arcade so far?
Our friend Killercow has a great site that lists all the games currently available.

What are all unreleased games announced for Apple Arcade?
Killercow's same site lists upcoming games.

Are all games available on all Apple devices?
tvOS just launched, but it looks like all games are available there and will be for Mac.
Some AR features wont be available for tvOS and macOS games

When do new games get added?
Unknown currently, but the App Store usually adds new games late Wednesday. During launch week, new games went live around 5-6pm PST.
The 'See All Games' button shows the date they are added to the service.

I dont have any Apple devices. What's the cheapest entry point?
Outside of pre-owned devices, the Apple TV 4k retails for $179 USD with 32GB storage and a A10X, and is probably your best bet to access Arcade with you already have a DS4 or Xbox One controller.
For touch screen devices, the base iPad is $329 USD, but can regularly be found for ~$250.
(Note, you get a free year of Apple TV+ when buying a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac for a limited time. A $60 value!)

Other Links

• MacWorld article I got some of this FAQ from
• Apple video showing of some Apple Arcade games.
• Previous ERA impressions thread.

 

[infiniteloop]

if anyone has got any impressions or reviews of games let me know and I can add to OP.

Or anything to add to OP.

 

[TheDanimal]

OP looks great! What the Golf is an incredible game, and I'm looking forward to playing more games once iPadOS releases.

 

[Systolique]

Would love to play on macOS, but I don't think I'll be upgrading to Catalina so that's a bummer

 

[Segafreak]

It's an amazing service, promoting the right kind of games. Hopefully Apple goes on to make their own console someday.

 

[blackMamba1187]

Thanks OP! Apple Arcade has been great so far, but I've only played a few games because they've been so much fun, so I don't have a lot of impressions. What the Golf? is a seriously enjoyable time. Grindstone and Sayonara Wild Hearts are also really good. The games kill my phone's (7+) battery, but its not terrible on ipad (2018). Now that the AppleTV support is up in BETA, everything is all set up with a X1 controller, when necessary.

Just played Sayonara Wild Hearts for the first time on the AppleTV 4k home theater setup. ::chef's kiss::

 

[DassoBrother]

Thanks for making an OT. I think there'll be a lot of discussion going forward so it's merited.

I'll say that my top 3 games are Grindstone, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and Tangle Tower. Card of Darkness is growing on me though and I've been starting to play it more. It seemed brutally difficult at first but that was because I didn't understand the concept of "marked" piles and that you could leave a floor before clearing all cards.

I hope the concept is profitable and worthwhile for devs. It seems to me like it might not be sustainable though unless Apple is willing to lose money and help fund development of games. I can't imagine my 5$ being split between all devs since I probably would've paid around 4$ for some of the ones I've enjoyed. Although, on the flipside, I couldn't see myself buying Tangle Tower but ended up super impressed with it.

 

[infiniteloop]

I hope the concept is profitable and worthwhile for devs. It seems to me like it might not be sustainable though unless Apple is willing to lose money and help fund development of games. I can't imagine my 5$ being split between all devs since I probably would've paid around 4$ for some of the ones I've enjoyed. Although, on the flipside, I couldn't see myself buying Tangle Tower but ended up super impressed with it.

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Yeah, I'd be interested to know if it's profitable for Apple and devs long term, but I doubt anyone will be sharing that info.

 

[Deleted member 864]

Nice OT!

The selection of games so far looks pretty good, and there is the free month. I'll at least try it and see how much I like it before I decide if want to stick with it.

 

[Charpunk]

Wait. It's finally enabled for tvos beta!?!

 

[blackMamba1187]

Wait. It's finally enabled for tvos beta!?!

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Yup! No update or anything. Just go to the Arcade tile or Store tab and the games are now there.

 

[Mg.]

En embarrassing amount of hours have been spent playing Mini Motorways.

 

[Squid Bunny]

Wow, Apple Arcade really saved me from going overboard on Switch games. Overland, Neo Cab and What the Golf! were all on my wish list.

 

[cosmopath]

Have been playing around with the free trial and I'm quite impressed. Games all seem pretty high quality, there's not many titles I recognize but I like it better that way. Have downloaded a couple and am quite enjoying them so far. Not bad for $5/mo!

 

[somethingisme]

Thanks for making an official thread! This service is awesome!

 

[infiniteloop]

FYI, iPados and tvOS are both out now.

 

[Huey]

Would love to play on macOS, but I don't think I'll be upgrading to Catalina so that's a bummer

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Curious, how come?

 

[Vuze]

Curious, how come?

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Might be because Catalina is dropping support for 32bit apps.

 

[ejo]

my most played games so far that haven't been talked about much on here:

Mini Motorways
Cricket Through Time
Towaga: Among Shadows
Hexaflip
Possessions

 

[Huey]

Might be because Catalina is dropping support for 32bit apps.

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right

 

[ejo]

En embarrassing amount of hours have been spent playing Mini Motorways.

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tell me about it. i sacrificed sleep last night for this game.

 

[Deleted member 9330]

$5 a month is honestly a steal for this content. I'm gonna be subscribed for the foreseeable future, probably for as long time

 

[Salmander]

I might try this out on my ipad this week. Has anyone tried to connect a switch pro controller? I can dig up my xbox one but I'd rather use my switch one instead.

 

[xch1n]

I feel like this is the biggest thing happening in the game industry right now as far as potential impact and somehow none of the traditional gaming press is talking much about it?

 

[Yerffej]

If you haven't played What the Golf, do so. It's amazing. Fastest I've finished a game in forever. Grindstone is pretty incredible as well once you get the hang of it.

 

[blackMamba1187]

I feel like this is the biggest thing happening in the game industry right now as far as potential impact and somehow none of the traditional gaming press is talking much about it?

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Giant Bomb has a live quicklook on their schedule for Thurs. Its probably tough to put it together when the service hadn't officially launched on all devices yet.

 

[xch1n]

Giant Bomb has a live quicklook on their schedule for Thurs. Its probably tough to put it together when the service hadn't officially launched on all devices yet.

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Fair, and I think I saw Kotaku say 70+ games at launch is completely unmanageable, and kind of unprecedented since most new "consoles" or whatever usually launch with around a dozen games. I know I'm still finding things in the tab I hadn't heard of.

 

[Lump]

If Arcade is as successful as it deserves to be, then Apple really should consider making an official controller attachment thing. Apple Joycons or whatever.

 

[blackMamba1187]

Fair, and I think I saw Kotaku say 70+ games at launch is completely unmanageable, and kind of unprecedented since most new "consoles" or whatever usually launch with around a dozen games. I know I'm still finding things in the tab I hadn't heard of.

Click to shrink...

Add to that that most games, at a console's launch, aren't great and there appear to be a number of standouts here. Trying to figure out where I want to play each title phone/pad/tv, with or without controller, is both a blessing and a curse.

edit: I think I am mostly stoked due to the fact that 3 of my devices are now substantially upgraded because Apple decided to focus a bit on games.

 

[infiniteloop]

 

[Vuze]

Actually having to manage apps on ATV for once makes it painfully obvious how terrible it is being handled. Reminds me of *shudders* Launchpad organization on macOS. We need an "Installed" tab or something in the Arcade app so we can use it as a launcher.

 

[nillansan]

Thanks for making an OT, much appreciated.

 

[jordn613]

As far as the $5 split between developers go, I'm sure (and I think it's already known) that Apple will subsidize a lot of game development. Having a product like Apple Arcade boosts sales of their devices if people see the AA product as something worth buying devices for and staying in the Apple ecosystem.

 

[HorizonZeroYawn]

I've been loving Apple Arcade on my iPhone XS Max. Here's just a few games I've tried so far:

• Assemble With Care
• Outlanders
• What the Golf
• Where Cards Fall
• Oceanhorn 2

 

[Systolique]

Curious, how come?

Click to shrink...

I work in music production with my Macs; 32bit support going out + general instability with music softwares makes it a no-no

 

[EdibleKnife]

Thanks for the OT.

Listened to the recent Waypoints episode (#265) and had the same feelings and concerns of Patrick and Austin on the cast: Hesitantly excited. Hoping the quality so far is the services full life story and that the trade off isn't devs getting screwed or great games getting buried.

Speaking of great games, despite it's pedigree as a CAPCOM title, I didn't expect much out of Shinsekai: Into the Depths but it's right up there with this year's Blasphemous as an interesting and evocative Metroidvania style game. Touch controls started to feel fine after about 15 or 20 minutes of play and lost an hour to it so far. It really is a straight up game of that style with upgrades, alt paths and hidden items. Art style, art direction and setting are fantastic and since I don't have a Mac or Apple TV I'm eager to see what it would look like on a bigger screen with the graphics turned up.

Gonna repost my feelings on SFB's Tangle Tower as well for the OT:
Said in the focused thread on the game but anyone on the fence about Tangle Tower really needs to give it a chance. Genuinely wouldn't hesitate to call it one of my favorite experiences this year. From the Snipperclips devs and is an unconnected sequel/reboot(?) to one of their earlier games: Detective Grimore. Great ~4-5 hour mystery experience in the vein of Professor Layton but oozes a lot more charm in my opinion. The art, animation, music, writing, voice acting and gameplay all work together to create an amazing package. Not using your subscription to at least download it let alone play it is a disservice. It deserves the $5 Arcade buy in and more. And to those visiting the thread but Apple-less, it'll be on Steam Oct. 10th and I have no issue saying it's worth the price there too.

Out of Appcade's early offerings, these two are high up on my recommend list as worth the subscriptions asking price and above alongside WhatTheGolf and OverTheAlps. Will be moving on to Bleak Sword next.

 

[Rrang]

Really enjoying Grindstone thus far! Definitely noticed a difference with the patch that went out today, some of the levels were really tough early on.

 

[THEVOID]

Assemble is a gem.

 

[Katana_Strikes]

Really enjoying Grindstone thus far! Definitely noticed a difference with the patch that went out today, some of the levels were really tough early on.

Click to shrink...

If they've adjusted the difficulty I might redownload. Such a shame the difficulty ramped up too quick as the core game is stellar.

 

[Rrang]

If they've adjusted the difficulty I might redownload. Such a shame the difficulty ramped up too quick as the core game is stellar.

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Yeah, there is definitely a difference now.

 

[EdibleKnife]

If they've adjusted the difficulty I might redownload. Such a shame the difficulty ramped up too quick as the core game is stellar.

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I honestly thought it was just me when I was struggling with the 3rd level lol Glad to hear they tweaked it.

 

[chadskin]

Assemble With Care is a wonderful, short experience similar to Florence.
Jenny LeClue is a full-fledged, really well-written adventure that unfortunately ends on a massive cliffhanger and 'to be continued' screen.
What The Golf erased my save game twice for some reason, not sure I'll give this another shot but it's definitely fun(ny) from what I've played.

Going to try Get Out Kids, Over the Alps and Murder Mystery Machine next.

 

[abrasivemurk]

Assemble With Care is a wonderful, short experience similar to Florence.
Jenny LeClue is a full-fledged, really well-written adventure that unfortunately ends on a massive cliffhanger and 'to be continued' screen.
What The Golf erased my save game twice for some reason, not sure I'll give this another shot but it's definitely fun(ny) from what I've played.

Going to try Get Out Kids, Over the Alps and Murder Mystery Machine next.

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Do you play them with a controller or touch?

 

[Deleted member 9330]

I wonder when they realized the difficulty was too much in Grindstone, I made it to level 50 or so without THAT much trouble...

 

[noomi]

ooo! subbing to this thread, thanks :D

TVos13 is out, very curious to hear some impressions about how these games run on the apple tv 4k :D do they run at 4k resolution ?? :p

 

[Rrang]

I wonder when they realized the difficulty was too much in Grindstone, I made it to level 50 or so without THAT much trouble...

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I only made it until 25 before I started having problems :x

 

[chadskin]

Do you play them with a controller or touch?

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All touch.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Thanks for the OT.

This service is a dream for Mobile gaming... seriously the only gaming subscription service that' makes me totally invested and interested in for many good reasons.

 

[amstradcpc]

If Arcade is as successful as it deserves to be, then Apple really should consider making an official controller attachment thing. Apple Joycons or whatever.

Click to shrink...

And an arcade TV dock.

 

[Falus]

Oh wow. I just checked I have 28gb on 29.66 used on my Apple TV 32. So much for arcade games