Apple Arcade, which launched this Thursday, seems absolutely wonderful so far. We’re going to be digging into the games next week, but so far Grindstone by Capy seems like a puzzler for the ages, a gory spin on Twofold Inc that gives me the distinct sense that someone, somewhere, is getting bloody revenge on the development of Below. Equally, Mini Motorways is taking my Mini Metro brain and turning it inside out: everything’s so similar, but so completely different. It’s glorious.
Every few minutes I fire up a new game and am delighted by something quirky and clever. It’s been enough to make me say things like, oh man, iOS is so good again! And then I stop and listen to what I’ve just said and realise what an idiot I am.
I’ve been playing iOS games from the very start, and even now I probably play on my phone as much as I play on the PC or various consoles. A lot of this time is spent returning to classics, certainly. I still have Drop7 going, even if I have to delete it every now and then for productivity reasons, and Clash Royale is probably the first service game where I’ve ever reached the actual endgame content. It’s a beauty: generous and smart and thrilling.
But there are hundreds of other games too. Stuff I download for fifteen minutes and end up playing for days, stuff I tinker with and can’t quite get into, even though I suspect there’s something brilliant there. Over the last few years Apple, which originally seemed slightly embarrassed by games on the iOS store, has really learned how to talk about them. The iOS store pages are filled with great suggestions and lovely brisk editorial. They point me in the direction of the good stuff as much as friends and colleagues do.
I’m talking about iOS because I’m an iPhone owner. I know this stuff is equally true for Android. In amongst the terrible time-wasters and the money grabbers are absolute delights. And what Apple Arcade has made me realise more than anything is that there is one reason this stuff works: developers have made it work.