When Apple first announced its Apple Arcade subscription service, it sounded a bit ridiculous. With all of the subscription services out there, this seemed very low on anybody’s priority list.
However, the games that Apple Arcade offers are pretty great. Great enough to pay $5 a month? That’s up to you. But if you ever decide to give it a try, here are the 5 best Apple Arcade games you should play.
For those looking for a calm time, Patterned is the perfect choice. It’s a puzzle game where the player must fit all of the pieces together to create a beautiful and colorful canvas. Its App Store page says it was inspired by jigsaw puzzles, and it becomes quite clear when you play it.
There’s a lot of trial and error in Patterned as players try to fit the right piece in the right spot, but it’s the type of game that never becomes frustrating. And with over 500 puzzles, the game doesn’t get boring.
Another calm game on Apple Arcade is Assemble with Care. Unlike Patterned, this is a story-driven game. Play as Maria, as she travels to a new city where she finds work by fixing items for the residents. As she fixes them, Maria will learn more about them and their lives, but most importantly, she’ll learn about the hardships they are going through.
Some of the broken items that need fixing include a cassette player, a camera, and a projector. The game doesn’t offer any type of difficulty, it is a straightforward game that can easily be completed.
Assemble with Care is also fairly short, however, it’s a good choice for anyone looking to relax by restoring priceless items.
Dear Reader is the game for all of the bookworms out there. A different type of puzzle game (I’m sensing a theme with all of the games on this list), the puzzles in Dear Reader all revolve around literature.
The official website shows off some of them: from having to fill in the bank, to catching misspelled words, to trying to correctly rearrange the sentences; this game has plenty of challenges.
If Dear Reader only had a few books, it could easily get boring quickly. Luckily, there are a ton of classics to choose from. Its App Store page boasts that the game has over 100 books to choose from.
Some of them include Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, and Frankenstein. Dear Reader has a simple concept that they execute to perfection, making it one of the best games on Apple Arcade.
There are plenty of puzzle games where you have to connect the same-colored gems or items, but Grindstone manages to stand out. Instead of gems, you connect different colored enemies. And instead of collecting them, you brutally kill them. It’s a fun, gory, and colorful game that is highly addictive.
The game isn’t afraid to get more challenging as you progress through more levels. If you don’t have a good strategy, you’re going to have a bad time. Grindstone does have a shop where you can buy and upgrade items to give you an edge against harder levels.
Progressing through levels, seeing your gear become stronger, and trying to strategize makes Grindstone one of those games that are near impossible to put down.
Speaking of games that you’ll just want to keep on playing, the story of this game will keep you entertained the entire way through. In Tangle Tower, you play as Detective Grimoire and Sally, who are tasked with solving a mysterious murder.
What makes this death so strange? The victim died alone; there was nobody near them when the murder took place. So, it’s up to you to put all of the pieces together to find the person responsible.
The death took place in Tangle Tower, a place where a handful of people call home; you have the Fellow family and the Pointer family. Also, in Tangle Tower are lies and secrets; as you continue to investigate the murder, the more you’ll learn about the two families.
A gripping mystery filled with interesting characters and incredible performances by the voice actors, Tangle Tower is one of the best games on Apple Arcade.