As Apple expands its plans to make the iPhone and iPad a stronger name in gaming, Apple Arcade offers a cornerstone experience in the mobile market. For $8.99 a month, users gain access to a library of over 200 games ranging from classic puzzlers and card games, to upgraded mobile classics, to console-grade adventures. Even better, there are no ads or in-game purchases, like the gacha elements so prevalent everywhere else in mobile gaming.
In the current climate of electronic entertainment, another subscription service is not something most people would be eager to add to their monthly expenses. Yet, Apple Arcade is growing ever more worth consideration, especially with plentiful trial offers (like the 3 months included with buying new Apple devices) or its inclusion in the Apple One bundle.
If you’re curious about the platform or giving the free trial a go, here are our picks for some of the best experiences on Apple Arcade, providing a microcosm of its growing library:
NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition
Sports games can be a complicated investment—each year, you can never be sure of how much the game’s core experience will change, and it can be hard to rationalize buying a new game for a glorified roster update. This is where the Apple Arcade Edition of NBA 2K24 comes in handy.
This portable version packs most of the NBA 2K24 experience into the Apple Arcade subscription instead of requiring a full game price tag. Engage in quick play matches—either on the NBA courts, or on street courts in 1v1, 3v3, or 5v5–for a more typical “arcade” experience, follow your hoop dreams in My Career, assemble a dream team of NBA legends in The Greatest, or play from the GM’s perspective in The Association. The My Team mode is missing, but otherwise, all of the best ways to play are here.
Fantasian is a strong contender for the title of best Apple Arcade original, if not the best mobile-original RPG to date.
To get even closer to the full console feel, you can hook up a Bluetooth gamepad—whether it’s a dedicated mobile controller or your PS5 or Xbox Series X controller—instead of using the default touch controls.
Fantasian
Among the truly original and exclusive titles on Apple Arcade, few can claim the high creative pedigree of Mistwalker Studios’ Fantasian. From the iconic dream team of Final Fantasy’s creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and original composer, Nobuo Uematsu, Fantasian is essentially a love letter to the era of JRPGs that their games helped define. Stages were created as real, tactile dioramas and imported into the game environment, and the battle system puts a unique spin on classic turn-based combat.
With the sheer scale of its 40-hour adventure, to its unique artisanal presentation, Fantasian is a strong contender for the title of best Apple Arcade original, if not the best mobile-original RPG to date. Both Sakaguchi and Uematsu have speculated that it could be the last full game they each create, given their ages, so it’s a high honor for the service to host this potentially timeless epic.
Slay the Spire+
Slay the Spire caused waves in the indie scene when it launched in early access in 2017. Meta Crit’s roguelike deckbuilding game was a cult classic that sparked renewed interest in both of its primary genres, and Apple Arcade is a perfect home for its unique gameplay.
At the start of a run, players choose from 1 of 4 characters, then traverse a randomized map in order to reach the titular Spire and seek their goals at its peak. You can choose between randomized branching paths, avoiding combat in favor of miscellaneous encounters if you wish, though obtaining new equipment and cards is essential. Combat is turn-based, relying on your deck of action cards to determine what you can do on any turn, so building your deck with new cards won in battles and deliberate intent is key.
If you enjoyed the roguelike dungeons of Cult of the Lamb or the card play of Inscryption, or if you just like having a good turn-based game to fill in the idle moments of your daily routine, Slay the Spire+ should be a great fit. It doesn’t offer anything unique from the other versions, but it feels totally at home on an iPhone.
Sonic Dream Team
If you’d told my childhood self that one day he could play a brand new Sonic game built specifically for his phone, he would’ve laughed—in those days phones were bricks that could run Snake, and that was it. Nonetheless, Sonic Dream Team is very real, and an Apple Arcade exclusive.
Sonic’s latest outing takes inspiration from some of the best games of his middle generation, feeling a bit like an homage to the Sonic Adventure series (minus the rocking “Escape From The City”). There’s also a dash of Super Mario 64 when it comes to level design: each zone is divided into stages, and each stage has multiple objectives, like a time trial or a quest to collect 6 crystals, and so on. In time Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Cream & Cheese, and Rogue can be unlocked as well, opening up more new routes with their unique climbing or flying skills.
Sonic Dream Team isn’t perfect, but it’s a surprisingly capable Sonic game in its own right, and nicely tuned for the mobile experience. This handily makes it one of Apple Arcade’s best exclusives so far.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
However, the Apple Arcade Exclusive crown still might belong to Sanrio, Sunblink, and Hello Kitty Island Adventure. What had been a South Park punchline has become its own Animal Crossing-esque life sim, and a legitimate one at that.
Your very own adorable Sanrio avatar was flying away on a vacation with Hello Kitty’s whole extended crew when an adorable mishap forces the plane to make a rocky landing. Afterwards, you get to be the lucky errand person who plays liaison between the vast, cuddly cast and gets the island vacation facilities up and running.
The Animal Crossing inspiration is clear, right down the cycle of real life holiday events, but Hello Kitty Island Adventure is definitely its own creature. One need not be a Sanrio fan to enjoy it, either—with no prior knowledge of the franchise(s), I jumped in and had a surprising amount of fun. Apple Arcade’s “no ads, no microtransactions” policy is a saving grace here, as it could’ve been easy to wring young players for in-game currencies and special seasonal items.
