Which Apple Arcade game should I play?

At time of writing there are 187 games on Apple Arcade – we should know, we’ve played most of them. That’s a lot of choice, and it’s hard to know where to start.

One approach would be to browse our ranking of the best Apple Arcade games, but that makes no allowance for individual taste (other than the taste of the Macworld writers who compiled the list). What if there’s a specific kind of game you like?

In this mercifully shorter article we attempt to tailor our advice to your needs. We’ll offer our pick of the best games in each genre.

You may also like to read our round up of the Apple Games Console rumours.

What are the best RPGs on Apple Arcade?

I want to say Bleak Sword, because it’s a fantastic game, but it’s a stretch to call it a RPG in the normal sense.

Instead, play Oceanhorn 2 (if you like modern 3D Zelda-likes), Legend of the Skyfish 2 (if you prefer older 2D Zeldas like Link To The Past) or Towers of Everlands (for a first-person grid-based style).

An honourable mention to the lovely Takeshi & Hiroshi, which is like an RPG in reverse: the idea is to design an RPG on the fly so that your little brother has an exciting time but doesn’t die.

What are the best puzzle games on Apple Arcade?

You’re really spoiled for choice here. SP!NG, Grindstone and Card of Darkness are the stand-out options, but The Enchanted World and All of You are also excellent.

Give Assemble With Care a try too, for a gentler and more emotional take on the puzzle genre. And don’t forget the older classics that have been reissued for Arcade: Threes!+ and The Room Two+ are both must-plays, if you’ve not tried them before now.

What are the best shooting games on Apple Arcade?

This is stonier ground. But No Way Home is a high-class twin-stick shooter that we’d strongly recommend, with Explottens a solid second choice in that category.

If you prefer the Fortnite battle-royale style, try Butter Royale.

What are the best platform games on Apple Arcade?

Do you like bright colours and tight level design, or the darker kind of platformer where you have to drag crates around and the graphics are a bit grim? Arcade offers good examples of both.

Crossy Road Castle is as sugary and disposable as bubblegum but we love it regardless; Rayman Mini is a solid alternative for fans of classic cheerful platform action.

Stela, on the other hand, is as gloomy and beautiful as Limbo and Inside, albeit not quite as coherent aesthetically. The first half of Stela is quite scary too, which is something we’ll come back to.

Little Orpheus, finally, offers the gameplay style of Stela but leavens this with a funny storyline and some frankly alarming accents. Strongly recommended.

What are the best strategy games on Apple Arcade?

Red Reign is the nearest thing to traditional real-time strategy on Arcade – it’s heavily simplified from the Starcraft-style games you’d get on PC but scratches that itch to some extent.

We prefer Spaceland, however, which is a squad-based strategy game in the vein of Space Hulk – you control a small team of space marines fighting aliens. Outlanders, meanwhile, is a beautiful city builder that recently added an open-ended mode where you don’t need to worry about level-specific victory conditions.

What are the best multiplayer games on Apple Arcade?

PAC-MAN Party Royale. It’s not even close.

If you get bored of that, try Things That Go Bump.

What are the best horror games on Apple Arcade?

Inmost is deeply upsetting at times. And the first half of Stela is pretty scary.

Other than that there isn’t a lot of proper horror on Arcade. Discolored has a slightly spooky/lonely atmosphere, but nothing scary actually happens.

What are the best sports games on Apple Arcade?

Just as Bleak Sword isn’t a traditional RPG, the best sports game on Arcade maybe isn’t what you’re looking for if you like sports games. What the Golf? is hugely fun but not exactly a faithful rendition of the joys of golfing. Similarly Cricket Through the Ages is hilarious but only tangentially related to the actual sport of cricket.

Nope, if you like real sport, the best option is to go all-in on football. Sociable Soccer is very good – make sure you adjust the view to overhead, so it looks like Sensible Soccer, and gives you a better chance to see attacks as they build – and Charrua Soccer is slightly less realistic but makes up for this with sheer speed.

What are the best story/adventure games on Apple Arcade?

Lots to choose from here! Mutazione is a beautiful story about monsters and the healing powers of community, while Pilgrims is gorgeous and funny.

Honourable mentions to The Get Out Kids and Neo Cab.

What are the best detective games on Apple Arcade?

Run, don’t walk, to Tangle Tower. It’s wonderful.

Jenny LeClue is a decent alternative. Steer clear of Murder Mystery Machine.

What are the best casual/commuter games on Apple Arcade?

Probably Crossy Road Castle. Nightmare Farm is good for checking in for short sessions too.

I should also mention Arcade’s serviceable version of solitaire. It feels a shame to be spending money on a monthly games service and then spending your time on something that came free with Windows a quarter of a century ago, but for mini sessions there is nothing out there can touch it for sheer reptile-brain addictiveness.

What are the best card games on Apple Arcade?

What, other than solitaire?

Cardpocalypse is a charming Magic: The Gathering type of card game. Pilgrims is nominally a card game but really that’s just a cosmetic decision – the cards stand in for items/actions, that’s all.

The best option, however, is another take on solitaire: Flipflop Solitaire+, a reissue of the 2017 classic.

What are the best driving games on Apple Arcade?

I like Agent Intercept and Speed Demons.

For a less traditional take on the driving format – it’s more of a musical rhythm game, really – give Sayonara Wild Hearts a try. It’s one of a kind.

What are the best board games on Apple Arcade?

The_Otherside, which we described as Space Hulk: Stranger Things Edition, is great. (On the Space Hulk tip, Spaceland fits with that style too, although it doesn’t really try to replicate the board game look.)

There are lots of classic board games on Arcade too. Really Bad Chess+ is a bold evolution of the popular grid-based pawn-em-up, but there are also more traditional versions of chess, mahjong, backgammon and checkers/draughts.

Further reading

If you’re prepared to spread your wings a little further, take a look at our big guide to the best iPhone & iPad games. And for great hardware accessories, check out best iPhone games controllers.