Bleeding Your Apple Arcade Subscription* Dry

Free Trials, Too

I will always prefer to own games. That will never change. However… I have a shameful confession. I paid for a year of Apple Arcade. Alas. And as it turns out, there are several really good games on it, including ones that aren’t available elsewhere, on Mac or in general. So if you’re looking for the best picks of Apple Arcade, whether it’s to get the most out of your subscription or free trial, here is the TBTG Guide to Bleeding Apple Arcade Dry.

Note: All of these games are available to play on phone and computer, but unless otherwise noted, I played all of them exclusively on laptop, as it’s pretty clear that most of them were made for computer first.

Apple Arcade Exclusives

First up are the games that are available exclusively on Apple Arcade – if either catch your eye, you’ll want to play them first.

Winding Worlds

Winding Worlds is a narrative puzzle game made by ko_op serving up what they do best, which is making games that are digital sensory toys in disguise. Their first game, GNOG, was much more obvious, being a pack of themed puzzle toys, while Winding Worlds is a game about dragging vertically and horizontally to manipulate rotating mini-worlds and the things found inside, all to the audio of some really satisfying sound design. The mechanics are very simple and perfect for phone or tablet (though I played on laptop), and the game is structured semi-episodically, with each level tasking protagonist Willow in exploring an odd fantastical little universe, finding out what’s bothering the denizens, and helping them in their woes. It’s a well-crafted experience that you can just sit yourself into.

Guildlings

Guildings is a pretty chill character and relationship-driven JRPG in a semi-fantastical world where fantasy hero teams a glory day relic of history, and also their operations were all connected through a smartphone app. The lore and world of this game is a lovely kitchen sink of different influences and I had so much fun getting to explore it with the various characters. The combat is very relaxed, and based around making it to the end of a certain amount of rounds without a total party kill, though there are some side quest challenges. The characters’ actions and abilities are notably dependent on their moods, with some changing the user’s mood, and others requiring a certain mood. This once again puts focus on the social aspects, as the easiest and most natural to change your partymates’ moods (along with the only way to grant them XP for level-up) is in what you choose for your various dialogue options throughout the game. This all made Guildlings one of the nicest RPGs to actually immerse myself in, and actually play the role of my character in a long time.

“Well, Actually” Exclusives

[Pushes up the nose bridge of my glasses] TECHnicalLY, these aren’t exclusive to Apple Arcade, because you can buy them elsewhere, it’s just that the only versions on sale are for Windows. So unless you have access to a Windows OS aside from the Mac device you’re using Apple Arcade with… I’d play these next.

Sayonara Wild Hearts

I already covered Sayonara Wild Hearts in my most recent Rapid-fire Recs installment, but since the game’s relatively high profile and first spot in the list meant that my coverage was a bit light, let me elaborate. The game is akin to an interactive, narrative pop album, taking inspiration from infinite runners and rhythm games as you race along the dreamy, urban fantasyland of the heart. Each level is a short burst of pulse-drumming visuals and pace that draws you straight into the action, and the game goes like a firework: a magnificent burst of sound and light. Fitting, too, then, that it’s barely more than an hour played back-to-back without any slip-ups – though if you’re keen to master songs as is common to rhythm games, that combined with various secrets and achievements are good for replay value.

Assemble With Care

Whereas ustwo’s previous games Monument Valley I & II had a fantastical, almost alien geometry aesthetic and the puzzly, tactile joy of manipulated larger-than-life pieces of art and architecture, Assemble With Care goes closer to home, with a warm digital painting aesthetic for the story of a traveling analog repairwoman and the stories of the people who hire her. The game itself is dedicated the act of manually taking apart these storied possessions, repairing and replacing their broken components, and then reassembling them. There’s care taken not automate actions that would otherwise be automated – you have to scroll to screw or unscrew things, tug the end of a cord away from its fastener to wrench it free, and squeeze glue onto components yourself. The experience is only heightened by details such as careful pains to make the 3D models match the painterly aesthetic, with each object actually having two slightly different models that the game alternates between, creating a static-like snap found in two frame painted animations.

Alba: a Wildlife Adventure

I recently covered this game in a full issue, so I’ll keep things short. Alba is a well-tuned photography game taking place on an idyllic island threatened by a hotel development replacing its run-down nature reserve. Existing on the island, and cataloguing its animal inhabitants, along with doing simple tasks that come about in trying to combat ecological damage and repair the reserve is a welcoming and relaxing experience.

The Rest

With those out of the way, here are the rest of the games, which while lesser in priority, are no lesser in quality.

Tangle Tower

I played Tangle Tower in a single sitting, only stopping to take breaks for food or the bathroom. Luckily for me, it’s only 6 hours. An installment in the Detective Grimoire point-and-click adventure game series, though perfectly accommodating to a newcomer like me, it follows Grimoire and his assistant Sally as they puzzle out the murder of a minor member of the sprawling multigenerational Pointer-Fellow family, Flora. You explore the wondrously fantastical world the family lives in, all the while picking up clues and interviewing the various family members, and suss out secrets by pointing out details in the objects you’ve found and making logical connections through a roulette of sentence fragments to truly get to the truth like Sherlock Holmes, instead of the game feeding you answers like you’re Watson. Also, the character design and animation is all so lively and communicative, and the banter between Grimoire, Sally, and the others is fantastic.

NUTS

Like Alba, NUTS was covered recently in a full issue, so a quick rehash of my praises: the game is about tracking the trails of squirrels in Melmoth forest as a part of a study to blockade an amusement park project, using a handful of cameras that feed back to a TV in the caravan you’re stationed at. The experience is mechanically grabbing, the narrative blends themes with the gameplay into an affecting ending, all while backed by a solitary, contemplative environment in dreamy, fog-draped tritone. Squirrel recon has never been this fun.

Mutazione

Mutazione, the best I can describe, is a narrative pilgrimage into the meaning of chosen family, community, and love, through the shoes of Kai, who goes to the eponymously named location to assist her dying grandfather. The game itself is mostly kinetic, with the mechanics mostly centered around peaceful gardening and dialogue options that flesh out character and relationships, both thrusting the player into the world of Mutazione and the various people who live there. And what a world it is: the construction paper cut-out aesthetic is absolutely gorgeous, and bigods I wish it were real – beauty and danger alike.

Post-Publication Addition: Though the author forgot to mention the Animal Crossing-esque camping and befriending sim Cozy Grove, he wholeheartily recommends it. It is available on Apple Arcade, and on Windows via Steam.