Having recently spent waaay too much money on Apple hardware, I took the offer of 3 free months of Apple Arcade. So far I am unimpressed. The only things I’ve found that I really liked are Monument Valley 1 and 2. I’d love to have some recommendations…
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Looks like into relaxing gameplay with some puzzle elements. Try their other game “Assemble with Care”. For emotional games like MV, there’s also Gris+, Old Man’s Journey+, and Pathless. For relaxing gameplay element, Altos Odyssey and Gibbon. For beautiful art and adventure try Samorost3+. For quick gameplay, try Mini Motorways and Grindstone.
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“Love You to Bits” is another puzzle oriented narrative game that I really enjoyed.
I was, in the end, not that impressed with the Apple Arcade trial either. With the exception of “Assemble with Care” (brief but so evocative) I’d already played the handful of games that worked for me elsewhere.
most of the games I like I already bought them individually. I do not find any games I would pay for the Arcade subsription fee (and it is not cheap relative to the Android game pass)
Do you have a wireless controller? I found a bunch of the games came to life with one.
Illustrated and SPING are the two that my girls love (aged 4 & 8).
Yes, I like those, but I also like games with action. Different games for different moods and times. I mentioned only those two because I couldn’t find anything else I liked. I tried Arlo’s Adventure, didn’t care for it. I’ll try Odyssey.
Thanks, I’ll try those.
Not yet, it’s kinda like that old joke “If I had some ham I could have ham and eggs. If I had some eggs.” What controller did you get?
4 and 8? I’m not up to that kind of competition! 
I’m still looking for that just-right game. I tried Arcade for a bit, and I did enjoy Arlo’s Adventure for awhile, but I find that I much prefer competing against others online. Unfortunately it seems that 98% of this genre involves games guided by the U.S. Military complex and killing the other player. Would it be that difficult to substitute paintballs for bullets? Adjust trajectories and timing a bit, up the strategy. Instead, all you can find is 20+ characters running around at full speed blasting each other with sniper rifles and machine guns. There is almost zero strategy, it’s all about reflex speed. Not my cuppa tea really.
Oh, so back to the point, I have no recommendations other than finding games outside of Arcade.
I have a SteelSeries Nimbus controller from before Apple opened it up to wireless Sony and Xbox controllers. They’re cheap open box.
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I forgot my favorite game that I still come back from time to time, Sayonara Wild Hearts. Fast paced action with great music and nice storyline.
For Zelda like game, there’s Baldo the Guardian and Oceanhorn. Adventure games like Oddmar and Cat Quest II. RPG like Fantasian which is by developer Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy. Best played with a controller.
If you want fast-paced action, try Dead Cells+. This game is higly addicting due to its roguevania nature of not knowing which weapons or build you’ll start with with hundred of different weapon variation. The difficulty also scale.
The two Kingdom Rush (Frontiers and Vengeance) games on Arcade are great tower defense games with tons of charme.
Bleak Sword is a great action game with a beautiful black, white and red aesthetic.
Rayman mini is a gorgeous looking endless runner that can be very challenging.
These are my favorites.
PS. My Kids love the Sponge Bob endless runner Parry Pursuit.
If you’re partial to a Zelda clone, then I’d second the recommendation to try Oceanhorn 2 (which also runs on a Mac).