Apple Arcade has quietly become one of my favorite Apple services out there. I’ll admit that I don’t pay for it as a standalone service. Instead, I get access to it through my Apple One bundle. But it’s not just yet another Apple service I get as part of a bargain deal. On its own merit, Apple Arcade is fairly rewarding, and the credit goes to the excellent slate of games it currently has to offer.
The latest additions to the gaming service include heavy hitters like Football Manager 27 Touch and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown+, among others. For gaming fans who prefer a blend of whimsy, zombies, and strategic planning, Apple Arcade is also bringing Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted to their screens. This iteration brings new levels and game modes, opening the door to local co-op and PvP fun on the same device. As an Arcade exclusive, players will also get access to a special Party mode.
My favorite of the bunch is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown+. Originally released in 2024, the Ubisoft game won plenty of praise for its return to 2D side-scrolling gameplay, lovely world design, immersive combat, and focus on accessibility. Interestingly, the Apple Arcade version also includes all the downloadable content released for the game so far, including the Mask of Darkness expansion. That means you get access to all the challenges, quests, and cosmetic updates that arrived after the game’s debut.
Then we have Football Manager 27 Touch, which is available now and built around a redesigned interface for touch input on iPhone, alongside an updated Match Engine and new recruitment and match preparation tools. Football Manager 27 joins Apple’s already crowded lineup of sports games, such as NBA 2K27 Arcade Edition, Madden NFL 27 Arcade Edition, PGA Tour Pro Golf, Retro Bowl College+, and more.
Also arriving on Apple Arcade on December 3 is solitaire(ish), a roguelike deck-builder from Playstack, the publisher behind indie sensation Balatro. For younger players, there’s LEGO DUPLO Playtime, a digital toy box where kids can build their own characters and worlds out of DUPLO bricks.
Apple Arcade is currently home to over 200 games, playable across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, depending on the title. As far as my personal favorites on the platform go, I have sunk plenty of hours into Oceanhorn 2, Cult of the Lamb, Grindstone, Sonic Racing, and Limbo+.
