While many may associate the idea of handheld gaming with such small consoles as the Game Boy or even the Steam Deck, there’s a wealth of excellent titles just sitting in your iPhone. In no particular order, here are the ten best games on Apple Arcade as of November 2023.
What the Car?
The sequel to the equally excellent What the Golf? asks players to assume the role of a car on a small race course… but sometimes, it’s neither a car nor a race course. Mechanically simple yet dripping with irreverent and zany humor, What the Car? is possibly one of the funniest games ever made. The jokes are always whacky and fresh, never outstaying their welcome but still delivering a thoroughly enjoyable laugh-em-up. Sometimes, you don’t need complex systems and thought-provoking gameplay loops. You just need to try to steer a car that has either two feet or too many feet.
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Card of Darkness
Aside from its fantastic title, Card of Darkness has PLENTY going for it. Designed by beloved developer Zach Gage with art by Adventure Time creator Pendleton Ward, this particular Apple Arcade game is both fun to watch in motion and thought-provoking in its execution. Gage has always proved that complex system upon complex system isn’t what works well on a mobile device, and Card of Darkness is further evidence that a game needn’t be complicated to be deep. A single match will have you strategizing more than you’d expect, with some intricate and deeply enthralling puzzles slotted into its card-based gameplay. It’s also just resoundingly fun, no matter where you decide to start a game.
Stardew Valley+
What’s there left to say about a game that’s fundamentally changed the conversation around so-called “cozy games” and reignited the entire genre of Farming RPGs? The fact that Stardew Valley is playable on a device the size of an iPhone is genuinely incredible for those fans who want to maintain their farm on the go without lugging around a Nintendo Switch. It controls surprisingly well with the touch interface and the addictive gameplay loop of tending to your crops, befriending the people of Pelican Town, and progressively growing your operation simply never gets old. There are hundreds of hours of fun to be had in Stardew Valley+, all contained within the casing of your iPhone.
Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition
Already regarded as one of the most fun and addictive survival games on the market, Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition takes the formula that’s enraptured fans for years and condenses it all down into your iPhone. While you’d think that would mean cutting back on some of the features, you’d be wrong. The massive maps, collections of characters, and huge roster of craftable items are all present. It also just looks great on the smaller screen, the unique art style really popping out as one of the most unique in any video game. You could easily kill a few dozen hours playing around in Don’t Starve: Pocket Edition and a few dozen more if you’re keen on unlocking everything the game has to offer.
Sneaky Sasquatch
An adorable stealth title with a surprising amount of depth, Sneaky Sasquatch almost feels like an evolution of Untitled Goose Game. Playing as the titular cryptid, you’ll need to sneak around the forest reserve that you call home in an effort to acquire a collection of special items to… well, I won’t spoil it here. There are also a ton of mini and micro-games scattered about the place that make excellent use of the touch controls. If you’re itching for a quirky, light-hearted stealth game that plays way smoother than you’d ever expect, you can’t go wrong with Sneaky Sasquatch.
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Manifold Garden
By all accounts, Manifold Garden shouldn’t work on mobile devices. A puzzle game from the mind of artist William Chyr, the entire game is a mind trip of strange geometry, warped environments and oddly surreal locales that look like they’ve been ripped directly from an M.C. Escher painting. Yet, somehow, the first-person perspective works wonderfully on a mobile display, and the puzzles are challenging yet intuitive with the overall design of the game. There’s no other game quite like Manifold Garden Apple Arcade, or indeed anywhere else. If you’re a fan of complicated brain teasers, don’t sleep on this gem.
Grindstone
My personal favorite Apple Arcade game, Grindstone, asks the question, “What if Candy Crush was fun fair and didn’t require a ton of microtransactions?” As much of a puzzle game as it is a matching-colors experience, Grindstone tasks players with collecting the titular gems as they slaughter their way through thousands of odd creatures called creeps. It’s addictive, smartly designed, and so satisfying. Pulling off a chain of 30 creeps never gets old, even when you’ve seen all the game’s 250+ levels. This may be the biggest recommendation on this list, honestly.
Sonic Racing
Not only is this (arguably) the best racing game on Apple Arcade, but it’s up there as one of the best Kart Racers on modern consoles. Ditching his running shoes, Sonic and his friends instead equip some slick and speedy cars in this racing title that’s as fun as it is challenging. There’s a surprising amount of nuance in the mechanics of Sonic Racing, and while it’s certainly rewarding to master them all, it’s never so stuff as to feel like a chore. Frankly, that’s exactly what you want from a mobile game.
Related: Sega Reveals Sonic Dream Team 3D Platformer for Apple Arcade
Skate City
The fun of skating is that you can effectively take your board anywhere and have a great time. That principle also applies to Skate City, an arcade skating game on Apple Arcade that distills everything great about skating into a mobile experience. It’s fun, quick, and boasts some of the most intuitive controls on the platform. It’s also just incredibly satisfying to learn and become one with your digital board. It may not be as deep as Skate or Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater, but there’s a lot to love about Skate City.
Dead Cells+
One of the best roguelike games ever made plays remarkably well on the iPhone. While you’d think the touch display would rob players of the kind of twitchy responses you need to excel in Dead Cells, that’s simply not the case. The entire roster of weapons, enemies, and locations are here, and they all look as fantastic as ever. Seriously, if one has an option to play Dead Cells on their phone, one should absolutely be doing that. It’s just a fundamentally excellent game made all the better with portability.
For more of our Best of lists for 2023, check out the following:
Best Action-Adventure Games of 2023
Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2023
Best Xbox Series X/S Games of 2023
Published: Nov 25, 2023 10:23 am