Apple Arcade ranked
Back in the ‘90s, when I was first getting into PC games, you could buy these $20 discs from the bargain software rack in places like Office Depot, with names like “100-in-1 Games!” They were generally collections of shareware games (demos, basically), as many as the publisher could jam onto one 600MB CD-ROM. I used to loooove these. Some of the games would barely work, some would be forgettable clones of better games, but then some would be interesting never-to-be-seen-again experiments, and the occasional few would be absolute bangers like Jazz Jackrabbit, Operation: Innerspace, or Doom. A lot of the fun was just in digging through the pile and pressing play.
Apple Arcade has that same vibe for me. The main difference is that they’re all complete games and Apple’s curation is way way better than some random, bootsy CD-ROM maker. (Being able to play them all in bed on my iPad is a plus, too.)
Would I buy or even seek out any one of these games as individual purchases? Probably not. Would I spend $60 once in awhile for a curated 100-in-1 package of Great New iOS Games? Absolutely.
And I can, and so I do. That’s kinda the whole deal.
Anyway, I thought it’d be fun to make a ranked list of these, just to keep track of what I’ve played and maybe shine a tiny spotlight on the ones I liked the most.
(The one-word description thing was just a bit that I started on the first few entries and decided to keep going.)
Apple Arcade has that same vibe for me. The main difference is that they’re all complete games and Apple’s curation is way way better than some random, bootsy CD-ROM maker. (Being able to play them all in bed on my iPad is a plus, too.)
Would I buy or even seek out any one of these games as individual purchases? Probably not. Would I spend $60 once in awhile for a curated 100-in-1 package of Great New iOS Games? Absolutely.
And I can, and so I do. That’s kinda the whole deal.
Anyway, I thought it’d be fun to make a ranked list of these, just to keep track of what I’ve played and maybe shine a tiny spotlight on the ones I liked the most.
(The one-word description thing was just a bit that I started on the first few entries and decided to keep going.)
76 Games
Substandard
Chesslike
Traditional
Gorgeous
Well-Polished
Cruddy
Bangin’
Uninteresting
swoooosh
Standard
Tasteful
Sacred
Kiddy
Fantastic
( Deceptive)
( Deceptive)
Chill
Antiquated
Stressfree
Exhausting
Numerical
Plinko
Empty
Atrocious
Nostalgic
Wack
Spyhunterlike
Touching
Fishing
Low-Effort
Soulslike
Frustrating
Meow
Throwbacky
Derpy
Unappealing
Stylish
Hamfisted
Imprecise
Pointless
Engrossing
Hygge
Disappointment
Dime-a-dozen
Trippy
Pitterpatter
Underdeveloped
Goofy
Basic
Godlike
Shiftless
Headache
Zzzz
Pop!
Clever
Ungamelike
Newgroundsian (in a bad way)
Waldo
Good
Rips
Neat
Mind-melting
Calming
Fine
Breezy
Timeless
Interesting
vrooom
Nah
Old-School
Newgroundsian (in a good way)
Vibes
Hmmmm
Juicy
Bog-Standard