Name: 8 great Apple Arcade games for your new 2020 iPhone or iPad
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8 great Apple Arcade games for your new 2020 iPhone or iPad

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The Verge logo. , Apple Arcade was still a fledgling service, but one with a lot of potential. For $5 a month, you could get unlimited access to a big library of interesting games, the kind that . It’s still not a place to find the latest blockbusters, but Arcade has steadily evolved into one of the best deals in gaming. Its lineup of games is varied and consistently surprising, with everything from family-friendly multiplayer games to engrossing puzzlers to weird story-driven adventures.$4.99 a month from AppleIf you just picked up a new Apple device and have signed up for Arcade (a new device gets you ) the sheer number of games available can be overwhelming. Here are a few great places to start.We’ve rounded up our favorite and most-used games, apps, and entertainment. Check out our app picks for , , , and ; our favorite mobile games from and ; and our top choices for , the , , , and . We’ve also listed our favorite streaming shows on , and ; some ; and . (Note: pricing was accurate at the time of publishing but may change.)With Fortnite , might just be your next best option. Like Epic’s massive hit, Butter Royale is a colorful shooter where the goal is to be the last player standing. But there are a few key differences. Battles play out from a top-down perspective, like a classic arcade game, and the game is decidedly nonviolent, with weapons that shoot ketchup and popcorn instead of bullets. Perhaps the best part is that, because it’s part of Arcade, there are no in-app purchases, so you don’t have to worry about dropping real cash on a cute giraffe costume for your character.Czech studio Amanita Design is known for dark, atmospheric point-and-click adventure games, but it’s also a developer that isn’t afraid to experiment. Creaks keeps the unsettling vibe, but transposes it onto a sort of puzzle / platformer hybrid. You explore a sprawling mansion, one that never seems to end, while finding ways to manipulate machines and monsters to help you get through to the end. As with Amanita’s past work, it takes place in an absolutely gorgeous hand-drawn world, but the action is a bit more cerebral this time around. is a game where you don’t actually do very much. It fits snugly into the idle genre, where the idea is to set plans in motion and then see how they play out. Here, you’re put in charge of the infamous Night’s Watch from Game of Thrones. It’s sort of a management game. People come to you with problems, you’ll have to send rangers out on scouting trips, and kingdoms from around Westeros will ask for your help. All of these things take time; you might have to wait a few hours before a group of rangers sends back a raven detailing their battle with some wildlings. Tale of Crows is a game full of death and danger, but it’s also surprisingly soothing. And it fits neatly into your life: all you have to do is play a few minutes every so often to see the story unfold.Grindstone was one of Apple Arcade’s best launch titles, a game that takes the addictive nature of match-three puzzle games and blends it with absolutely brutal fantasy action. Imagine Candy Crush by way of Frank Frazetta. Since then, Grindstone has received a steady stream of updates that have only improved the experience, with plenty of more levels, weapons, and enemies to keep things interesting.Across its first few entries, has been all about exploring stories in a fantasy realm. It plays out sort of like an interactive version of Tinder: as you push through the story, you’re constantly confronted with options, and you either swipe left or right to decide what to do. Reigns: Beyond takes this same formula and blasts it into space, while also adding a musical element. You’re the captain of a sentient ship, guiding a crew through the cosmos while also booking gigs for your intergalactic rock band. It’s silly and strange, and almost impossible to put down.The classic puzzle game Peggle is one that feels timeless, and yet has managed to put a fascinating new spin on the formula. Essentially, the game takes the peg-breaking action and melds it with a fantasy roleplaying game, where you’ll fight monsters and use spells, while still firing little balls to clear out the level. The two elements fit so well together it’s a wonder no one has tried this before.Skateboarding games were thrust back into the spotlight this year thanks to . But Skate City remains the best approximation of the sport on mobile. It simplifies things, with a side-scrolling perspective and swipe-based controls, but it manages to capture the feeling of exploring a neighborhood in search of new ways to pull off tricks. It has also grown since launch, with the addition of new cities like Miami.Famed Japanese writers Kotaro Uchikoshi and Kazutaka Kodaka are known for some incredibly dark games, including the Zero Escape and Danganronpa series, and World’s End Club on Apple Arcade fits into that mold very nicely. At the outset of the game, a small group of students awakens in an underwater amusement park and they all have to fight — or work together — to find a key to escape. The twist is that they only have an hour, and only one person can actually get the key. Imagine The Hunger Games as a psychological thriller, and you’re partway there.Most Popular RShowtime streaming might disappear into Paramount Plus.Next year HBO Max will with Discovery Plus, and Disney’s CEO is talking about a for Hulu and Disney Plus, so this rumor about Paramount discontinuing Showtime streaming is no surprise.Showtime’s content the Paramount app, and Paramount’s pushing a discounted $8 (ads) or $13 (fewer ads) combo subscription until October 2nd. .[WSJ]DiOS 16 should let us swipe down for notifications.Antonio makes an excellent point here that completely slipped by me in the months I’ve been using the iOS 16 betas. Swiping down on the home screen is part of my muscle memory for Spotlight, but now that there’s an always present button on the home screen to launch Spotlight, the swipe down gesture could easily be repurposed for Notification Center. Or at least give us the option.With iOS 16 apple now gives you TWO different ways to do a search on your home screen (swipe down from center and tap the pill button at the bottom). This would have been the perfect chance to switch that down swipe to pull down the notification shade, which is all I want in iOS— Antonio G. Di Benedetto (@SuperAntonio64)Worshippers of Elon Musk have flocked to the middle of nowhere in Texas to watch SpaceX’s attempts to build a space-worthy rocket — and to find friends Must ReadsMust ReadsRevolutionizing the media with blog postsDGoogle’s first-party Pixel 6 case proves to be junk.I immediately had the impression that Google’s official cases for the Pixel 6 were awful , but a long-term review from 9to5Google shows just how bad they can get.Here’s to hoping Google does better with the Pixel 7 cases this year.[9to5Google]JSony’s State of Play event starts at 6PM ETYou probably shouldn’t expect an announcement on the level of Nintendo’s , but fingers are crossed for news of some kind about God of War Ragnarok in the . The show will air on&nbsp;&nbsp;and&nbsp;. (Update: there was indeed , !)PodcastsPodcastsAUber will pay $100 million to New Jersey for misclassifying drivers, gets to continue misclassifying them.Gizmodo reports that Uber will pay $100 million in back taxes to the state of New Jersey in response to an audit that concluded the company was misclassifying its drivers as independent contractors. But here’s the thing: Uber will pay any amount of money necessary to , because reclassifying them as employees would cause Uber to cease to exist. [Gizmodo]DVictoria Song says the new Fitbit Inspire 3 feels like a product from 2015.Where is the lie?NThe Westworld subreddit is anxious the show will be canceled before the final season.Viewership was way down this season, and the recent changes — including — don’t seem to bode well for what’s been a very expensive show. That said, this season started strong and ended with a whimper, so maybe it’s all for the best.fromJNintendo will announce a release date for the delayed Advance Wars reboot “once it has been determined,” the company told Axios.Advance Wars 1 + 2: Re-Boot Camp, a Nintendo Switch remaster of the first two Advance Wars titles, was delayed from an April launch . It was absent from .I asked Nintendo if Advance Wars 1 + 2 has been cancelled, given the lack of news about it since it was delayed due to the invasion of Ukraine.Nintendo rep's reply: "The release has been delayed. We will announce the new date once it has been determined."— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo)AAlex Jones is on trial yet again.The InfoWars host lost a defamation case over the Sandy Hook shooting by default, and now, a Connecticut jury will decide what he should pay. It’s a near-repeat of a similar case in Texas — but without that state’s limits on financial damages. Jones’ company has filed for bankruptcy, though, setting up a fight over the money.[The New York Times]Most PopularMost PopularEThe retail revolution comes for Congress: Rep. Angie Craig found out her son was trading behind her back.“As a mom, I would be grateful if my college student son was not allowed to own or trade stocks. And as a member of Congress, I’m working to pass a law to force him to listen to his mother,” she told The New York Times.[The New York Times]AApparently Motorola built a fully functional electric Chevy Corvette prototype in the 1990s.The Drive’s Kevin Williams has made what could be one of the greatest EV archeological discoveries of a generation: a 1987 Chevy Corvette EV built by cell-phone pioneer Motorola. This raises so many questions. First and foremost, why the hell was Motorola making cars? Electric cars for that matter? And can I drive it? There’s loads of pics and fun backstory, so I recommend you go check it out. [The Drive]EElon is Elonning again.Musk is wading into the fight between Twitter and security researcher Peiter “Mudge” Zatko again, after. Good luck to whoever at his law firm has been assigned to !Anyone know who the secret clients are? Let’s out them on Twitter rn haha. — Naughtius Maximus (@elonmusk)AThe Twitter whistleblower says he’ll work with Congress on “sorely needed” laws.Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s attorneys say they hope he offered a window into Twitter’s business operations, including details about potential national security risks, during a Senate hearing today. Lawmakers focused on the threat of foreign agents inside Twitter and proposals to reform the FTC.An attorneys' statement:&nbsp;"Mr. Zatko is hopeful that the Committee’s work today has helped educate the public about just how dire the security and privacy situation is at Twitter ... He remains ready, willing and able to be part of the legislative reform that is sorely needed." — Adi Robertson (@thedextriarchy)RMark Zuckerberg has very good lawyers.As a way of dragging its heels in , Meta is trying to get as much court-ordered information as it possibly can on rivals like Snapchat and TikTok.The threat here is less that Meta will discover Snapchat’s secret sauce, and more that this (and a dozen other motions) will overwhelm the FTC’s ability to properly try the case with its existing resources.[Bloomberg.com]EWaze has more torture for your return to the office.The new “pokes fun at the people we can all become at work — acronym-slinging, jargon-parroting, catchphrase machines,” and features phrases like “Make a U-turn: Or what I call ‘circling back.’” Thanks, Waze, but I think I’ll stick with my Boy Band voice directions for now.Our driving experience for the month is designed to help you drive synergy.Let’s table this discussion and see if you can figure out what it is. — waze (@waze)ASpecialized teases its new e-bike brand Globe with a poem and a cheeky logo.Earlier this year, a new sub-brand called Globe dedicated to building high-quality electric utility bikes that are designed specifically to replace car trips. We still don’t know what these bikes will look like, but today the company released its brand statement in the form of a poem, which is cute. Specialized promises it will have more to say on September 27th, so mark you calendars. MA woman is suing San Francisco after the city used DNA from her rape kit to arrest her for an unrelated crime.The police’s practice of using DNA from sexual assault victims to identify suspects in other cases came to light . At the time, legal experts said the practice likely violated California’s constitution. It’s yet another example of the posed by growing DNA databases. [CBSNews]

The Verge logo. , Apple Arcade was still a fledgling service, but one with a lot of potential. For $5 a month, you could get unlimited access to a big library of interesting games, the kind that . It’s still not a place to find the latest blockbusters, but Arcade has steadily evolved into one of the best deals in gaming. Its lineup of games is varied and consistently surprising, with everything from family-friendly multiplayer games to engrossing puzzlers to weird story-driven adventures.$4.99 a month from AppleIf you just picked up a new Apple device and have signed up for Arcade (a new...

8 great Apple Arcade games for your new 2020 iPhone or iPad

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