A dozen “best-in-class” apps and games took honors in the Apple Design Awards Monday at WWDC23. Winning development teams hailed from around the world, delivering innovative apps with great design, Apple said.
“Apps and games are integral to how we live, work, and play. At Apple, we love to recognize outstanding developers whose apps reflect incredible creativity and design excellence,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations.
There’s good news for Mac gamers: a pair of top-quality games are headed for Apple desktops and laptops. No Man’s Sky is out now while Stray is coming soon.
However, both won’t be available for Intel-based Macs.
Unite a team of elves, dwarfs, wizards, men and hobbits to battle in Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth. It’s tactical, turn-based strategy combat for iPhone and iPad set in the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien (obviously).
The game was created by EA and Capital Games, who previously teamed up on Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.
Apple Arcade normally grows by one game a week, but Apple added no less than 20 new titles to the service on Thursday.
These include TMNT Splintered Fate, What The Car?, Disney SpellStruck and Cityscapes: Sim Builder — all exclusive to Apple Arcade.
Epic Games Fortnite was just added to the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service. That means the very popular game is playable on iPhone and iPad, as well as Mac.
Because of a dispute between Apple and Epic, Fortnite has been banned from the App Store since 2020. But it’s now on Luna.
Sonic the Hedgehog knows everything worth knowing about speed, so it’s no surprise that Sonic Racing from Sega is one of the best games on Apple Arcade.
It’s a popular, and available for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Add some excitement to your weekend by giving it a try. Here are 5 reason why I think you’ll love it.
Summon Quest is action-packed-action as players battle waves of monsters and bosses to save the world. All without messing up your epic hair.
The game launched Friday for iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple TV.
Get ready to battle Sauron and his minions in Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth. It’s turn-based strategy combat for iPhone and iPad set in the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien (obviously).
The game was created by EA, and is scheduled to launch in early May. Pre-registration is available now.
You can toss out that old Monopoly board — Monopoly Go! brings the classic game to iPhone and iPad while adding new ways to play.
The free-to-play game is in the App Store now.
Is the car made of jelly? Or is the world? It’s both! It’s JellyCar Worlds. The game is a triumph of squishy physics, and a lot of fun to play.
If you enjoy driving games and puzzlers, you really owe it to yourself to try this. I have seven good reasons why it needs to be on your weekend agenda.
Doctor Who: An Unlikely Heist challenges players to solve mysteries by finding clues. The story-driven hidden-objects game debuted on Apple Arcade on Friday.
It’s the latest addition to Apple’s gaming service, which adds a new title almost every week.
Apple just added Human: Fall Flat+ to the hundreds of games already in Apple Arcade. And Clue: The Classic Mystery Game+ and Osmos+ joined the service earlier in March.
These “App Store Greats” are available to Arcade subscribers without the usual up-front fee or in-app purchases.
Sneaky Sasquatch is a delightful game on Apple Arcade. It lets players live the life of a Sasquatch doing regular, everyday things this mysterious forest dweller does: sneak around campgrounds stealing picnic baskets, play golf, ski, learn to drive. That sort of thing.
If you haven’t discovered it yet, here are six reason why it’s worth playing.
The Amazon Luna cloud-gaming service will soon include the Batman: Arkham Knight, Lego DC Super-Villains and three other premium games. They will be added in April.
And this applies to more than the United States, because Amazon also announced on Wednesday that residents of Canada, the UK and Germany now have access to Luna, which means they can play console-quality games on Mac, iPad and iPhone. There are even free games for Prime members.
The selection of game controllers that can be used with Apple devices just grew, as a software update made multiple 8BitDo products compatible with iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV.
The accessory maker offers wired and wireless controllers that mimic Xbox and Playstation ones. And there’s the 8BitDo Lite SE, too.
★★★★☆
The RiotPWR RP1950 Cloud Gaming Controller solves a problem for iPhone gamers: the controller plugs into the Lightning port in today’s models, but also into the USB-C port that will be in the iPhone 15. In the mean time, the controller can also be used with the many iPad models that use USB-C.
I field-tested RiotPWR’s latest controller and its removable iPhone mount. I understand why Apple likes it enough to put in the online Apple Store.
The PowerA Moga Play & Charge Gaming Clip for Xbox Wireless Controllers is more than a way to attach an iPhone to a Microsoft game controller. It also includes a battery to keep the handset charged up during lengthy gaming sessions.
Not leaving PlayStation fans out, PowerA will also soon release the Moga Mobile Gaming Clip for DualSense and DualShock 4 Wireless Controllers.
Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon is one of the best RPGs in Apple Arcade. It’s a relatively simple dungeon crawler in the spirit of great 16-bit games of the past like Gauntlet. And it can be enjoyed by up to four players at once.
I’ve spent more hours than I could possibly count playing this title from Cornfox & Brothers. Here are seven reasons I think you’ll like it too.
Sp!ng challenges players to maneuver through a vertical maze while collecting gems. It’s easy to learn — you play with a single finger. The game can be exciting or relaxing, depending on how you play.
This offering from SMG Studio is one of my favorites on Apple Arcade. Here are six reasons why I think you’ll like it, too.
Choose your cat and their feline friend then wander through a Japanese “matsuri” festival playing mini games in Kimono Cats. Intended for children, it’s both charming and easy to play.
The game debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, and there are versions for a wide variety of Apple computers.
You don’t need a console to play console games. Amazon Luna+ lets Mac, iPad and iPhone play top-quality titles with an external controller.
It’s been exactly a year since the cloud-gaming service launched, so I revisited Luna+ to see how it’s evolved. There’s a lot to like, but some significant limitations too.
Farmside is a farming simulator that escapes the biggest problem with the genre: nagging in-app purchases. The game is on Apple Arcade which doesn’t allow games to pester players for money.
Plant then harvest crops, raise animals and more in the new title that’s playable on a variety of Apple devices, including iPhone and Mac.
Nothing gets the heart pumping like a good racing game. Riptide GP: Renegade+ challenges players to try hydrojet racing at breakneck speeds, alone or in groups of up to eight.
The game from Vector Unit first debuted several years ago, and was named an App Store Best of 2016. Starting Friday, it’s included with the Apple Arcade subscriptions service for iPhone and other Apple devices.
The best-selling PC game of the 20th century has been reborn as Myst Mobile. Anyone who wants to relive the classic, or play an amazing game for the first time, can install it on iPhone and iPad and start playing for free.
This isn’t a knockoff. Cyan, the developer of the original, calls its new version “the definitive mobile port.”
Have fun with creative destruction in Castle Crumble, which challenges players to knock down fortresses with bombs and spells.
The puzzle game debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, and is playable on iPhone, Mac and other Apple devices.