Skip to main content

Apple Arcade is about to get two big mobile games

The final boss in Vampire Survivors. He looks like count dracula. He's in front of a pink moon and "Vampire Survivors+" is on the front.
Poncle

Apple Arcade is always adding some unique games to its catalog, and July is no different, with two big mobile titles, a Vision Pro game, and a bunch of updates coming soon.

Apple Arcade’s newest original title is Temple Run: Legends, the first level-based game in the long-time runner franchise, which is hitting the service on August 1. Typically, games in the series have infinite levels, so you just have to go as far as you can before a game over. Legends, on the other hand, has over 500 levels, so players have a more concrete way to track progression. Apple’s blog post on the announcement also says that it’ll feature new gameplay modes and new characters. And if you want to play classic Temple Run, there’s still an infinite run mode.

Recommended Videos

Ever since the first Temple Run released all the way back in 2011, the team at Imangi Studios has been consistently releasing new additions to the series. Not all of them have been endless runners either, with the match-3 game Temple Run: Puzzle Adventure, a VR title, and the idle Temple Run: Idle Explorers.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Next up is Vampire Survivors+, also launching on August 1. This isn’t the first time the bullet-hell hit has been on Apple mobile devices, but this version includes the two DLC packs — Legacy of the Moonspell and Tides of the Foscari — along with four-player co-op on the same device. It’s also ad free, like many games on Apple Arcade.

Vampire Survivors is one of the biggest surprise indie hits in recent years, with multiple levels that require you to take out ever-increasing hordes of monsters. You can unlock new characters, get new weapons, and level up abilities as you go and die over and over again.

Finally, Castle Crumble, a puzzle game where you destroy kingdoms and castles, is coming to the Vision Pro. So players can use hand tracking to knock down dioramas in-game.

Carli Velocci
Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…
Apple Vision Pro gets three more surprise launch games
Synth Riders on Apple Vision Pro.

Ahead of the Apple Vision Pro's launch tomorrow, three surprise launch titles have been revealed: Kluge Interactive's Synth Riders, and new versions of Illustrated and Patterned from BorderLeap

Synth Riders is a VR rhythm game where players dance as they interact with notes flying toward them and dodge obstacles to the beat of popular songs. Kluge Interactive has redesigned Synth Riders for Apple Vision Pro, using its spatial reality features to include a mode that makes it look like the notes are flying right at you in your own room. At release, over 73 songs will be included, with Kluge sharing the whole track list on Spotify. Kluge released a gameplay video to give people a better idea of what to expect from this version of Synth Riders.

Read more
Apple Vision Pro is getting three ‘spatial games’ including Fruit Ninja
A person plays a game on the Apple Vision Pro.

The Apple Vision Pro will get three "spatial games" when it launches on February 2. Game Room, Super Fruit Ninja, and Apple Arcade standout What the Golf? will all launch on the platform, though Apple hasn't shared many details about them yet.

Previously, Apple had been underplaying the role of gaming on its new headset. We knew it would be able to access Apple Arcade games and other apps, playing them on a flat screen inside the headset, but it didn't seem like it had any new gaming component. The launch announcement revealed that Apple is, in fact, creating some games for the device that'll take advantage of the tech.

Read more
The next great Sonic the Hedgehog game may be hiding on Apple Arcade
Sonic dashes away from a crab in Sonic Dream Team.

Love it or hate it, you have to respect the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Sega and Sonic Team refuse to get stuck in a creative rut, constantly zigging when fans expect them to zag. Last year, the series took an unexpected open-zone pivot with Sonic Frontiers, only to return to familiar 2D platforming with this year’s Sonic Superstars. Just one month after that game’s release, the blue blur is taking another surprising turn with Sonic Dream Team.

Launching exclusively for Apple Arcade on December 5, Sonic Dream Team sees the series returning to the 3D roller-coaster design of the Sonic Adventures era. It’s both a nostalgic return to form and something entirely new, making for the most ambitious Sonic mobile game yet. It’s not the project I’d imagine anyone was expecting, but it might just be the one that fans have been waiting for.

Read more