What you need to know
- Apple Arcade is launching with iOS 13 on Thursday, September 19th
- Ahead of its release, Apple is highlighting four games on the platform
- All four games will be available on day one of the service.
Apple Arcade is just days away from launching with iOS 13 on Thursday, September 19th, and the company is highlighting the stories behind four of the games that will release on day one of the service.
"It's time to play" features the stories of the developers behind some of the games, as Apple has explained below:
When Apple Arcade launches on the App Store on September 19, players around the world will start to get their hands on games that have been years in the making. The developers behind them have woven artistry, curiosity and a lot of heart into a curated selection of diverse, fresh games made possible by Apple Arcade. Here are just a few of their stories.
The Enchanted World
The first game featured is The Enchanted World, a puzzle game built by Ivan Ramadan and Amar Zubcevic who grew up n Sarajevo during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s.
"Sarajevo was under siege for four years," says Zubcevic. "There was no electricity … there was no running water, you had to go to a well … and we would go with our parents and help them carry back containers — it was a game for us, helping them."
The Enchanted World features the music and folklore of the Balkans, as players take on the role of a fairy that solves puzzles and challenges in order to piece back together her collapsing world.
"Our game is about all those children who, with their endurance and imagination, can create those magical worlds for themselves and their friends, even in the worst of circumstances," says Zubcevic. "That's why their world is enchanted, and why I think that we can always do one better than what came before."
Patterened
In Patterned, players not only work on a puzzle, but actually color the pieces of it before arranging it back together. Nate Dicke, the developer behind the game, built it as a method for finding calm. The puzzles themselves, fifteen in total, feature fourteen that were designed by women.
"The App Store made it possible for me to have a platform to do what I do," says Dicken, who has designed more than a dozen iOS games in the last seven years. "I wouldn't have built this game if it weren't for Apple Arcade."
Overland
Overland is a post-apocalyptic roadtrip designed by couple Adam and Bekah Saltsman who based the game off of their favorite board games, books, and films. In the game, players travel across the United States and stumble across supplies, survivors, and cute dogs.
"I want people to have full lives and I want people to make games," says Bekah. "So whatever we need to do to make that work, we will do that. If my team wants to have kids — how much time do they need? I want to work with these friends and make something beautiful with them."
Card of Darkness
The last game featured in "it's time to play" is Card of Darkness, a card-based puzzle game built by developer Zach Gage an animator Pendleton Ward. Gage has been building and releasing games on iOS since 2008 when the App Store first launched.
"I want games to reach the place where people discuss them as if they're books or movies," says Gage, who sees the Apple Arcade business model as freeing for developers. "I didn't have to spend time thinking, 'How do I fit ads into this?' I just got to work with incredible artists and make incredible art — Apple Arcade is letting me do that."
All four of these games, and as of this article at least 49 others, are coming to Apple Arcade when it launches with iOS 13 this Thursday. For those running the iOS 13 beta, Apple has actually opened up early access today. The service plans to have more than 100 titles that you can play across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. You can read Apple's release about "it's time to play" on Apple's Newsroom.
Are you excited about Apple Arcade? Let us know what game you are looking forward to the most in the comments!
