Apple Arcade is perfect for families

There’s often a line to use the iPad Pro in my house, and it’s all Apple Arcade’s fault. When the subscription gaming service first launched back in September, it seemed like an impossibly good deal. Here were nearly 100 new games from the developers behind titles like Monument Valley and Alto’s Adventure, all free of ads and microtransactions, for $5 a month. It felt like Apple Arcade had instantly become the place you went to find the best new mobile games.

With premium titles dying and free-to-play experiences dominating the App Store — and the industry at large — it was a welcome change. That’s all still largely true. Since launch, Arcade has added excellent titles like Guildlings, Pilgrims, and the surprisingly sweet Lego game Builder’s Journey. But it has also grown into something else: it might just be the ideal gaming service for families and young children.

That becomes apparent when you look at some of the recent launches on the service. There’s Butter Royale, a quirky, nonviolent take on Fortnite, or last week’s debut of Crossy Road Castle, a simple, colorful, and surprisingly addictive platformer. In the former, you lob globs of ketchup and popcorn at opponents dressed as chickens and aliens; in the latter, you guide cats and unicorns through a maze-like castle filled with rainbows and spikes. My kids were particularly excited when a game based on their favorite Nickelodeon show, The Loud House, popped up in Arcade.

These games are all fun and approachable, but more importantly — because of the way that Apple Arcade works — they’re also experiences that I don’t need to worry about. And not just because they’re family-friendly content-wise (though that’s a relief as well). If these games had been on pretty much any other platform, they’d be rife with all kinds of virtual currencies and different ways to buy things in-game.

“But that doesn’t exist on Apple Arcade.”

I’m not entirely against the concept of free-to-play games — I play Fortnite almost every day — but it can be exhausting. It’s especially problematic when you factor in young kids who don’t necessarily understand that real money is involved. But if my kids sit down to play an hour of Crossy Road Castle, it’s not something I have to think about at all. I can help guide them past tricky jumps, not work around pay-to-win schemes.