Lumen, Populus Run and Nuts: All the games we can't wait to play on Apple Arcade – CNET

Apple Arcade kicked off 2021 with the launch of Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon and is teasing more games to come. Since its launch in 2019, Apple’s subscription mobile gaming service has released over 140 games to play across the iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. One of the most anticipated games of 2020 — The Pathless from Annapurna Interactive and Giant Squid — joined the $5-a-month service in November.

Apple Arcade has steadily released new games every week or so, as well as updating others. Even though the gaming service has amassed an impressive catalog of games, we’re still waiting on some of the biggest titles promised at launch. 

Here are the latest titles announced by Apple Arcade. 

Lumen

Developer: Lykkegaard 

Lumen is a new game from the creators of Tint that lets you play with light and reflections to solve puzzles. In the game, you discover an antique box owned by the late inventor Mrs. Olivia MacLumen. Her stories about her life and inventions are saved on film frames. To see them, you’ll need to position lenses and angle mirrors to aim the beam of light to reveal the frame. Each puzzle you solve unlocks a new frame to learn more about the mysterious inventor. 

Populus Run

Developer: Fiftytwo

Control a crowd of people in this quirky new running game. Battle bosses and dodge giant food obstacles on the track.  

Here’s everything else we’re looking forward to: 

The Artful Escape 

Developer: Annapurna Interactive

The Artful Escape tells the story of teenage guitar prodigy Francis Vendetti. On the night of his first performance, Francis finds himself on a psychedelic quest of self discovery. Along the way, he battles dead folk legends and, at times, his own imagination. 

The Artful Escape was first announced at E3 2017 and was listed in the Apple Arcade lineup last year. The X019 trailer promises a colorful, neon, musical side-scroller.

Enter the Construct

Developer: Directive Games

Not many details were available about Enter the Construct last year, except that it was expected to be available at Apple Arcade’s launch. At that time, the images and videos showed the game as a first-person sci-fi shooter. Since then, there has been little to no information about Enter the Construct, so it’s possible it’s taken on a new name or has been canceled. Directive Games didn’t respond to a request for comment, but we’ll update if we hear anything. 

Fantasian

Developer: Mistwalker

Fantasian’s creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, a mastermind behind multiple RPGs including Final Fantasy, posts updates about the upcoming JRPG game fairly regularly on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. If you’re excited about Fantasian, you can scroll through Sakaguchi’s social media and get a look at the game’s concept art and its handcrafted dioramas as they’re being built. Mistwalker has posted designs of New Town En, Magitech Factory in Machine City, Secret Base and the Water City of Vence from the game.

HitchHiker

Developers: Mad About Pandas

HitchHiker is a mystery puzzle game where you play as the hitchhiker who doesn’t remember anything about their identity, their past or their destination. You’ll travel with five different drivers and make choices in the conversations that can help you remember your dark secrets. Solve environmental puzzles, keep an eye out for clues everywhere and make alliances — but remember that nothing is what it seems. 

Nuts

Developer: Noodlecake Studios

The squirrel population in Melmoth Forest is acting suspiciously and it’s up to you, as a field researcher, to get to the bottom of it. Pack up your map, cameras, motion sensors, thermal imaging tech and GPS for the weirdest surveillance mission ever. Along the way, you’ll be tasked with missions: placing cameras, observing footage, tracking the squirrels’ movements and more. With all that gear, plus your logic and wit, will you be able to uncover a bigger conspiracy?

Proxi

Developers: Will Wright and Gallium Artists

Proxi is an AI simulation game from The Sims creator Will Wright. The game is built out of the player’s memories, using them as building blocks in the 3D world. Instead of creating a city or a house, as the player would do in The Sims, Proxi models the brain. You can store memories and millions of interconnected concepts, according to the website. 

Spire Blast

Developer: Orbital Knight

Spire Blast is a Candy Crush-style puzzle game in which players must match colored bricks to blast and knock down towers. Your hungry dragon companions can help, but you have to take good care of them. The game is physics-based, so be mindful of how you match and shoot the bricks — it will influence how the tower topples. 

Ultimate Rivals: The Court

Developer: Bit Fry

This is a basketball-based follow-up to last year’s Ultimate Rivals: The Rink, which was a hyped-up three-on-three ice hockey game where you played as real stars from all kinds of sports — with added superpowers. Future iterations of the game could bring football, baseball or soccer to Apple Arcade.

Wonderbox

Developer: Aquiris

When Wonderbox, formerly Box Project, was announced for Apple Arcade, there weren’t many details available aside from a photo of a cardboard box. Now, the action-adventure game is due out soon, has an official name, and looks like fun for the whole family.