There are a wide variety of games already on Apple Arcade — from simple 2D puzzle games to giant 3D open-world adventures. While all games are designed to work just fine without a controller, some games are just better with a controller in your hands.
A controller gives you a console-like feel and comfort when playing a game on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, or Mac, and luckily there are a ton of great options for controllers that are compatible with Apple devices — including the PlayStation DualShock 4 and the Xbox One Wireless controllers.
Note: The links in this guide only trigger the App Store on iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina.
How to tell if an Apple Arcade game has controller support on iPhone and iPad
If you're familiar with buying games from the App Store, you know the pain of trying to figure out with games have controller support and which don't. Usually, you have to go looking through the game's description to see if the developer has included support — Apple Arcade changes all that. Apple Arcade has clearly labeled each game that supports a controller in, not just one, but two places, so you don't miss it. 0
When you tap on a game in Apple Arcade, you'll be brought to the game page. At the top of the game page, right underneath the app icon, you'll notice a banner of important information, if a game supports controller, you'll see it in this banner (pictured above in the middle). You can also scroll down the page to the Support section, and if the game supports controllers, it will be clearly labeled here as well (pictured above on the right).
How to tell if an Apple Arcade game has controller support on Mac
Source: macOS
The process for seeing what games have controller support on the Mac is very similar to checking on your iPhone or iPad. When you launch the App Store, you can click on the Arcade tab in the sidebar. This will bring you to the Apple Arcade screen and you can either search for or click on a game.
Just like in iOS and iPadOS, when you tap on a game in Apple Arcade, you'll be brought to the game page. At the top of the game page, right underneath the app icon, you'll notice a banner of important information, if a game supports controller, (pictured above on the left) you'll see the icon here. Additionally, if you scroll down the page to the Support section of the description, (pictured above on the right) you will also see a controller icon.
All Apple Arcade games with controller support
To throw a wrench into things, in our own personal testing, we've noticed that some games that aren't labeled with controller support in Apple Arcade, appear to work just fine with controllers. For the sake of clarity, the following list will be separated into games that have officially been labeled with controller support, and those that haven't.
Games officially labeled with controller support
This is a list of Apple Arcade games that have official controller support and are listed as such in the App Store.
- Red Reign
- Oceanhorn 2:Knights of the Lost Realm
- Down in Bermuda
- Dodo Peak
- Mutazione
- King's League II
- Spaceland
- Agent Intercept
- Explottens
- Hot Lava
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- The Get Out Kids
- Nightmare Farm
- Pligrims
- The Pinball Wizard
- Projection: First Light
- Redout: Space Assault
- Skate City
- Stranded Sails
- Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree
- Big Time Sports
- Don't Bug Me!
- Operator 41
- Doomsday Vault
Games without controller support labels
These Apple Arcade games do not have the official controller support badge in the App Store, but as far as we can tell, they still function with a controller.
- Exit the Gungeon
- Bleak Sword
- Cardpocalypse
- Dead End Job
- Dear Reader
- Dread Nautical
- EarthNight
- Fledgling Heroes
- Frogger in Toy Town
- Grindstone
- HyperBrawl Tournament
- Jenny LeClue - Detectivu
- Lifeslide
- Neo Cab
- Overland
- Punch Planet
- Rayman Mini
- Shantae and the Seven Sirens
- Spelldrifter
- Spidersaurs
- Stellar Commanders
- Super Impossible Road
- Tangle Tower
- Towaga: Among Shadows
- Various Daylife
- Way of the Turtle
- Word Laces
- What The Golf
Questions?
Want to know anything else about Apple Arcade and controller support? Let us know in the comments down below.
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