Apple Arcade kicks off 2024 with new Pokemon-rivalling pocket monsters game (and 90s kids are going to have a nostalgia overload)

Apple Arcade game on a blue gradient background

(Image credit: Apple)

Older Apple Arcade subscribers looking to claw back a taste of their youth are getting a treat in the first update to Apple’s gaming subscription service for 2024. Fans of pocketable monsters are going to want to sit up for this one.

No, there’s not a new Pokemon game coming to Apple Arcade — we’re talking about those other pocketable monsters, the vintage Tamagotchi, which is getting a makeover from its keychain-LCD-pet-pal origins.

In the new Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom, rather than cleaning up your little squidgy monster’s poop every five minutes, you’re instead trying to solve the mystery of Tamagotchi planet “after a mysterious impact shakes [the] world.” You’ll encounter more than 300 Tamagotchi characters and will be able to build your own “cosy wilderness camp.” Expect an Animal Crossing-style gameplay loop.

Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom is available to download now.

More new Apple Arcade games

Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom isn’t the only new arrival on Apple Arcade. Fans of Minesweeper will want to check out Cornsweeper, too.

Created by solo Jamaican developer Wbuttr, it takes the classic Minesweeper logic puzzle formula and gives it a Caribbean twist, with the corn-popping gameplay soundtracked by lo-fi reggae and a Patois localization option.

Finally, another classic joins the service in the form of Blackjack by MobilityWare+. The immortal card game lets you pick different table locations from around the globe, has leaderboard positions to battle for, and unlockables, including player titles and table styles.

Both Cornsweeper and Blackjack by MobilityWare+ are also available to download right away, sitting alongside the best Apple Arcade games.

Apple Arcade costs $6.99 / £6.99 a month following a recent price hike, or can be subscribed to alongside Apple TV Plus, Apple News Plus, and Apple Fitness Plus as part of the Apple One bundle, which also throws in an extended iCloud storage package. Apple Arcade games can be played across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV devices.

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Gerald Lynch is the Editor-in-Chief of iMore, keeping careful watch over the site's editorial output and commercial campaigns, ensuring iMore delivers the in-depth, accurate and timely Apple content its readership deservedly expects. You'll never see him without his iPad Pro, and he loves gaming sessions with his buddies via Apple Arcade on his iPhone 15 Pro, but don't expect him to play with you at home unless your Apple TV is hooked up to a 4K HDR screen and a 7.1 surround system.

Living in London in the UK, Gerald was previously Editor of Gizmodo UK, and Executive Editor of TechRadar, and has covered international trade shows including Apple's WWDC, MWC, CES and IFA. If it has an acronym and an app, he's probably been there, on the front lines reporting on the latest tech innovations. Gerald is also a contributing tech pundit for BBC Radio and has written for various other publications, including T3 magazine, GamesRadar, Space.com, Real Homes, MacFormat, music bible DIY, Tech Digest, TopTenReviews, Mirror.co.uk, Brandish, Kotaku, Shiny Shiny and Lifehacker. Gerald is also the author of 'Get Technology: Upgrade Your Future', published by Aurum Press, and also holds a Guinness world record on Tetris. For real.