Pokemon creator's new game is just one of January's big Apple Arcade releases

(Image credit: Apple)

Apple Arcade's growing library of games will have four new additions by the time January draws to a close with one of the titles hailing from the creator of the Pokemon RPG series.

Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! is just one of the games that Apple Arcade subscribers can look forward to taking for a spin, with a new offering hitting the App Store every week starting this Friday, January 6.

Gotta download 'em all

The fun starts this week with Episode XOXO by Pocket Gems. The title is an interactive storytelling game that will initially launch with five original stories. More will be released in the future, with gamers set to enjoy "an ever-growing collection of stories where players choose their own destiny — living out their stories with love, romance, adventure, and drama."

Next up is Illustrated by Border Leap. The game "immerses players in beautiful illustrations and the stories behind them" and features gameplay that includes a combination of jigsaws and word puzzles. It's a tough one to explain, but that's why you should definitely give it a try for yourself when Illustrated hits the App Store on January 13.

Illustrated game artwork — (Image credit: Apple)

January 30 sees the release of Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! by GAME FREAK, the creator of the Pokemon RPG series. A fast-paced game that mixes solitaire with horse racing sounds about as wacky as Apple Arcade gets, with racing segments played out in 3D. "Players will jockey their way to victory by clearing cards with sequential numbers in quick succession," Apple says, which is more than enough to get the solitaire juices flowing.

Pocket Card Jockey artwork — (Image credit: Apple)

Finally, January 27 brings the Apple Arcade additions to a close with Squiggle Drop by Noodlecake. A puzzle game that "uses creativity and imagination to solve charming physics puzzles by drawing a single shape," the title includes more than 100 puzzles for players to do battle with.

There will of course be a number of updates to existing Apple Arcade games as well, with subscribers also able to enjoy the many other games already available for download.

Apple Arcade is available for $4.99 per month with many games playable on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. The service is also available as part of the Apple One subscription bundle that includes other services like Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, and more.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.