Apple Arcade adds Terraria+, Pusheen's Place and three more games for OctoberApple Arcade adds Terraria+, Pusheen's Place and three more games for October

Five games went live on Apple Arcade on 1 October: Terraria+, Pusheen's Place, River City Survivors, Touchgrind BMX 2+ and 4 Pics 1 Word+.

Apple announced the line-up on its newsroom on 8 September, and 9to5Mac confirmed the launch on the day. Apple Arcade costs $6.99 a month in the US with a one-month trial, and is included in every Apple One plan.

The five games

Terraria+ is the headline. Apple says it includes the 1.4.5 update, a crossover with Dead Cells and Pals from Palworld, more than 20 biomes, and multiplayer for up to seven friends through Game Center or local Wi-Fi.

Pusheen's Place is an Arcade exclusive and, according to Apple, the first officially licensed game for the cartoon cat. Players collect more than 100 cats and play mini-games. River City Survivors is a survivors-style zombie game from Arc System Works, with over 20 characters including the series regulars Kunio and Riki. Touchgrind BMX 2+ is a physics BMX game played with two fingers, and 4 Pics 1 Word+ is the word puzzle without its advertising.

Neither Apple nor 9to5Mac listed games leaving the service this month, and Apple has not announced further October titles.

Is Apple Arcade worth it for these games?

Terraria+ is the strongest single argument Arcade has made in some time. Terraria is a game people sink hundreds of hours into, and an Arcade version that runs on the Mac and Apple TV, with seven-player multiplayer, is a complete edition, not a mobile cut. For a family already paying for Apple One, it is close to a reason on its own.

The other four show the shape Arcade has settled into. Two are plus versions of existing App Store games with the advertising and purchases taken out, which is what 4 Pics 1 Word+ amounts to. One is a licensed exclusive aimed at younger players. That mix is unglamorous, but it is honest about what Arcade sells: games without ads and in-app purchases, for households that would rather not hand a child a free-to-play game.

APPDOOK notes that only three of the five reach the Mac and Apple TV, which matters more than it looks. Apple has spent two years pitching the Mac and Apple TV as places to play, and the games that skip them are the ones built for touch. Terraria+ arriving everywhere at once is the model; the rest of the catalogue has some way to go.