B. Playing Games
In this appendix, you learn how to find and play games on your iPad.
Playing Games with Apple Arcade
Yes, you use your iPad to send and receive emails and text messages, listen to music, watch videos, and read and post to Facebook and other social networks. You may take a few photos or videos or even do some real productive work.
But let’s be honest. You also may spend a fair amount of time on your iPad playing games. And if you don’t, your kids or grandkids do. No need to hide it; the iPad is a great game-playing device, and there are lots of fun games you can play on it.
Finding Games to Play
A game is just a certain type of app. Just as you find regular apps for your iPad in Apple’s App Store, that’s also where you find the games you want to play on your iPad.
Download Games from the App Store
The App Store has a section just for games. It’s easy to browse through the game categories or search for specific games to download.
From your iPad’s Home screen, tap the App Store icon to open the App Store.
Tap the Search icon to search for a specific game. Or…
Tap the Games icon to view all games.
Scroll down the page to see recommended games by type.
To view games by category, scroll to the Top Categories section and tap See All.
Tap the type of game you want to browse: Action, Board, Casual, and so forth.
Tap the game you want to play. You see a detailed page for that game, which includes user reviews.
Some games are free. To download a free game, tap Get.
Many games cost money to play. To purchase a game, tap the price button.
Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the purchase on your device.
Discovering Popular Games
What types of games can you find in the App Store? Apple organizes games by category, as you’ll soon discover.
Action Games
Playing the Bouncemasters! action game.
Action games are those that emphasize physical challenges and require good hand-eye coordination. Popular action games for the iPad include Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds Friends, Bouncemasters!, Call of Duty: Mobile, Fruit Ninja, Sonic Dash, and Subway Surfers.
Adventure Games
Playing the Minecraft adventure game.
When you play an adventure game, you assume a starring role in some sort of episodic story. Popular adventure games include Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Hello Neighbor, LEGO City, Fortnite, Roblox, and Zooba.
All that said, the most popular adventure game for the iPad or any device is Minecraft. This is a world-building game, where you use your block-like character to explore new environments, mine for resources, and build complex structures. Although Minecraft might not be your thing, your grade school–aged children and grandchildren are probably already hooked.
AR Games
Playing the Pokémon GO AR game.
AR stands for augmented reality. AR games integrate computer-generated characters with your real-world environment on your iPad screen in real time.
Popular AR games on the iPad include Jurassic World Alive, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Ingress Prime, and Lightstream Racer. Arguably the most popular AR game is Pokémon GO, which lets you collect Pokémon as you walk around your neighborhood or town.
Board Games
Playing The Game of Life board game.
Board games for the iPad are just like traditional board games, except you play them on your iPad screen, either by yourself (against the computer) or with others (over the Internet). Popular board games include Battleship, Clue, The Game of Life, Risk, SCRABBLE, and Stratego.
Card Games
Playing the Solitaire card game.
There are many games for the iPad that mimic traditional physical card games. These include canasta, gin rummy, Skip-Po, solitaire, and UNO!
Casino Games
Playing the Slots Classic: Casino Slots 88 casino game.
Just about any game you can play in a casino is available in an iPad-friendly version. Popular casino games include variations of bingo, blackjack, craps, poker, and slots—as well as collections of multiple games, just like a real casino.
Casual Games
Playing the Candy Crush Saga casual game.
Casual games are fun and easy to play. When you just want to waste a few minutes between things or unwind a little, a quick casual game is the way to go.
The most popular casual games in the App Store include the various Candy Crush Saga games, FarmVille, Icing on the Cake, Perfect Slices, and Wrecking Ball!
Family Games
Playing the Minion Rush family game.
Playing games with the whole family is a fun thing to do. In addition to board and card games, some of the most popular family games in the App Store include Addams Family Mystery Mansion, Disney Magic Kingdoms, and Minion Rush, as well as arcade classics such as PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN.
Indie Games
Playing the Daggerhood indie game.
These are games from independent game developers (instead of the big game companies). Check here for some of the newer and more innovative games of all types, including Daggerhood, Monument Valley 2, and PinOut!
Kids Games
Playing the Crayola Create and Play kids game.
When you want to occupy the youngest members of your family, check out these fun kid-friendly games. The most popular include Baby Piano for Kids & Toddlers, Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures, Crayola Create and Play, Disney Coloring World, Elmo Loves ABCs, Five Little Monkeys Jumping, LEGO DUPLO WORLD, My Talking Angela, My Town: Pets, and World of Peppa Pig.
Also good are educational apps such as ABCmouse.com, Epic! Kids’ Books and Videos, GoNoodle Kids Videos, Kiddopia—ABC Toddler Games, and PBS KIDS Games.
Music Games
Playing the Magic Tiles Piano and Vocal music game.
Many games revolve around music creation and quizzes. In particular, check out Incredibox, Magic Tiles Piano and Vocal, My Singing Monsters, and SongPop 2.
Puzzle Games
Solving the Achromatic! puzzle game.
These games require you to move tiles or other objects around, connect dots together, or otherwise solve various sorts of puzzles. Popular puzzle games for the iPad include Achromatic!, Jigsaw Puzzle Collection HD, Poly Bridge, Puzzle Fuzzle, Rope Rescue!, and Sand Balls.
Racing Games
Racing an exotic car in the Asphalt 9: Legends racing game.
Strap yourself in to race all sorts of virtual vehicles in #DRIVE, Asphalt 9: Legends, CSR Racing 2, Extreme Car Driving Simulator, Mario Kart Tour, and Need for Speed PJ Masks: Racing Heroes.
Role-Playing Games
Playing the MARVEL Strike Force role-playing game.
These are even more involved adventure games in which you take on the role of a specific player. Popular games of this type include Assassin’s Creed Identity, BitLife—Life Simulator, Darkest Dungeon, Dragon City Mobile, Episode—Choose Your Story, Love Island the Game, MARVEL Strike Force, RAID: Shadow Legends, and Teeny Titans—Teen Titans Go!
Simulation Games
Playing the Township: Farm & City Building simulator.
When you want to simulate some fun real-world activity or persona, check out games like Crowd City, Farming Simulator, Goat Simulator, Terraria, and Township: Farm & City Building.
Sports Games
Playing the NBA 2K20 basketball game.
Just about every popular sport is represented in the App Store, including Crazy Kick!, FIFA Soccer, MADDEN NFL MOBILE FOOTBALL, NBA 2K20, and R.B.I. Baseball.
Strategy Games
Playing the West Game strategy game.
Strategy games require more thinking than action. The most popular include Factory Inc., Last Day on Earth: Survival, Plague Inc., Pocket City, Rise of Kingdoms, and West Game.
Trivia Games
Playing the Trivia Crack trivia game.
Who was the first actor to play James Bond? What is the longest river on Earth? What was the top boy band in the 1990s? Answer these and other questions in games such as 100 PICS Quiz—Picture Trivia, EmojiNation—Guess the Emoji, Guess the GIF, Jeopardy! World Tour, Scenes—Guess the Movie, and Trivia Crack.
Word Games
Playing the Words with Friends 2 word game.
For many people, I’ve saved the best category for last. Word games let you put your word-building skills to the test, playing either solo or against other players. The most popular word games for the iPad include Sidewords, Word Cookies, Word Connect, Words with Friends 2, and WordWhizzle Search.
Playing Games with Apple Arcade
In October 2019, Apple launched a subscription games service called Apple Arcade. When you subscribe to Apple Arcade, you get access to more than 100 games every month. You can play any of the games in Apple Arcade as much as you want, wherever you are. After you download a game, you don’t need an Internet connection to play.
Your Apple Arcade subscription works on any Apple device—iPad, iPhone, Mac, or Apple TV. Your subscription is good for up to six family members, too.
Apple Arcade costs $4.99 per month, and you sign up from the App Store app. Just select the Arcade tab and follow the onscreen instructions to purchase your subscription.
Finding Apple Arcade Games
Browsing and searching for games in Apple Arcade is just like finding games in the App Store.
From within the App Store app, tap to select the Arcade tab.
Scroll down to view recommended games—Top Games This Week, Games for You, New Games Just Added, and the like.
Scroll further down to view games by category.
Tap See All to view all games in that category.
Downloading Apple Arcade Games
Downloading games from Apple Arcade is always free if you have a subscription.
Tap Get to download a game. Or…
Tap a game to view more details.
Read more about the game and then tap Get to download it.
The game is installed on your iPad. Tap the thumbnail to launch the game.
Follow the onscreen instructions to play the game.
