Football Manager 27 Touch Is on iPhone Now. Arcade’s Other Holiday Games Start in December
There’s one game to look up today if you opened Apple’s holiday Arcade announcement on your iPhone. Football Manager 27 Touch went live on November 10. Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, solitaire(ish), Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown+ and LEGO DUPLO Playtime share a different date, December 3. The five games are in the same announcement, but you won’t find five new installs today.
What changed on the iPhone pitch
The iPhone interface is one of the changes Apple singles out for Football Manager 27 Touch. It says the layout was redesigned so controls are within reach of a thumb. That is a more specific claim than saying the game simply runs on a phone. The studio also updated the match engine and added recruitment and match preparation tools. Those additions affect the work around a match as well as the decisions you make while it’s under way.
Follow the listing Apple links in its announcement. It has Touch in the name, an easy word to miss if you search for the franchise and get several results. Scroll to Compatibility on that listing from the iPhone you plan to use. Apple says game availability varies with hardware, software and region. The Arcade catalogue being available on a device does not tell you that a given game runs there. The same listing check was useful during App Store Indie Games Week, where titles promoted together could still have different release details.
December 3 brings a few different reasons to wait
Prince of Persia is the one to check if you already know The Lost Crown and are wondering which edition Apple announced. The Arcade listing is for the plus version. Apple says that it includes all downloadable content, among it the Mask of Darkness story expansion. In Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, the multiplayer Apple describes is local: two people can play together or against each other on the same device. Its Party mode is specific to Arcade. Apple doesn’t describe those features as online multiplayer.
For someone weighing a subscription, the dates make the first decision fairly easy. If Football Manager is what you want, its listing is already available to check. If you mainly want one of the four December titles, check back on December 3. Apple lists Arcade at $6.99 per month in the US, with a one-month trial for eligible customers. A subscription can cover up to six family members, and the Arcade editions don’t carry ads or in-app purchases. Check the price and terms shown for your own account, especially if you already have Arcade through Apple One.