Apple Arcade announces January Originals, including Pocket Card Jockey

Apple announced which new games it’s adding to its Arcade subscription service in January. It’s launching four new titles on the service this month, including one of the most interesting offerings from Game Freak and a new visual novel chapter. All games launch on a Friday, with the first one debuting tomorrow on January 6.

The first game, which launches this week, is the latest episode in visual novel Episode: Choose Your Story. Called Episode XOXO, it debuts with five new stories. Next week, it’s followed by Illustrated, a puzzler that combines brain teasers with jigsaw puzzles. Each puzzles gives the player information on the artist who created the image.

Perhaps the most interesting entry is Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!, a bizarre racing/card game from Pokémon developer Game Freak. Originally released on the 3DS in 2013, Ride On! sees users play Solitaire while their chosen steed races. The outcome of the card game determines their placement. Game Freak have also remade some of the game’s scenes in 3D. Ride On! launches on Apple Arcade on January 20.

To wrap up the month, Apple launches physics puzzler Squiggle Drop, in which users solve puzzles by creating a single shape. Apple also revealed that it launched 50 Originals on Arcade in 2022 and over 300 updates. Last year’s winner for Arcade game of the year was fantasy life sim Wylde Flowers.

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