Apple Arcade February 2021 Roundup: 'Lumen' and 'Survival Z'

This month, "Lumen" and "Survival Z" arrived on Apple Arcade, joining the expanding library of 146 games already on Apple's exclusive-based mobile gaming subscription service.

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Last month, ‌Apple Arcade‌ gained three games: "Oceanhorn: Chronos Dungeon," "NUTS - A Surveillance Mystery," and "Spire Blast." In February, just two new games joined the platform in the puzzle and action genres.

February 5: lumen.

Lumen was the first new game to arrive on ‌Apple Arcade‌ this month, offering a series of mysterious light-based puzzles.

Lumen comes from developer Lykke Studios, which also brought the color-mixing puzzle game "Tint" to ‌‌Apple Arcade‌‌ last year. Lumen encourages players to use light sources, lenses, and mirrors to solve puzzles.

lumen. is a puzzle game with unique mechanics, where you have to solve levels by using lights, mirrors, and lenses.

You will find yourself in the old attic of Olivia McLumen and discover her mysterious vintage lumen box. Olivia McLumen lived in Scotland over 100 years ago and was a great inventor of her time. Solve puzzles to recreate the stories of her inventions!

With carefully considered visual feedback, animations, and music, Lumen creates a distinctive atmosphere and challenges players to solve hundreds of unique puzzles.

February 19: Survival Z

Survival Z is a tower defense survival game from Ember Entertainment, where players start out as a survivor trying to save humanity.

Players can place traps and obstacles to increase their chances of survival, collecting and upgrading equipment to power up their character as they play, and bring other survivors into the fold to fight alongside them.

After the event, humanity lies on the brink while zombies dominate the landscape! You are a survivor. Armed with your wits and bravado, you are determined to save all who remain.

Your goal is clear: find survivors and seek out a way to exterminate the undead menace. Choose your way along randomly generated routes to build and battle your way through environments crawling with zombies.

Survival Z boasts simple controls as players plan out their trap and weapon placement before waves of zombies arrive.

The game features ever-changing routes to create "endless" replayability, so no two runs are the same. There are also unique story events with extra rewards, a wide range of enemy types, 15 playable characters, and 50 unique levels.

Next Up on Apple Arcade: SP!NG

SP!NG, from developer SMG Studio, is a classic, arcade-style game that can be played with just a single touch.

The game has more than 180 different levels, five themes, and 40 characters to unlock. Players will receive daily challenges while playing the game, offering in-game rewards. SP!NG arrives on Friday, March 5.

Coming Soon: Cosy Grove, Farm It, and Wonderbox

There are three new games slated to arrive on ‌Apple Arcade‌ soon in the casual, simulation, and adventure genres.

"Cosy Grove" is a game about camping on a haunted, ever-changing island. Players are challenged to navigate the island, discover its hidden secrets, and contact the local ghosts. Over time, players can revitalize the island with crafting and decoration as the narrative unfolds.

"Farm It" contains a series of mini-games to collect resources to build up a farm. Through activities such as fishing or plowing, and with the help of animal companions, players aspire to sell their resources, customize their character, and grow their farm.

Finally, "Wonderbox" is an action-adventure multiplayer game. Players can engage in pre-set adventures filled with challenges, enemies, puzzles, and platforms, or construct their own in Creator Mode. The game revolves around "boxes" used to form a deep chain of interconnected environments.

Lumen and Survival Z are available on the App Store now. Keep an eye out next week for SP!NG and throughout March for more new games.

‌Apple Arcade‌ is priced at $4.99 per month with a one-month free trial available to test it out. Apple also has a one-year subscription option available for $49.99 per year, a savings of $9.89 over the monthly price, and it is also available as part of all tiers of Apple One, starting at $14.95 per month.

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Top Rated Comments

steevn Avatar
60 months ago
I literally forgot Apple Arcade existed.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dasmb Avatar
60 months ago
Lumen is not great. Most of the puzzles are extremely easy and the wit of the story is lost in the slow pace, unappealing graphics of the story segments and the utterly mundane plot that clashes with the whimsy and wonder of the premise.

As an example: in a game that presupposes an inventor has encoded all of her secrets in a light and photography based puzzle box, we are treated to the story of the same inventor cleaning her house with a bicycle stretched over 40 or 50 puzzles (each taking 30s-1m to solve). Not much of a reward for not much of a challenge and certainly it doesn't live up the potential presented by the mystery box approach.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Villarrealadrian Avatar
60 months ago
I’ve tried using apole arcade twice but i think apple needs a mascot or a signature game maybe to attract more audience
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
60 months ago
I finally started my free trial on arcade and I have to say I’m really enjoying it. Ballistic Baseball and Mini Motorways are my faves right now. Sonic Racing, Frogger TT and What the Golf are also pretty fun.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
peglegjack Avatar
60 months ago

I feel like Apple Arcade is the only game in town with the latest Playstation / Xbox always sold out. I don't see ever seeing the latest consoles available for at least another year or two.
Yeah it seems like a waste of time dealing with all the bots. I’m playing bioshock remastered on my m1 mini (1440p, maxed out, 60fps) and have Apple arcade for my m1 Mac, iPhone 8, iPad Air 4, and ATV4K. Playing Alba right now and loving it.

I say embrace it and roll with what you’ve got. I want for nothing now really
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FightTheFuture Avatar
60 months ago

Had a trial previously, by looking at the games on there recently not much has changed, still garbage.
So you mean you cancelled your trial. I'm pretty sure a lot of folks have the same reaction to Arcade, or find more value in consoles. I get that. I have a backlog of PS4 and Switch games, and would rather play those than try out Apple Arcade. That said, I know a lot people - kids and adults, who enjoy the service. So different strokes.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)