Lego Star Wars: Castaways

This is a fun, funny, and charming adventure game that gets the fun mostly right. The first thing you'll notice about Lego Star Wars: Castaways are the console-like graphics. Gameloft did a great job on creating a gorgeous blocky world, with high-resolution characters, vehicles and set pieces. The animation is silky smooth and it's fun to unlock new moves, like dancing in a cantina. The John Williams soundtrack and Star Wars sound effects library completes the experience. Navigating around the island is easy, with arrows that direct you to the person or place you're supposed to go to, but it stops after a while and you may be a little confused about what to do next. While your tasks may seem repetitive at the start of the game -- find this person, go here, and collect this and that -- the variety of solo and multiplayer missions is one of the game's greatest strengths. Whether you're playing on foot, such as scouring a space station for goodies (with others online) and blasting enemies, or piloting a vehicle (dog-fighting in space at the Death Star or racing against others in hovercrafts over water), it's all a blast. You'll be on a quest somewhere and you'll get a small pop-up that says someone has invited you to play, which you can accept or decline, so there's always something to do to keep things fresh.

Those who like to customize their character can spend hours on end doing just that. You'll play activities to earn databits, buy new items and the shops, and then customize your own unique look and style. Star Wars fans can also unlock a Codex archive, with story elements, synopsis, images, and more. Again, Gameloft ticks all the boxes here: great production values and simple controls, a myriad of solo and multiplayer missions across multiple environments, deep character customization, and even RPG(role-playing game)-like levels you need to achieve to unlock specific areas or quests. Aside from a couple of minor quibbles like losing guidance on where to go next (a possible bug), and the very rare crash, LEGO Star Wars: Castaways is a fresh and fun addition to Apple Arcade.