The Apple Watch has some nifty watch faces which are fun to play with, but you can install and play real games on it. We’ve rounded up a selection of those that we’ve found fun to play. Most are free, with a couple costing just a few pounds, but Lifeline in particular is well worth it.
Peak
Free
There aren’t many games which work really well on the Watch’s small screen but Peak is an exception. It’s a simple, but fiendishly addictive little brain training game.
In one of the three games on the Watch you’re shown a shape and then a subsequent shape. All you have to do is tap the tick or cross to say if it’s the same as the previous one or not. And the challenge is to get through as many as you can before the time is up.
Rules!
£2.99
A little like Peak, Rules! Is a brain teaser. However, it’s less frenetic as it’s more about achieving a certain score rather than beating the clock. Plus, the wonderful graphics mean it’s a joy to play. Each day there’s a new mini game for the Watch, too, so you’ll always have a new puzzle to solve.
Snappy Word
Free
If you love word games, then try Snappy Word. You get four letters (the screen is kind of limiting in this respect) and you have to make words from them: as many as you can in 30 seconds.
It’s a game to pass a couple of minutes but, as with most Apple Watch games you can always turn to your phone for the full version.
Tamagotchi Classic
£3.99
Tamagotchis were all the rage at the end of the 1990s, and Bandai Namco has brought them back to life on the Apple Watch. For the uninitiated, these little pixelated animals need your care and attention to keep them healthy (and alive), so you’ll need to check in often to feed it, take it to the toilet and give it light.
Pokémon Go
Free
If you play Pokémon Go and you have an Apple Watch then the Watch app may already be installed. It isn’t a game in its own right, but certainly a useful companion app.
It’s by no means perfect, mainly because it doesn’t actually let you catch any Pokémon, but it does replicate other functions of the Go Plus including hatching eggs and spinning PokéStops without needing your phone screen to be on.
If you set it up as a complication in one of your watch faces you can keep an eye on your egg hatching progress, too.
And because the Apple Watch has a screen, unlike the PoGo Plus, you can see which Pokémon are nearby and if it’s worth whipping out your phone to catch them.
Sonic Dash 2
Free
Can you really can play Sonic the Hedgehog on your Apple Watch? Sadly no. Sonic Dash 2 is – as with Pokemon Go, a companion app. However, it can be useful since you’ll unlock rewards in the game by walking or running for certain distances.
Letterpad
Free
Those with smaller fingers will appreciate that Letterpad, unlike Snappy Word, manages to fit nine letters on the Apple Watch’s screen, but it certainly helps if you have the 42mm model.
In any case, you have to find the word displayed on screen (it’s partially obscured to make it a bit harder). As with Twisty Color, it’s an American game which hasn’t been Anglicised, but it’s still good fun.
Lifeline
£1.99
It may have been a while since you played a text adventure game. Maybe you’ve never played one. In Lifeline, you are responsible for helping the protagonist, Taylor, who has crash landed on an alien moon.
It’s played out in real-time, so you’ll see notifications pop up on your Watch throughout the day and you can communicate with Taylor. Your responses and choices change the outcome of the story, and once you push past the initial bad jokes, the story becomes immersive and captivating.
Trivia Crack
Free
With this Trivial Pursuit-style game, you can test and improve your general knowledge on the move. You can, of course, play with friends and try to be the first to answer questions in all six categories, but it’s more likely you’ll use Trivia Crack when you’ve a few spare moments.
Twisty Color
Free
Although it doesn’t use the UK English spelling, don’t write off Twisty Color. It’s one of the only games to use the Watch’s digital crown as a controller, hence the name.
It’s a cleverly designed game, too. Coloured ‘bullets’ fly towards the centre of the screen and your job is to rotate the crown to select the correct colour and match the bullet.
You lose a life if you mismatch colours but, in the best gaming tradition, you get three to start with.
We’ve also rounded up a selection of the best apps for the Apple Watch.
Author: Jim Martin, Executive Editor
Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.