GoKawiilApple Arcade added another football game to its roster on August 6, but this one is considerably less interested in photorealistic grass. Retro Bowl College+ is the Apple Arcade version of New Star Games' 2023 college football spin-off, and it puts you in charge of one of more than 250 teams while keeping the series' chunky pixel art and deliberately old-school approach.
The actual football is refreshingly straightforward. You drag backward from a quarterback to aim a pass, swipe to move a ball carrier and handle kicks with similarly simple gestures, while the game leaves the defensive side largely to simulation.
Between drives, though, there is rather more to worry about: Players have ratings and morale, facilities can be upgraded, budgets need attention and your college athletes can apparently cause headaches even when nobody is trying to tackle them.