Why I think the best future for iPad games might be on the Nintendo Switch
Simogo Legacy Collection coming to Nintendo Switch says a lot about the future of iPad games – and not good things
Device 6 is the best game ever released for iPad. Don’t @ me. Unless you’re going to vigorously agree, in which case do. If you’ve not played it, the game is the perfect synthesis of device and imagination. It entwines real and virtual spaces with a clever meta narrative and smartly designed puzzles. And I adore the visuals, from the movie-like intro to the pathways literally composed of the story’s very words. But the best thing about Device 6 today? It’s about to escape the iPad and arrive on Nintendo Switch as part of Simogo Legacy Collection.
Alongside Device 6, the compilation bundles up essentially everything Simogo released for mobile, plus extras like ebooks, soundtracks and even an unreleased prototype. The games have been carefully reworked for Switch controllers to replicate the original experience as closely as possible, which means you can play them on a TV within a ‘virtual tablet’ if you’d rather not prod your Switch’s touchscreen. Every detail, from the entry point mirroring a smartphone’s display to the thoughtful additions, helps to nail the game-maker’s goal of creating “the definitive window into the history of the earliest years of Simogo”.
Self preservation
But why port the game to Switch? Simogo diplomatically says it’s, for years, “talked about how to approach the issue of preserving mobile games, which are in constant danger of disappearing or ending up unplayable with new operating systems or hardware configurations”. I’ll be less diplomatic: despite being a massive fan of gaming on Apple devices since the iPhone 3G, I think Apple’s treatment of games too often sucks.
It barely seems to care about the past. In 2017, a single iOS update killed support for 32-bit apps, wiping countless games from existence. Beyond that, games vanish daily as developers abandon a platform that punishes pay-once models, offers barely any discoverability, incentivises skeevy subscriptions and forces constant maintenance. It must be exhausting for creators.
Simogo long ago threw in the towel and quit mobile. It only returned once, with Sayonara Wild Hearts on Apple Arcade. Then Apple abruptly dropped that game from its service, meaning it can no longer be played on an iPhone or iPad, even if you still have it installed. Sigh.
Switch on
It increasingly feels like gaming on Apple devices is ephemeral by design. While Apple culture prizes permanent music collections, games are more ‘consume and forget’ – more about generating revenue and always urging players to move on to the next thing. Preservation is almost non-existent. GameClub resurrected a few dozen classics, before grinding to a halt years before a 2023 Take-Two Interactive acquisition. Since then: nothing. Apple Arcade has updated a handful of games and ripped the IAP out of dozens more for its ‘+’ range. But even those have a habit of vanishing. One day, a favourite can just be gone.
By contrast, the Nintendo Switch feels solid, and it has the added advantage of a properly game-obsessed audience. Coincidentally, the original Switch appeared the year Apple nuked all those 32-bit games. And there’s every possibility the Switch 2 will still be here (on which you can still play original Switch games) eight years from now.
Beyond that – as much as Nintendo lawyers will want to punch my face off for even suggesting it – emulation will give classic Switch games another life. iOS ones? Unlikely. Still, at least in my twilight years, I’ll have a fighting chance of still being able to play Device 6. But probably not on an iPad.
Simogo Legacy Collection will be released on 2 December 2025, priced $14.99/£13.49. An advanced copy was provided for this column, and I am now addicted to Device 6 and Beat Sneak Bandit. Again.
- Now read: 27 best cheap Nintendo Switch games 2025
Craig Grannell
Contributor 
