Netflix's new games are more exciting than its new shows (2024)

Published Jun 4th, 2024 4:35PM EDT

Image: Netflix

It’s been nearly three years since Netflix added mobile games to its service, and in the coming weeks, the selection is going to expand significantly. On Tuesday, Netflix announced 14 games coming soon to phones and tablets, and there are some heavy hitters in the lineup. In fact, I am more excited to get my hands on some of these games than I am to watch many of the original shows Netflix is rolling out in the next few months.

First, let’s take a look at all 14 upcoming games, along with their release dates:

• Netflix Stories: Perfect Match – June 6
• The Case of the Golden Idol – June 11
• Hearts – June 18
• Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit – June 25
• Too Hot to Handle 3 – July 23
• The Dragon Prince: Xadia – July 30
• Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure – Summer 2024
• Don’t Starve Together– TBA
• Harmonium: The Musical– TBA
• Lab Rat– TBA
• Netflix Stories: Emily in Paris– TBA
• Netflix Stories: Selling Sunset– TBA
• Rotwood – TBA
• Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings Game – TBA

The most significant reveal here is that Tales of the Shire is coming to Netflix Games. This cozy game set in the world of The Lord of the Rings has a decent chance to be a breakout hit when it launches later this year. It’s basically Animal Crossing in Middle-earth. The possible audience for a game with that description is enormous (and includes myself).

But Tales of the Shire is just one of many games I will be installing on my iPhone later this year. The Case of the Golden Idol was one of the best games of 2022, with “Overwhelmingly Positive” reviews on Steam. It’s also a game I missed out on the first time around, and I can’t wait to take this challenging detective game with me everywhere I go.

Some of the other highlights include the cute and mysterious campsite building sim Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit, puzzle-centric RPG Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure, and Klei Entertainment’s multiplayer survival crafting game Don’t Starve Together.

I can safely say that this is the first time I’ve been more intrigued by Netflix’s gaming output than I have by its shows and movies. As my colleague Andy Meek pointed out recently, Netflix’s hit-to-miss ratio has been trending in the wrong direction for quite a while. Looking forward, I only see a handful of new releases I’m interested in throughout the entire month of June.

As a long-time subscriber, that’s not a sustainable model to keep me paying for much longer. At this point, I wish Netflix would offer a separate gaming-only plan that would compete directly with Apple Arcade. Otherwise, I might have to downgrade to the ad-supported plan to retain access to my games at a more affordable price point.

This article talks about:

Netflixvideo games