iPhone Duo Gaming: Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox & Indie Hits

Quick summary: I played a bunch of games on the iPhone Duo, from big names like Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox and PUBG to small App Store games built around the fold. The big games aren’t optimized for the inside display yet, but they still play really well. Some of the indie games are a blast.

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Key takeaways

• AAA games like Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox and PUBG aren’t optimized for the Duo’s inside display. You have to zoom or stretch them, but they run smoothly.
• Indie developers are making the most of the fold, with games that use both halves or the act of opening and closing the phone.
• Overall, almost every game I tried played really well.

Fortnite

Fortnite doesn’t fill the inside display, so you have to pinch it in and lose some screen real estate. I set the graphics to 120 frames per second, and it looked like it was getting about 60, but it played beautifully without many dropped frames, even without a controller. I honestly don’t know if Epic will ever optimize it properly. They’ve had trouble with Apple before, and foldables are still a small slice of the market.

Word Nice and Piano Fold

Word Nice is a very easy, relaxing word game where you spell words in any direction, with a really nice calming hum in the background. I believe it’s free. Piano Fold is another pretty cool one, and you can play it open or folded.

Greens

Greens is a mini golf game I really enjoy. It’s free from what I can see (there’s probably a paid element I haven’t explored), and it’s easy to pick up for a few minutes or a longer session.

Minecraft and Roblox

Minecraft is a stretched-out game right now. You have to stretch it to get anywhere close to full screen. It plays fine and it’s a light game for the Duo’s power, but it’s not optimized for this display. Roblox isn’t optimized either and plays small on the display, though rotating it sometimes helps. Frame rates were awesome and it looked really smooth.

Toasty

Toasty is really cool. The developer gave me a code to try it. You make grilled sandwiches against the clock, and you grill them by closing the phone, kind of like a George Foreman grill. Butter, cheese, bread, close, wait, open. Forget the tomato like I did and your score drops. My son is way better at it than me.

Wordscapes and more puzzle games

Wordscapes is one of my favorites. You spell all the words in a crossword. It’s very relaxing, sometimes it even helps me fall asleep, and it keeps your brain sharp. It’s not optimized, though. I also tried a puzzle game that has you unfold the phone to start a level and close it to move through it. Once I figured that out, it used both displays nicely.

Marbles Unhinged, Flick and Field, Nightlore

• Marbles Unhinged: you roll the marble by tilting the phone and try not to hit anything. Easy concept, but it takes practice.
• Flick and Field: a set of flick-to-play mini games like basketball and football, with two players on one device. It takes full advantage of the display.
• Nightlore: a racer with a nice soundtrack, multiplayer and motion controls. I find it difficult, but it’s one of the higher-rated games for the Duo, it looks well optimized, and the frame rates are crazy fast. It’s free to start, with likely paid add-ons.

PUBG

PUBG isn’t optimized either, so you zoom in, but you still get plenty of screen to see the game. I don’t see it being a problem if you want to play.

Final thoughts

Almost every game I played ran really well. I love the indie developers creating fun, unique games for this fold. The AAA games need to be optimized for the big display, but you can zoom, so it’s not that bad. Overall, it’s a very good gaming experience.

• Buy the iPhone Duo at Best Buy