Apple Arcade’s Little Orpheus game is a new take on the space race

This story is part of CNET’s coverage of Apple Arcade, including exclusive first looks we got at some of the service’s high-profile new games.

On Friday, Apple Arcade added Little Orpheus from The Chinese Room, a Sumo Digital studio, to its growing catalog of over 100 games. In Little Orpheus, set in 1962 amid NASA trying to put a man on the moon, you play as Soviet cosmonaut Comrade Ivan Ivanovich. Instead of heading for the stars, Ivanovich is traveling to the center of the Earth in his exploration capsule, Little Orpheus. 

Ivanovich spends three years adventuring below the Earth’s crust and explores lost civilizations, undersea kingdoms and prehistoric jungles, and also outwits frightening monsters and meets the Menkv tribe. But will anyone believe his stories when gets back? 

You can watch the trailer for the game below: 

The game’s developers were inspired by films like The Land that Time Forgot, historic Soviet themes, the Cold War itself and mid-century sci-fi books to bring Little Orpheus to life, according to a press release. The Chinese Room is based in Brighton and is the studio behind such titles as Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, So Let Us Melt and Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. 

With Apple Arcade’s release in September, Apple firmly staked its claim in the mobile gaming world. The subscription gaming service costs $4.99 a month (£4.99, AU$7.99) and lets you play more than 100 new and exclusive games across the iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod Touch and Apple TV.