Taiko no Tatsujin Pop Tap Beat is glorious on Apple Arcade

Taiko Pop Tap, as it appears on my phone's home screen, is pure joy. If you've played the earlier games in the drumming series you will already know this. And I suspect, if you've played the earlier games in the drumming series, Taiko Pop Tap was your first download from the new drop of Apple Arcade games.

It works beautifully. Songs play, drum beats scroll, and you tap away to match them. Small red beats need a tap inside the circle, small blue beats need a tap outside the circle, bigger red beats require two fingered taps, and so do bigger blue beats. Now and then you have to do a drum roll.

Genuine happiness ensues. I have no idea why Taiko Pop Tap works its magic, but it almost never fails. The colours are bright, the track selection is really wonderful - Hello! Halloween is in steady rotation - and there is this lovely elastic precision to each tap. You really sense that you're hitting the drum and then bouncing off it.

There are multiplayer options and unlockables, but what I'm most fascinated by is the rich displays I sense erupting on the screen as I play, but which I never get to see because I'm too busy playing. Focus on the beats! Taiko Pop Tap is one of those weird games you could play solidly for ten years and not really know what it looks like, because you're so zeroed in on one part of the screen.

Anyway, all this is flim-flam. Play this beautiful, thrilling game, and feel better. Even if you were feeling pretty good to start with.