Mobile game (iPhone/android, tablet) game recommendations

#1

Hey all,

Is anyone aware of a good list of narrative-focused mobile games? Or is anyone willing to put one together? : )

I know I can play traditional parser IF on my phone, but I really don’t find it very fun (that is, I love parser IF, I just don’t like playing it on my phone). What I find myself wanting are games that IF fans would like to play that aren’t necessary parser IF : )

Here’s what I’ve already got on my phone right now:

  • Ryan North’s To Be or Not To Be (hilarious CYOA based on Hamlet)
  • Space Age: A Cosmic Adventure (explore environments to progress a linear story)
  • 80 Days (of course!)
  • Blackbar (novelty guess-the-word game that tells a good story)
  • Blood & Laurels (extremely advanced CYOA, sadly no longer available for the latest iOS release)
  • Device 6 (novelty hyperfiction)

I’m interested in games for either android or iOS, in phone or tablet form factor.

#2

“Survival Horror” is decent.

“Choice of Games” have had a number of their titles released for iOS.

Frankenstein, Down Among The Dead Men and Sourcery!. Basically, everything by InkleStudios.

Cainsville Files is short but a decent read/play.

Future Voices is good too. And free.

You can try Lifeline, it’s decent…

Zarf’s Meanwhile is well worth looking at.

“A Dark Room” isn’t strictly IF, but it’s well worth playing.

And I keep hearing great things about Her Story - not IF in any way shape of form, but apparently quite alluring to IFers.

And then if you want to broaden your definitions you have the Wadjet Eye games, the Broken Sword/BASS games, the Monkey Island games, The Cave…

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#3

Thanks a ton for the list @PeterPiers! I’ve already played Frankenstein and Meanwhile and enjoyed them, I guess I don’t have them on my phone any more or I would have mentioned them.

I have a lot of other stuff to check out, thanks! : )

#4

Other not-really-IF-but-also-puzzly-games-that-IFers-may-enjoy are Framed, possibly Limbo…

Mike Berlyn’s games are not that good (Art of Murder, Grok the Monkey, Reconstructing Remy) but they’re inexpensive and are not totally devoid of interest. Plus, he’s a guy that’s been with IF since forever. He’s worth supporting.

The Last Door is a point and click graphical horror game.

Monument Valley will, I’m sure, appeal to IFers.

Revolution 60 has some affinity with IF, in tehe form of Carolyn Van Eseltine. I really recommend it, though it’s more like a CYOA with combat. Heh, like Fighting Fantasy 3d.

Speaking of which, there ARE Fighting Fantasy ports for the iOS, check out Tin Man Games.

And, of course, TellTale Games.

I’m a fan of Sword & Sworcery EP. I can recommend it.

And hey, if you’re ever in the mood for a Diablo-style RPG just to break the routine, Darkstone is available for free, which is craaaazyy. Whereas Shattered Planet offers a very nice light roguelike experience (but then, if you’ve a tablet, you can go for the actual NetHack and Rogue and Slash’Em ports. Bit small on the iPod Touch, but just as awesome). And “Red Wizard” also offers a light and casual roguelike experience.

Since I’m not as into roguelikes as I am into adventure games and IF, all the ones I just mentioned are free. Go right ahead and give them a spin if you like, they’re pretty much WYSIWYG.

#5

Hello! First time poster here. I’ve studied this a decent amount, so trying to be helpful here! :smile:

Well there are 4 big companies putting out IF titles:

  • Inkle: Nearly everyone has heard of or played their titles: 80 days, Sorcery!, and Frankenstein. They do high-quality gamebooks, but often bring in a few new mechanics to the genre.
  • Tin Man Games: Specializes in bringing back the old UK gamebooks of the 80’s. You’ll find a lot of swordy & sorcery type titles here, including the famous fighting fantasy. For the most part, they stay pretty true to the genre. They do have a few sci-fi titles as well. Trial of the Clone is suppose to be pretty good.
  • Cubus Games: A new contender in the last few years, but have grown strong with their Heavy Metal Thunder series. They are probably most like TIn Man Games, offering stylized gamebooks with pretty standard mechanics (choices, dice, & inventory).
  • Choice of Games: They easily have the most titles of any one company on the app store. They specializes in being a publisher of choice-driven stories. Unlike the others listed here, you’ll find no graphics or audio to accompany the choice. Instead, they focus on some fairly deep story. The quality is all over the place but there Heroes Rise collection is quite popular. Also, they publisher under two different company names on the app store. Shout out: Life of a Wizard is my favorite, and largely inspired my current work.

Besides these companies that seem to pump out title-after-title, there are a handful that have hit it big with a title or two:

  • Out There: Space exploration with random events. A large portion of the game is inventory-management, but it is also well known for its choice-driven narrative. As the gameplay would suggest it is much more gamey, but is still considered interactive fiction by most.
  • Lifeline 1 and 2: Apple did a big push of this for their apple-watch, the short-form, text-driven game being a perfect fit for their platform. Interesting take on notification-driven, choice-based narrative that the general populous has quiet enjoyed. Many have said the character development is quiet nice.
  • King of Dragon Pass: Let me just say I love this game. Very unique. You rule a small tribe of people and have to make important decisions each year to ensure they are fed, protected from raids, and eventually that you unite all the other tribes and become their king.

Also I recently started exchange info with a friendly one-man team putting together interactive comics. Perhaps even more niche than interactive fiction, but he’s put out two so far! If that’s something you are into, you can find more info here!

And lastly, I too am working on a digital gamebook! It focuses on adventure, replayability, and strategy. Each play-through offers a new plot, story events, and has a card-mini game for combat that helps to mix things up and really brings in that strategy element! After over a year, it is sadly still a WIP. But I’d love your input on the direction its heading!

And as PeterPiers mention, there are several other great games that weren’t produced by these companies. It’s all about what type of game you are going for.

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#6

Amazingly, Mystery House has been ported to iOS…

…but at €5.99, I doubt anyone will be buying it. Way to overprice a game that’s so bad its only value is nostalgia.

EDIT - …and LucasArts removed Monkey Island I & II!!! Why would they do that?!

It was bad enough GameLoft removed Rayman 2…