I Need Some New-to-Me Compelling iPhone Quest/Story Games

September 30, 2018 2:00 PM

I'm an iPhone only gamer (with the exception of Stardew Valley on Steam). My two favorite games ever are World of Goo and Waking Mars. What else will scratch this itch?

Other things I've played an really enjoyed are Lost Winds, Botanicula, The Room+Sequels, Tengami, Monument Valley and Love You To Bits. Things that lost my interest quickly are Sword and Sworcery, Device 6 and Another World. Other things I've given a spin with varying degrees of engagement are Machinarium, Nihilumbra, City of Secrets, Sproggiwood and Tiny Thief. What else will I like? I'm flexible on mechanics and whether paid or free.

posted by kimdog to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

If you like SV there appear to be several Harvest Moon and clone games for ios?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:14 PM on September 30, 2018

I really like Soosiz. It’s much better than most platformers – a unique variation on the theme with good level design.
posted by D.C. at 2:54 PM on September 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Slightly orthogonal but A Dark Room and The Ensign might appeal to you.
posted by googly at 3:07 PM on September 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Her Story is the most story game possible on the iphone, and it is great! It's not your typical game, but give it a whirl.

Blackbar was super fun but really short.

Monument Valley 2, in case you missed that coming out.

I loved Lifeline, which is a branching narrative roguelike.

Lots of my friends and colleagues are loving Life Is Strange, and Florence but I haven't played either myself yet, to know if I personally like them.
posted by Joh at 10:42 PM on September 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: We have enough overlap that I think some of these may scratch your itch. I'm on Android, but I don't see why these wouldn't work just as well on iOS (they are all available).

Frostrune is an incredibly atmospheric story game set in ancient, um, well the country is not specific but someplace Norse. The music is amazing, the storyline is great, the mythology and culture are really well-developed.

Samorost 3 by the makers of Botanicula and Machinarium. I liked Botanicula much more than Machinarium, and this is closer to Botanicula though I confess I still haven't played it all the way through. Still, beautiful and odd in a similar way.

Tiny Bang Story is just charming. I enjoyed this one so much I have played it through twice now.

Stray Cat Doors is kind of a story-driven variation on the Japanese room escape genre. It's incredibly cute and sweet and a bit sad but lovely too.

Our Last Journey a story-driven puzzler vaguely in the same realm as Monument Valley.

Forever Lost and its sequels, a bit creepy and unsettling but you should be fine if you liked the Room.

House of Da Vinci is kind of like the Room if it was Leonardo da Vinci and his machines and inventions rather than strange alchemical steampunk type things. Very similar in feel and beautifully detailed.
posted by Athanassiel at 12:49 AM on October 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

The Rusty Lake games are fantastic. Lots of the early cube escape episodes are a brilliant taster and free to download but the longer form Roots is my fave. Surreal, dark and hilarious. And they just released Paradox - with live action! Just awesome.
posted by freya_lamb at 1:14 AM on October 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Life is Strange is really good. It's about a teenage girl and her best friend that have to navigate through their own lives in their hometown of Arcadia Bay when the young girl discovers that she has time-travel powers. You go around Arcadia Bay meeting people and unraveling the mystery of a missing girl that's been gone for a few months prior to the events of the game. You make a bunch of micro decisions (and also major ones) throughout the game that can develop the relationships you form with the people of Arcadia Bay and also impacts the way the story unfolds. To sum it up, it's basically a Bildungsroman with a Twin Peaks atmosphere - plus time-travel! It's broken up into 5 "episodes" the first episode being free on the app store if you want to try it out. Cannot recommend it enough! Plus, the soundtrack is phenomenal. I think when a game incorporates music that is beautiful but also complements the game well it makes the whole experience that much better.
posted by redavocadogreentomato at 3:08 AM on October 1, 2018

Not sure this is what you mean, but I love Choices.
posted by LoonyLovegood at 3:52 AM on October 1, 2018

Best answer: Two shortish but wonderful games are Gorogoa and Donut County.
posted by gennessee at 6:30 AM on October 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Literally came here just to plug the whole Rusty Lake series. They have a convenient bundle download of their premium games (Rusty Lake Paradise, Hotel, and Roots) on Steam right now or you can get them on iOS. The iOS app store also has a lot of their escape games available for free download. Cube Escape: Seasons was particularly trippy fun.

I also played through the Steven Universe: Attack the Light iOS game and it was a pretty delightful* old school-style turn-based combat RPG.

*even more delightful if you like Steven Universe.

Also, if you have Steam and don't mind adding to your game library (side note: I downloaded SV recently and I CANNOT STOP adjalfdj;as) Gone Home is a really cool investigative story kind of game. It's been awhile since I played it, but I remember really liking it.
posted by helloimjennsco at 8:18 AM on October 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks SO MUCH! I think almost all of these suggestions look like my kind of thing. And I AM A HUGE STEVEN UNIVERSE FAN! So that looks like a great way to tide me over until the next season.
posted by kimdog at 7:06 AM on October 2, 2018