Other Mobile Games like "The Room" Series

September 21, 2020 9:31 PM

I really like escape/puzzle games like The Room series for iOS and Android. I'd like to play some more, but I'd prefer to go with titles that aren't as creepy as The Room (which I enjoy but can only play during the day because I get spooked easily.) The games don't need to be nearly as elaborate as TR -- just fun and challenging. What would you recommend? I am on Android.
posted by Kitchen Witch to Grab Bag (17 answers total)

I would recommend the Forever Lost series, All That Remains, Agent A, and the Adventure Escape games from Haiku Games. The Forever Lost series is probably the most complex like The Room but can be pretty creepy in my opinion, set in an asylum. All That Remains is a little creepy but not more than the Room series, it’s set in a bomb shelter. Agent A is campy spy stuff, very cartoony. The Adventure Escape games are lightweight and sometimes buggy but generally fun, and they’re free.
posted by impishoptimist at 10:13 PM on September 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Though it's for ios, a lot of titles are cross platform, so it may be worth checking out this askme.

For instance, Vignettes, The Birdcage and (some?) Rusty Lake games are on Android. The Rusty Lake ones tend to be a bit creepy but maybe not as creepy as The Room.
posted by juv3nal at 10:30 PM on September 21, 2020 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I'm giving the Haiku games a try but they require in app purchases for hints. I like them, though.

Any chance there are games I can buy outright without being beholden to the likelihood that I will need to take out a separate credit card exclusively for mobile gaming? 😬
posted by Kitchen Witch at 12:30 AM on September 22, 2020

Possibly the Rusty Lake Cube Escape games, though they might be too creepy for night as well.
posted by jeather at 4:34 AM on September 22, 2020

RealMyst Is one of the all-time classics of the genre.
posted by mattholomew at 5:37 AM on September 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

Device 6 is a delight, substituting Cold-War creepy for The Room's victorian-lovecraft creepy.
posted by mhoye at 5:46 AM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Definitely play Myst if you haven't before! It's an iconic puzzle game. And if you like it, its sequel, Riven, is perhaps even better.
posted by vitout at 6:06 AM on September 22, 2020

An alternative to buying hints in the Haiku games is to google (name of the game) walkthrough. When I got stuck I was always able to find a guide or walkthrough video that would get me past the stuck point. A lot of the other games listed here are paid and include at least some hints.
posted by impishoptimist at 6:22 AM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

the likelihood that I will need to take out a separate credit card exclusively for mobile gaming?

I don't have a good game suggestion, but on this point, you can buy gift cards for both ecosystems in grocery stores and other places so you don't have to tie a credit card to your account.
posted by Candleman at 6:53 AM on September 22, 2020

Tiny Room! I enjoyed the Rusty Lake games, but found them very creepy.
posted by Skybly at 7:49 AM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

GNOG! It's a beautiful, weird, puzzle-box sort of game.
Vignettes (seconding) is also lovely.
posted by pipeski at 8:54 AM on September 22, 2020

I loved the room, and also loved Tiny Room. Monument Valley is a different kind of puzzle game, but it hands down one of the best games I have ever played, in any medium.
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:55 AM on September 22, 2020 [3 favorites]

I love Monument Valley, too!

Very similar to The Room, but less creepy (though it has a "dark" aesthetic) is The House of Da Vinci, which I can't quite tell if it's available for android or not. It's on Google Play, anyway. It's longish, and we had to use hints and look up play-throughs for a few items (not that many in comparison to how many puzzles there are, but still), which is not the way I like to play, whereas with The Room games, I've always been able to purely logic it out. Still, we found it quite a bit of fun for those kinds of puzzles
posted by taz at 11:26 AM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

You might consider The Witness. It's not creepy at all, and I like the way the puzzles build in complexity. Warning: it can be quite challenging in the late game.
posted by SPrintF at 11:39 AM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

I played this on the computer - but seems it's available for android here

I thought it was really really good, and definitely not creepy.
posted by multivalent at 1:48 PM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Tiny bang story is a zero on the creepy scale, has beautiful art, and is lots of fun
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:48 PM on September 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

The Hidden my game by mom series is not scary, but enjoyable and silly enough that it might be of some interest. Not very challenging, but I found them fun, they scratched a similar itch. I would nth the Rusty Lake games, but they do have a creepy vibe, and there are so many of them that it is overwhelming, and it's hard to figure out where to begin the series.
posted by the letter at 11:08 PM on November 26, 2020