Device 6 – Game Review

A few days back, I downloaded this game on the iPad – Device 6, by Simogo.

I am quite impressed by it. It is a game perfect for a tablet (or a phablet... wanting it to come out on Android for my Note 3.) The game is, in a nutshell, interactive fiction in a mostly literal form.

There are no gun fights or action on screen which requires you to be smushing your onscreen buttons. The flow of the game is like reading an engrossing thriller… except you actually reach the conclusion along with the character by working on the clues strewn around in the text of the novel, hidden in at times confusing, at times aiding sound bytes, and black and white images both still and moving which seem to be from the 30s or 40s.

The intro + credits montage at the beginning of the game is very British, very James Bond… and it is sad that it only played at the first opening of the game. I wouldn't mind it being available to be launched from the game by some discreet onscreen button. The game has to experienced with earphones or a headset... it increases the spookiness quotient a lot.

I don’t know if the game has any precedents, but to me it is a unique experience. The game is as fast as you allow it to be, with the text snaking around the screen, literally. You would end up rotating the screen at all sorts of angles to read it, sometimes holding it to a mirror, tapping at text or images which are actually buttons in disguise, solving cryptic clues written and many a time spoken or broadcast. There is an old world charm to it with a very pipe smoking detective vibe.

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The central character from what I have played is Anna, a lady who loves her smokes, who has woken up in weird surroundings with no memory of how she got there and she has to work her way around what seems like a castle or a mansion or a very large house… perhaps Victorian.

The important part is that the player has to be observant as they read what is essentially a novel… words, numbers and dates or phrases may all be possible clues which you might need elsewhere in the game as you travel room to room exploring along with Anna.

I found the game exciting but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea (or coffee.)

I have finished 3 chapters of the story and I don’t really know how many remain… but I am eager for more.