Apple has a feature right now listing the 15 Greatest Adventure Games for iOS. I thought I'd recreate the list here because (a) profit! [footnote]If a couple dollars over the next 2 years can be considered profit.[/footnote] (b) these lists go away and then I can't remember which games were included.
I've played a few of these, heard of most of them, and would likely love all of them. How about you?
Minecraft: Story Mode - App Store link
This is a new version of Minecraft that's a stand-alone adventure game, unlike the regular Pocket Minecraft for iOS. It's an attempt to capitalize on the popular Minecraft game by selling something new to all the current users of Minecraft without making them buy a new game like Minecraft 2.
Broken Age - App Store link
Broken Age is a family friendly, hand-animated, puzzle-filled adventure game with an all-star cast, including Elijah Wood, Jack Black and Masasa Moyo.
80 Days - App Store link
Phileas Fogg has wagered he can circumnavigate the globe. Hundreds of journeys, thousands of routes. Travel by steamer, express train, airship, hover-car, hydrofoil, gyrocopter, camel, horse-back, hot-air balloon.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP App Store link
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is an indie adventure video game created by Superbrothers and Capybara Games, with music by Jim Guthrie.
I love the style and design of this game.
LIMBO App Store link
The primary character in Limbo is a nameless boy, who awakens in the middle of a forest on the "edge of hell". While seeking his missing elder sister, he encounters only a few human characters who either attack him, run away, or are dead.
I've played the demo for this game on Xbox 360 and loved it but just haven't plunked down the money to pick up a copy yet. For extra bonus points, listen to The Short Game’s episode on LIMBO.
Implosion - Never Lose Hope App Store link
Implosion puts you in the role of Jake, a hotshot young mecha pilot who is one of a group of humans that fled Earth in the wake of a global disaster. An incident has brought Jake and his team back to their home planet, where they'll square off against a strange life form known as the XADA. The fate of the entire species is at stake, naturally.
I've never seen this one but it looks like a great run-around and destroy aliens action game.
Don't Starve: Pocket Edition - App Store link
Don't Starve challenges the player to survive in a wilderness environment for as long as possible. In Sandbox Mode, the only way the game ends is with the player's death or by restarting the game in a new random world through the use of the Wooden Thing. When the player dies they are awarded Experience for the number of days they survived.
Sounds fun.
Space Age: A Cosmic Adventure - App Store link
App Store Editor's Choice! Space Age is a game of cosmic adventure. Set in the retro-futuristic sci-fi world of 1976, it follows a small but determined band of intergalactic explorers who land on a seemingly uninhabited planet, Kepler-16.
I was actually part of the beta test for this game. It's a fun retro style return to the adventure games I used to play like Police Quest / King's Quest.
République - App Store link
Players communicate with the main character, Hope, through their phone or computer, in order to help her escape. The player controls surveillance cameras in the fictional totalitarian state of République in order to monitor Hope's actions, as well as hack into various electronic devices.
I've just realized I have this one on my App Store account - maybe a Starbucks free game? - so now that I have an iOS device capable of playing it I'll have to give it a try.
Tales From Deep Space - App Store link
You control E and CASI, a human and robot respectively, unwitting partners who get tangled up in a big conspiracy involving an alien race, some shady characters, and a giant robot overlord AI. You'll be using each character's abilities to navigate the world, acquiring new abilities and trying to accomplish your current goal, which keeps changing depending on the story. There are plenty of weird, squishy aliens to encounter along the way, though.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War - App Store link
The game is inspired by letters written during the Great War and has four characters on the battlefield help a young German soldier find his love in this story about survival, sacrifice and friendship.
Just based on icon artwork and screenshots, this one looks like a lot of fun.
Oceanhorn - App Store link
Oceanhorn focuses on a boy protagonist's quest to find his lost father and defeat the sea monster Oceanhorn. The gameplay and graphic design of Oceanhorn closely follows that of The Legend of Zelda video games, notably The Wind Waker and A Link to the Past. Players explore dungeons, fight monsters with various weapons, and throw pots and cut bushes to find hidden coins or hearts.
Grim Fandango Remastered - App Store link
Grim Fandango's world combines elements of the Aztec belief of afterlife with style aspects of film noir, including The Maltese Falcon, On the Waterfront and Casablanca, to create the Land of the Dead, through which recently departed souls, represented in the game as calaca-like figures, must travel before they reach their final destination, the Ninth Underworld. The story follows travel agent Manuel "Manny" Calavera as he attempts to save Mercedes "Meche" Colomar, a newly arrived but virtuous soul, during her long journey.
I played this way back when it first came out and couldn't get through it. The artwork and styling is so good that it makes me want to go back and try again. Extra bonus points can be had by listening to episode 40 of The Short Game.
Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon - App Store link
The player takes control of a spider whose primary goal is to survive by spinning webs and eating insects. At the same time, the player can explore the manor, searching for secrets and clues. The aim in each level is to eat a certain amount of insects. At this point, a portal to the next level will open, although the player can remain in the level and eat the rest of the insects if they wish. Insects include, but are not limited to, moths, crickets, ladybugs and wasps. Hornets are unique in the game insofar as they cannot be caught in a web. Instead, they must be attacked directly by jumping into them.
I've never heard of this one.
Game of Thrones - A Telltale Games Series - App Store link
Story mode with one free episode and additional episodes for in-app purchase. I love the tv series, I'm enjoying the books. Maybe I'll like the iOS app as well?
15 Adventure Games for iOS
So that's the list Apple put together - what do you think of their choices? Is there better ones missing?