haha funny number
The best mobile game I have ever played. Such a unique concept. I wish it was more widely available.
don’t get me wrong: this game is beautiful. i’m just dumb and my brain can’t comprehend anything
Far from perfect, but it has more than enough unique ideas and tricks to warrant a play through.
Device 6 foi uma recomendação que li salvo engano na revista EDGE.
É um misto de literatura com adventure, sendo umas coisas mais criativas que já vi na vida. Acho que pegaram leve na dose de puzzles e a sensação de leitura é maior que qualquer outra coisa. Mas o jogo brinca com o próprio texto, uma experiência curiosa com forma e paragrafação, envolvendo texto, áudio e visual. Sem dúivda algo único.
É um misto de literatura com adventure, sendo umas coisas mais criativas que já vi na vida. Acho que pegaram leve na dose de puzzles e a sensação de leitura é maior que qualquer outra coisa. Mas o jogo brinca com o próprio texto, uma experiência curiosa com forma e paragrafação, envolvendo texto, áudio e visual. Sem dúivda algo único.
Relentlessly creative and inspired, fufilling that aspiration of an experience that "Could Only Be Done In The Medium Of Video Games" in such a simple and understated way. Didnt even need a 4090 TI.
Sometimes, I like to search "best mobile games site:reddit.com after:[current year]-01-01" to lurk new sensations on this medium but, unfortunately, I always end up finding the same titles. One of them is Device 6, which I have been trying to play ever since I watched this video in 2015. Fortuntely enough, I have been able to access an iPhone to play it 7 years later.
Even though I try to set the lowest expectations for any kind of thing in life, I think that I had some sort of hype built up around this game after all this time and I think that it had lived up to it very well. The concept is innovative and makes a fantastic use of the versality of a mobile phone. It also explores a new and a different approach of making video games by narrating the story in a book form (it's not just another visual novel).
It is really well-made because of the clever way in which the game includes the puzzles and their clues in visual and auditory forms that accompany the text, which makes the player go back and forth the text looking for the clues given to solve the puzzle.
The visuals feel smart and warm, like if I actually was reading an interactive book. It is truly a shame that this form of making video games have not been more explored yet because the idea of making interactive books, like Device 6, really enhances the immersion and opens the door that this medium offers to narrate new stories.
But, not only this game has a good and well executed concept, it is also accompanied by a solid story with a savage ending. I won't go any further into details, apart from saying that it reminded me a lot of a certain Black Mirror episode. However, I do wish that it would have more sustain to it because a couple of chapters towards the end felt lineal, in the sense that not much was happening.
The way of narrating the story and the addition of puzzles along with its style make this game one of the most satisfying experiences that I have had with any game. Like I said before, I wish there were more books/games that took inspiration from it. Reading would be even more inmersive this way.
Even though I try to set the lowest expectations for any kind of thing in life, I think that I had some sort of hype built up around this game after all this time and I think that it had lived up to it very well. The concept is innovative and makes a fantastic use of the versality of a mobile phone. It also explores a new and a different approach of making video games by narrating the story in a book form (it's not just another visual novel).
It is really well-made because of the clever way in which the game includes the puzzles and their clues in visual and auditory forms that accompany the text, which makes the player go back and forth the text looking for the clues given to solve the puzzle.
The visuals feel smart and warm, like if I actually was reading an interactive book. It is truly a shame that this form of making video games have not been more explored yet because the idea of making interactive books, like Device 6, really enhances the immersion and opens the door that this medium offers to narrate new stories.
But, not only this game has a good and well executed concept, it is also accompanied by a solid story with a savage ending. I won't go any further into details, apart from saying that it reminded me a lot of a certain Black Mirror episode. However, I do wish that it would have more sustain to it because a couple of chapters towards the end felt lineal, in the sense that not much was happening.
The way of narrating the story and the addition of puzzles along with its style make this game one of the most satisfying experiences that I have had with any game. Like I said before, I wish there were more books/games that took inspiration from it. Reading would be even more inmersive this way.
This game was so original, and made full use of its platform. Every time I figured out a puzzle solution I was like "wow, how are they gonna top this?" If you can get your hands on this, spend an afternoon with it, it's very unique.
Hey there! Have you ever wanted to play a game that in every shape of the word is a spiritual adaptation of The Prisoner? You know, that British sci-fi show with the 1960s era spy fiction tone, a brainwashing/mind control surveillance conspiracy, and experimentally stylish as all hell? You are? Cool! Is it ok that it’s on mobile iOS only and kinda pricey? And most of the game is text with puzzles interspersed? No?
Welp, now you see my predicament in recommending this game.
DEVICE6 is a love letter to The Prisoner from my favorite game company, Simogo. The company prides itself on “never making the same game twice”, which in that sense has them going everywhere from horror depressing “walking sim” to a weird but stylish interactive “rhythm” game. The latter, “Sayonara Wild Hearts”, has thankfully shone a bigger spotlight on the company thanks to its showing at The Game Awards, but unfortunately DEVICE6 never got the same treatment outside of insular mobile game awards that showered it with awards and promptly booted it out the front door to the…. “Mobile game market” that cares more about a game you can play in short spurts and on the go rather than one that requires you to get out a pen and paper so you can piece together the puzzles.
Alas, this is the latter.
DEVICE6’s gimmick is how it uses the mobile interface to read through text that will require you to move the phone every which way, from upside down to vertical, horizontal, and sometimes even asking you to use a mirror. Sometimes the text even splits into branches for you to follow, and the text is both the story and what leads to the meat, the puzzles. Puzzles in the game are centered around audio logs you stumble across, visual paintings that you pass by, sometimes even from previous statements from the text. It is a game where the pen and paper is your friend, not your enemy. While the game is not as tricky to put together as, say, La-Mulana, it isn’t easy either.
The premise, on the other hand, is simple. A lady finds herself in an abandoned castle without memory of how she got there, and stumbles around trying to find answers of where she is and why she’s there. Without spoiling, what you end up with is a meta device between the main character and you, and a conspiracy surrounding the namesake of the game… and people in black. Puzzling!
Speaking of puzzling, to give an example of a puzzle in DEVICE6, I’ll use the first chapter. In the chapter as you’ll explore the area through text, you’ll find a screen without battery, a machine asking for a passcode, a machine with buttons L and R, a display that cycles through cameras around a building, and an audio log describing the answers to only one of the previous with vague clues such as “where red meets yellow in a frame” and a framed number between “hope and lies”. It requires you to go back through the text for clues and images around the area. And to me, the puzzles are pretty ingenious in their relative simplicity while still forcing you to wrap your brain around the answers, as well as a dedication to paying attention to what you read.
The game also oozes with style and atmosphere. There’s a reason the game asks you to use headphones, not just for its audio logs, but to help immerse yourself in the atmosphere that never reaches horror but always keeps you out of your depth. You can see what I mean by “The Prisoner” vibes. The sound effects are in-house from reality to add more to it, and there’s numerous references throughout the game, for better or for worse. The trailer for the game should make it very clear what you’re getting into.
DEVICE6 is a brilliant mobile game that I wish was more popular if it wasn’t stuck solely to one platform that not a lot of gamers play (whether from stigma or justifiable problems with the industry) and had a somewhat sizable price point for that platform to boot. I highly recommend watching the trailer for it to get a real sense of what the game has in store, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with what you find, creepy doll notwithstanding.
All hail DEVICE 6.
(Thanks to Ash for helping me with this review!)
Welp, now you see my predicament in recommending this game.
DEVICE6 is a love letter to The Prisoner from my favorite game company, Simogo. The company prides itself on “never making the same game twice”, which in that sense has them going everywhere from horror depressing “walking sim” to a weird but stylish interactive “rhythm” game. The latter, “Sayonara Wild Hearts”, has thankfully shone a bigger spotlight on the company thanks to its showing at The Game Awards, but unfortunately DEVICE6 never got the same treatment outside of insular mobile game awards that showered it with awards and promptly booted it out the front door to the…. “Mobile game market” that cares more about a game you can play in short spurts and on the go rather than one that requires you to get out a pen and paper so you can piece together the puzzles.
Alas, this is the latter.
DEVICE6’s gimmick is how it uses the mobile interface to read through text that will require you to move the phone every which way, from upside down to vertical, horizontal, and sometimes even asking you to use a mirror. Sometimes the text even splits into branches for you to follow, and the text is both the story and what leads to the meat, the puzzles. Puzzles in the game are centered around audio logs you stumble across, visual paintings that you pass by, sometimes even from previous statements from the text. It is a game where the pen and paper is your friend, not your enemy. While the game is not as tricky to put together as, say, La-Mulana, it isn’t easy either.
The premise, on the other hand, is simple. A lady finds herself in an abandoned castle without memory of how she got there, and stumbles around trying to find answers of where she is and why she’s there. Without spoiling, what you end up with is a meta device between the main character and you, and a conspiracy surrounding the namesake of the game… and people in black. Puzzling!
Speaking of puzzling, to give an example of a puzzle in DEVICE6, I’ll use the first chapter. In the chapter as you’ll explore the area through text, you’ll find a screen without battery, a machine asking for a passcode, a machine with buttons L and R, a display that cycles through cameras around a building, and an audio log describing the answers to only one of the previous with vague clues such as “where red meets yellow in a frame” and a framed number between “hope and lies”. It requires you to go back through the text for clues and images around the area. And to me, the puzzles are pretty ingenious in their relative simplicity while still forcing you to wrap your brain around the answers, as well as a dedication to paying attention to what you read.
The game also oozes with style and atmosphere. There’s a reason the game asks you to use headphones, not just for its audio logs, but to help immerse yourself in the atmosphere that never reaches horror but always keeps you out of your depth. You can see what I mean by “The Prisoner” vibes. The sound effects are in-house from reality to add more to it, and there’s numerous references throughout the game, for better or for worse. The trailer for the game should make it very clear what you’re getting into.
DEVICE6 is a brilliant mobile game that I wish was more popular if it wasn’t stuck solely to one platform that not a lot of gamers play (whether from stigma or justifiable problems with the industry) and had a somewhat sizable price point for that platform to boot. I highly recommend watching the trailer for it to get a real sense of what the game has in store, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with what you find, creepy doll notwithstanding.
All hail DEVICE 6.
(Thanks to Ash for helping me with this review!)