Device 6 (for iPhone) Review
Year Walk, the Editors' Choice winner from Simogo, came out last year. It was a game that didn't fit the idea of casual gaming, but it made full use of the mobile platform. Simogo's latest game, Device 6 ($3.99 on the App Store), uses text to take the player on a strange journey through story and choice. Even though most of Device 6 is text, it is not a true "text adventure." It's more like an enhanced digital novel, with moving images (not video) and audio sprinkled throughout the text.
The story starts with Anna waking up in a strange castle, confused and on drugs. But you really don't see any of this. You instead scroll through a written story. As the story goes back and forth, you have to turn your phone this way and that way to keep up.
Exploring Text
Even though it might seem like a gimmick, the sound of footsteps and other sounds in the background help to give a real sense of space and setting. As you move away from the ocean, the sound of the waves rises and falls, gravel crunches under your feet, a tape player plays cryptic clues, and there's even an orchestral attempt at a Hitchcockian dramatic moment.
Each chapter's puzzle can be solved with clues from your environment. These clues can come from what you read, but they can also come from what you see and hear. Most of the time, this means putting together a password to open a door to the next chapter. The puzzles can be hard, and the first one is hard enough to scare off some players. After that, though, the game's six chapters start to feel like old friends. About halfway through, I was sure that I could figure out what was going on from the clues that were given to me.
In between each chapter, there are a series of questionnaires that get more and more strange. These are funny breaks between the more serious chapters, but the crazy things you have to do will make you wonder what the game is really about.
Smart and Stylishly Simplistic
Even though Device 6 looks simple, that doesn't mean it was made quickly. The game's visuals and sounds have a very strong design language that really drew me in. The story and the game itself are a lot like mod spy stories from the 1960s. There are references to movies like Vertigo and The Prisoner all over.
Device 6 puts a lot of weight on style instead of "state-of-the-art" or "breathtaking" graphics or other video game clichés. And it works. The game feels very tight, almost like it was made with great care. And because the interface is easy to use, the developers have a lot of room to break their own rules and surprise the player.
You Have No Choice
Like Year Walk, Device 6 is not a game that you can just pick up and play. Even though I've had Device 6 for weeks, I never played it on my way to and from work. Instead, I played Ridiculous Fishing, which I could play with one hand, to kill time. To solve the puzzles in each chapter, you'll need to pay close attention, listen carefully for clues, and probably take notes as well. Device 6 is best read like a book, either all at once or over a few sessions. If you want to pass the time, try Candy Crush instead.
Like Year Walk, Device 6 doesn't have much to offer a player who has already played it. Every time you play, the puzzles are the same, and while the game has a lot of depth to it, it is frustratingly linear.
But that's really what Device 6 is for. On the other side of the game's grim view of fate is a difficult question about how choices affect the story. As the player, you can move wherever you want, but you only have one option: you can either follow the game's single path and solve the puzzles or stop playing. Anna, the main character of the game, to whom you are very close, has even less choice because she has to do what Device 6's author wants. At the same time, your play makes you an unwitting participant in the game's events. The fixed text that appears every time you touch the screen becomes less of a path to be followed and more of a creepy conveyor belt that leads you to the end of the story. Even if it's not the answer you were hoping for.
This may not be the kind of mobile game you want, and I don't blame you. But if you like to be challenged and like a good puzzle, Device 6 is a great choice.
