So, I was browsing the new game list on Pocket Gamer and TouchArcade only to find one of the biggest titles of last year (made its debut in 2016 for Xbox One and later Windows and PS4) just hit the App Store. The game is none other than Playdead’s Inside.
This is a huge deal. You may ask how huge? Well the game, for one, got a perfect score or 10 out of 10 on IGN. It was rated as one of the best and most innovative games last year.
This amazing piece of narrative and game design is a psychological thriller of sorts where you guide a boy across landscapes full of peril and danger to safety. I guess describing it can almost summarize describing a game like Ico or The Last Guardian. However, this game plays in a 2D or side-scroller perspective and consists of mostly avoidance of danger and puzzle solving.
The game won all sorts of awards and was even mentioned as the game of the year by much of the press of last year. In fact it being one of the swaying points for me whether I would our hase the Xbox One or PS4 since for a while it seemed like it would stay exclusive to Microsoft’s platform.
It is pretty amazging how indy devs have come and the sway they now have over us gamers. They create some of the most interesting and thought-provoking games for us to sink our teeth into and Inside as well as its prequel (also available on iOS) Limbo prove just how far indy devs have come.
I still haven’t played much of Inside due to my incredible large backlog of games I have to get through on the iPad, but I look forward to playing more of it. I recently also made the plunge on a game called Severed, which made its way from the Sony Vita to the App Store.
These sort of games and experiences are what to me makes gaming on the iPad such a unique and interesting experience. Sometimes the controls do not make the transition as well as the actual games (in terms of content, graphics and everything else), but other times they offer an even superior experience (Severed could be considered an example of this statement as it was designed for touch form the ground up).
There are also many titles being released lately that have been custom-designed for touch and the iOS platform and aren’t available anywhere else. This is what makes gaming on the iPad both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing due to the options we have and constant games that come out of the blue and change the platform’s expectations. A curse due to not having enough time to play them all or try every interesting game that comes along. This is why reading previews, reviews and following the gaming media can make an iOS gamer’s life a bit easier.
It is also worth noting that big-time console and PC games are making their way to the platform and proving the control options are just fine as well as the gameplay and graphics these games bring with them. Now back to that backlog, where should I start first? Avadon or how bout Oceanhorn?
Maciej Duraj 
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