We've looked at a few interactive fiction games and gamebooks that work out to be something like "choose your own adventure" here, such as the Aztec adventure
Necklace of Skulls, as well as the sci-fi horror
Heavy Metal Thunder. These games are centered around assuming that you're the protagonist, or at least controlling them, and utilizing things like dice rolls or coin flips to get you through any tight situations. That's not quite how our new favorite interactive fiction game, a sci-fi adventure called
Lifeline, works.
The way that
Lifeline goes about its business is interesting. You are not the main character. You're not even controlling the main character. No, you're the deuteragonist (the "sidekick" of the story), who is interfacing back and forth with the sole survivor of a spaceship crash named Taylor, via some form of short-burst transmission, sort of a space CB-radio deal. The objective of the game is to keep Taylor alive as you and he attempt to find your way off of some unknown moon. Taylor, who is the protagonist, is a self-described sarcastic jerk in the game, which leads to some interesting and genuinely funny banter between the two of you as the game progresses.
The only thing you can do throughout the game is advise Taylor on what he should do, and Taylor, being disoriented, lost, and scared, is pretty willing to go along with whatever you say. The game does a great job at providing you with genuinely tense moments, as you realize you're going to have to make a decision that could potentially save Taylor's life -- or end it.
The kicker, though, is that the game cannot be blasted through in a short amount of time. No,
Lifeline has a mechanic where Taylor will stop communicating with you in order to go out and do whatever it is you've suggested. That means, at times, you'll be waiting an hour or more for Taylor to get back to you. If Taylor dies, you go back to the beginning, and yes, the wait times are still there.
We've seen other reviews of
Lifeline that seem to frown upon the game's time-based mechanic, but we don't see it as such an issue. This might be because we're already fairly willing to give interactive fiction and gamebooks quite a bit of leeway when it comes to game mechanics, but we think the fact that you have to wait for Taylor to message you makes for a more immersive experience.
If you're lucky enough to own an Apple Watch, you can experience the game there, which we think might actually make the time mechanism a little more palatable to those not entirely sold on it. Not to mention, it'd probably feel quite a bit more far-future sci-fi that way, which is what the game is going for anyway.
So what's our verdict? While it's not for everyone, we think that this is an accessible game that fans of sci-fi fiction are likely to enjoy. It's not a game that you rush through, a game with hard objectives and high scores to top. It's not something meant to be completed in a single sitting. No,
Lifeline is a game that's meant to be enjoyed as an experience in and of itself over the course of a couple days. If you like the sound of it,
Lifeline is available for the iPad, the iPhone, and has Apple Watch features, and costs $1.
Who should snag Lifeline:
If you enjoyed other game books and like sci-fi, we think that this might be the sort of thing that you would want to look into.
Who can pass on LifeLine:
If you like high-action games or aren't looking to dedicate a couple of days getting through
Lifeline, we're can't recommend that you start playing it.
-- Amber Neely (
@SurferAmber)
Readers: do you have an app that you'd like to see us review? Developers: do you want us to take a look at your app? Send your suggestions to our Tips email.
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