This week's column is packed with interactive gems for your mobile device: South Park debuts with Phone Destroyer, you can solve the mystery of Thimbleweed Park and relive the adventures of Cloud and his friends with the classic Final Fantasy VII. Time to play!
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII: What can be said about this RPG classic that hasn't been said already? Final Fantasy VII is widely considered the best game in the entire Final Fantasy franchise. It's a game that changed the course of the genre and proved that there was an audience for role-playing games in the Western market. This adaptation holds up quite well today, even though the graphics show their age (of course, not many people will play this game for its graphics). Among the details, we find an adaptation that doesn't rely heavily on the touch screen, especially when navigating through menus. And if you're not sure your device can run the game, Square published a handy list of recommended hardware. Developed by Square Enix, Final Fantasy VII is available on iOS and Android.
Galactic Keep
Galactic Keep: With a magnificent old-school RPG experience, Galactic Keep is an absolute delight that combines bright colorful visuals with hand-drawn graphics. Roll the dice in a sci-fi adventure to complete missions, moving across the board and engaging in combat with a variety of enemies, aliens, and robots alike. However, as befits a good RPG, you don't rely on luck alone: you must also be able to use the numbers you get strategically to put yourself in the best position to win. Developed by Gilded Skull Games, Galactic Keep is available exclusively on iOS.
South Park: Phone Destroyer
South Park: Phone Destroyer (Free game): In the twenty years South Park has been on the air, it has always found a way to entertain and offend everyone at the same time, whether on TV or, now, in video games. That's why Ubisoft and series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone took their time to surprise us with The Stick of Truth and The Fractured but Whole. But if you want to take Cartman, Kenny, Stan, and Kyle everywhere, South Park: Phone Destroyer is the new mobile title, as its name suggests, with real-time strategy, PvP battles, and even collectible cards so you have everything you love in a mobile game. Developed by RedLynx, South Park: Phone Destroyer is available on iOS and Android.
The Guides
The Guides: If you're the type of person who likes to have a notepad in hand while playing, The Guides is the ideal game for you. It consists of a series of cryptic puzzles, a rabbit hole of math, and translations and conversions, with a set of clues that, in some cases, only serve to make the experience more confusing before reaching an answer. It also comes with a separate companion app, The Guides Compendium (iOS | Android), which offers a separate narrative and its own mystery to unravel while providing clues and background on what's happening in the main game. Developed by Luke Lisi & Kevin Bradford, The Guides is available on iOS and Android.
Thimbleweed Park
Thimbleweed Park: Do you miss playing classics like Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island? Don't worry, because Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick have just adapted Thimbleweed Park to mobile devices, the spiritual successor to the aforementioned graphic adventures. Parodying shows like Twin Peaks, The X-Files, and True Detective, the adventure begins when FBI agents Ray and Reyes arrive in the town of Thimbleweed Park to investigate a murder. From that point on, you'll have to use a list of verbs to interact with a series of characters and objects to progress through the plot. As in Maniac Mansion, you can switch between five characters mid-game. Developed by Terrible Toybox, Thimbleweed Park is available on iOS and Android.
