Tested
If there's one grievance I have with games these days, it's that they focus too hard on brain-dead cinematic gameplay, and not hard enough on implied story beats. Device 6, from the wonderfully weird developer Simogo, flips that script, and brings an interestingly complex visual novel-esque game to iPad.
Without giving too much away, Device 6 is starts with the protagonist waking up in a mysterious location with no memory. It's been the plot behind many games, but it doesn't feel stale here. The game is very linear, and told through an interesting, text heavy perspective, interspersed with interactive images and sound.
Gameplay is simple, at least on paper. It's a lot of puzzles that require very simple input, usually with two buttons. Solving them, however, is not straightforward. The game pushes you to gather clues and think outside the box, usually ending with some kind of three or four digit combination puzzle. There are six chapters, and it took me about two days, not rushing, to play through the game.
It sounds cliché, but Device 6 exceeds the sum of its parts. The graphics are consistently, and endearingly quirky. The story, despite some spy-fi influence, defies convention, and the gameplay, despite the appearance of simplicity, challenges the player in some interesting ways. Even though it's a little sparse on content by most standards, it's well worth the money and time for a full playthrough. It's a bit too short to be my game of the year, but its definitely worth an honorable mention.