Despite the Adventure genre going through
a hay-day of sorts, there were many problems
with the basic gameplay - notably, it was
almost assumed that players understood the
genre's many tropes.
Supposedly, after what was called the 'Grandma
Test', Telltale games revised how they approached
teaching the player how to play their games
and this has flowed through to each of their
titles since then.
Runaway: A Twist of Fate is the third in a
series from Pendulo Studios, and unfortunately
it doesn't share the same clarity in its gameplay
and is made all the more frustrating due to
its many, not insignificant quirks.
First and foremost, as with any Adventure
title your primary job is to explore, collect
and investigate until you have all the information
you need to proceed.
All three of these are obfuscated by the game's
control system of tapping to highlight and
interact with the world.
In order to find these elements you'll need
to use a menu option to temporarily 'highlight'
the area and its objects, but this only lasts
for a brief moment and worst of all, they're
easy to miss as the game expects you to be
very precise in where you tap.
It's such a shame because the game has a lot
of heart - its characters are cartoonish,
but flawed and push the boundaries of good-taste
at times, giving the game a distinctly adult
edge.
It makes for an intriguing experience, especially
in the moments where the game clicks and you
make some progress.
With six chapters to complete, it's not the
lengthiest of titles, but you will be challenged
to work out the game's many puzzles.
Thankfully you can always check the fourth-wall
breaking 'tips' to lead you in the right direction.
Runaway: A Twist of Fate is not the best example
of the genre for the iOS platform, but it's
still a fascinating title that's sure to keep
genre fans busy for a solid afternoon.
