Although mobile gaming has quickly risen as the most popular form of gaming worldwide, I’ve never been one to embrace it fully. In fact, outside of the mobile version of Balatro and the digital version of the board game Root, I’ve barely interacted with the mobile gaming platform. Because of this, I’ve always felt like I have had a major blind spot in my gaming knowledge and history.
With the release of Simogo Legacy Collection, I was intrigued to see what I had missed with the seven titles released during what some might call the heyday of mobile gaming from one of the platform’s most prominent developers. I’m also a pretty big fan of developer Simogo’s previous game, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, so I was really looking forward to exploring their catalogue. After spending roughly twelve hours with this collection, I would say that overall, I’m starting to feel like I didn’t miss too much, but there are some bright spots in here that I was pleasantly surprised by.
A Mixed Bag
I’m going to be honest, the majority of games in this collection, which are mostly the earlier games, didn’t work for me. Games like Kosmo Spin or Bumpy Road are simple to the point of being rather dull, which is expected as they are the first games released by Simogo and show the team getting its footing as game developers. Kosmo Spin has you controlling a small alien that walks around a planet to collect little monsters before a pesky UFO abducts them. There is a score attack mode, which is just going for as long as you can for a high score, and a quest mode that presents you with challenges that mix up the gameplay oh so slightly. Similarly, Bumpy Road has you create little hills by clicking on the terrain to propel an old couple’s car back and forth to collect small gizmos and gadgets as they drive across the screen. While these games aren’t bad by any means, they just aren’t exciting to play for more than a couple of minutes.
Beat Sneak Bandit is the first game in Simogo Legacy Collection where you start to see the talent and personality Simogo is known for start to come through. You play as Bandit, who is trying to reclaim all the clocks in the world after Duke Clockface has stolen them. You must infiltrate Clockface’s mansion while only being able to move by clicking to the beat of the music of each level. It is a charming little game that manages to throw some curveballs at you as you get to later stages. However, there have been other games that have taken the concepts presented in Beat Sneak Bandit, such as Crypt of the Necrodancer, that make it feel antiquated in comparison. Thankfully, the next couple of games in Simogo’s catalogue are where the developer finally hit its stride.
Coming Into Their Own
The next two games in the collection, Year Walk and Device 6, were easily the best, in my opinion, and the main reason anyone should buy Simogo Legacy Collection. Where the previous three games came across as overtly simple and unremarkable, these two were anything but. Year Walk exudes atmosphere and tension, serving as Simogo’s first foray into the adventure game genre. You are a young man who, after meeting with his lover in secret, decides to perform the Year Walk, a ritual to see into the future. On your way to the church, where the ritual is performed, you come across various entities and inhabitants of the dark forest and solve puzzles.
Year Walk is a masterclass in atmosphere and tension, successfully making every step towards the church a test in courage and will. Additionally, the puzzles are just challenging enough that I had to pause and think about how to proceed without being too obtuse, unlike some adventure games tend to be. In addition to this, there is a wonderful story here with multiple layers that continues even after the credits roll for the first time. Slowly unraveling this story and gaining a grasp on what is really going on was extremely satisfying on so many levels—I just wish it were longer. Clocking in at just under two hours, I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to know more about the history of this ritual and to spend more time in those ominous woods.
Device 6 is one of the more ambitious games I’ve played in a while, and I was shocked I had never heard of it until now. Simogo combines text adventure with puzzle-solving in Device 6, taking cues from weird fiction novels, such as House of Leaves and A Short Stay in Hell. The story is near impossible to talk about without spoilers, and really requires you to go in as blind as possible. I’ll only say that it is a wonderfully done thriller that keeps you guessing on what in the world is going on until the end. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the previously mentioned books or looking for a quick yet enthralling thrill ride. The gameplay itself is hard to describe, mainly because it is more of a short story rather than a game… until it isn’t. Let me try to explain.
For the most part, you are just reading a story, scrolling through text. However, the text will start to move or flip, requiring you to rotate the screen to continue reading. Then, you will come across buttons you can click to interact with pictures that accompany the text. This could be changing the hands on a clock, entering codes, or just listening to a soundbite or audio log. As you continue through the story, these interactive elements start to evolve and become more complex, requiring you to really work towards deciphering the next puzzle or code. It is a fascinating idea for a game, putting it almost in a genre of its own. I really don’t want to say more because I think going into Device 6 as blindly as possible is the best possible way to experience it, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any adventure game fans out there.
A Middling Finale
Rounding out the Simogo Legacy Collection are The Sailor’s Dream and SPL-T. After Year Walk and Device 6, I must say I was severely underwhelmed with The Sailor’s Dream. Honestly, I wouldn’t even really call this one a game. There are no puzzles or mysteries to solve. Instead, you are just moving from island to island, clicking through them and reading story excerpts. It was by far the weakest of the adventure trilogy in this collection. Although it did have some nice visuals, it felt like I was just meandering around its locations and arbitrarily clicking on things until I could move on to the next small story beat. It lacked the oppressive atmosphere from Year Walk and the inventiveness of Device 6, leaving it as just forgettable and dull.
SPL-T, on the other hand, is the most straightforward puzzle game in the collection, even if there are a few secrets to be found. You simply click on boxes to slice them in half, alternating between horizontal and vertical cuts, until you can’t make any smaller pieces. It is a deceptively addictive game that surprised me with how much fun it was. I found myself slipping into the “just one more game” mindset and have found myself loading it up to play while listening to a podcast or when I want to zone out for a bit. Where the earlier games in the collection were too simple for their own good, SPL-T offers the perfect balance of simple and challenging.
Commitment to the Bit
In a bold move, Simogo appears to have created this collection primarily as a look into its history and for preservation purposes rather than as a means to update or modernize these games. That means all of these games have been added to this collection as they were originally released, just at a higher resolution, with the touch mechanics replaced by mouse controls. This means that some games have been translated to PC more elegantly than others. When I first loaded up Simogo Legacy Collection, I was charmed by its commitment to replicating the mobile gaming experience. These games were made specifically with the mobile platform in mind, and Simogo doesn’t shy away from it. Instead of a basic menu to choose the games from, you are greeted by a mock phone screen with each game listed as if it were an app installed on it. There’s even a little music player at the bottom of the screen that you can skip through to listen to songs from every title while you browse, or if you just want to vibe out to them. It’s a cute touch, and you can tell Simogo really cares about its past and these older projects, as evidenced by the considerable thought that went into Simogo Legacy Collection’s presentation.
As previously mentioned, with this commitment to the mobile aesthetic, the collection inherits some design sensibilities that don’t translate well to other platforms. This is particularly evident when it comes to Simogo’s tendency to play around with perspective in its games. Take Device 6, for example. Although I love the way it tells its story and how it is presented, I never got comfortable rotating the fake phone screen around while navigating the text. It’s obvious that the controls were originally made with mobile in mind, and Simogo hasn’t done enough to translate the gameplay to other platforms. I’m sure on an actual phone or mobile device, it was easier to just rotate it while using your finger to swipe through the text. On PC, it felt cumbersome and annoying to navigate.
An Important History
Although I wouldn’t say I enjoyed a large portion of the games in this collection, I still think what Simogo has done here is important. Instead of letting its catalogue of games get lost to time, the team has found a way to preserve them for anyone to have access to. Too often, we see games abandoned with no way for them to be recovered or played unless you have access to the original hardware they were created for. How many games were made for mobile or Xbox Live Indie Arcade that are just lost now, either due to licensing issues or their stores closing down? Hopefully, other developers take notice of the work that Simogo has put into preserving its games and put together their own collections in the future.
That’s not to say the Simogo Legacy Collection isn’t worth it as a gaming experience as well, though. Retailing at just $14.99, there is more than enough here to make it worthwhile. Device 6 and Year Walk are easily worth the price of admission alone. Additionally, Simogo has included prototypes of earlier versions of its games, an audio drama, a short story collection, and a ton of concept art to peruse at your leisure. There is more than enough here for those interested in the history of Simogo.
Disclaimer: Simogo provided Final Weapon with a PC (Steam) copy of Simogo Legacy Collection for review purposes.
