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App Army Assemble: Old Man's Journey - An adventure worth undertaking?

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App Army Assemble: Old Man's Journey - An adventure worth undertaking?
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iOS
| Old Man's Journey

Old Man's Journey is a gorgeous narrative adventure, in which you witness an old man's memories. That's both as warming and heartbreaking as you can imagine.

In terms of gameplay, it's a lighthearted puzzler. You have to craft the path that the old man takes by interacting with the environment. It's not overly difficult though, as the developer aimed for you to find the experience pleasant, rather than frustrating.

At review, we gave it an admirable Silver Award and described it as: "A slow-paced and dreamy puzzler that's worth all of your time".

We also asked the App Army for a second opinion, and here's what they had to say.

Paul Manchester

First impressions is it definitely comes under the 'charming, beautiful, and thought provoking,' headers people like to band about, but I need to dig a little deeper to see if it offers any additional gameplay mechanics to the limited offerings seen so far. It's played at a sleepy pace which does offer the opportunity to enjoy the artwork but may frustrate some.

The basic premise is to alter the background/foreground to create pathways for the old man to follow. No doubt in order for him to reach a sufficiently heart warming or depressing ending to the tale. Every so often you get glimpses into his memories triggered by locations or objects. Ahhh lovely.

After playing a bit long, nothing much changes throughout the old man's journey. It's therefore really just an app to showcase some pretty artwork and a weepy story. Nice enough but I can't help but feel that I have seen this all before. No doubt critics will love it.

Ed Davis

Graphically it's really nice, and the music compliments it well. the gameplay is simple and the game feels somewhat quite relaxing.

Laura Egri

Entertaining puzzle adventure story that reminds me of children's pop-up books. The visuals are great and interacting with the environment is very engaging.

If you're expecting a tricky, mind bending puzzler in the spirit of point and click adventures, this is not that.

This is more of a zen journey that triggers emotions and introspection. Interesting but may not be to everyone's tastes.

Tom-Donna Clark

First let me state that I'm not very good at adventure games. However, the graphics exceptional.

That being said, there is no narrative, and no real clue as to what's going on. I found it very difficult to get into the story, which is important in a game like this to.

Just a few minutes into the game I felt completely lost as to what I should do or what the goal was. I almost feel like I was an old man with alzheimer's thinking about his past, but I'm sure there is an audience for this.

Paul Manchester 2

I think all the reasons you were put off by, were the things that kept my interest! No hand holding, and a story that (although fairly obvious), keeps you guessing the reason for his journey.

Ethan Harold

I'm really enjoying this game so far. The art style is fantastic and I like the interactive background a lot.

Even though there is no dialogue, the game always makes me want to keep playing, to discover this old man's story even more.
Old Man's Journey is out right now in the App Store.

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The App Army is Pocket Gamer's very own community of mobile game experts. Each week, we provide them with a bunch of free codes and early access to the hottest upcoming games so they can provide their thoughts in features like this. We also host regular community-driven events with them in mind like tournaments, giveaways, and multiplayer evenings. To join, simply follow this link to the page on Facebook and request access. We'll get you in right away!
Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, lively Chris is up for anything - including running Steel Media! (Madman!)