Device 6

Device 6
App Store icon
Developer(s)	Simogo
Publisher(s)	Simogo
Engine	Unity[1]
Platform(s)	iOS[2]
Release date(s)	17 October 2013[2]
Genre(s)	Interactive fiction
Mode(s)	Single-player
Distribution	Download

Device 6 (stylized as DEViCE 6) is a text-based adventure game developed by Swedish game developer Simogo for iOS.^[3] The game uses text, images and sounds to guide the player through a set of puzzles, which the in-game protagonist, Anna, needs to solve to escape from an unknown island.^[4]

Gameplay

Device 6 uses mainly text in its gameplay, and the player swipes the screen to move through or review the story.^[4] The text may turn or split into branches in certain points of the game, adapting to the protagonist's movements in the story.^[3] The player uses buttons to interact with in-game elements shown in black-and-white pictures like machines to get hints or to solve a puzzle.^[3][5]

Plot

The game begins with Anna, the protagonist, waking up in an unknown castle, only with an unpleasant doll in her memory. Throughout her journey, she meets strange people and creatures appearing to be unresponsive or electronically controlled, raising her suspicion. Gradually, she realizes that she's being tested by an organization called HAT, whose logo shows a man with a bowler hat. In fear and anger, she knocks down a suspicious man wearing a bowler hat in a concert taken place underground, and discovers that he's also a test subject, numbered before her. With his tablet, she gets to know more about HAT and the experiments taking place. Arriving at the control center of HAT, she finds and turns off Device 6. She then escapes from the tower. In the end of the story, the text suggests that Anna's distress call is picked up by a boat and she is rescued. On the contrary, the images in the epilogue depict Anna being shot down by a man with a bowler hat. The player is then offered a doll as a gift from the game.

At the beginning of the story, the player is identified as Player249, which is next to Anna's number in the sequence, depicting that the player is the next test subject of HAT. After each chapter, the player is presented with a set of questions, most of which do not have correct or wrong answers, giving 600 points in the end just enough for the player to choose the doll as a gift.

Reception

Device 6
Aggregate scores Aggregator Score GameRankings 92.24%[6] Metacritic 92/100[7] Review scores Publication Score Edge 9/10[8] Eurogamer 9/10[9] Game Informer 8.75/10[10] IGN 9.5/10[11] Gamezebo [3] Digital Spy [12]
Awards Publication Award Apple Apple Design Awards 2014[13] IGF Excellence in Audio[14] Pocket Gamer 2014 Best App Ever[15] Pocket Gamer 2014 Most Innovative Game[16]

Device 6 has received highly positive reviews from critics. As of July 2014, the game is listed a score of 92 on review aggregation site Metacritic, a rating of "Universal acclaim".^[7] Critics applaud the game for its creative way of storytelling, the well-written prose and the audio effects, while noting its short gameplay.^{[8][9][11][10][17][3][18][4]}

The game won the Excellence in Audio award in the 2014 Independent Games Festival,^[14] Apple Design Awards 2014,^[13] 2014 Best App Ever Award from Pocket Gamer^[15] and several others. It was also nominated for several BAFTA Games Awards.^[19]

As of March 2014, the game has sold 200,000 copies on App Store, according to the developer.^[20]

Soundtrack

Music in Device 6 is composed by Daniel Olsén. The soundtrack album of the game, DEVICE 6 Original Soundtrack, was released on 1 November 2013.^[21] Singer of the lead single in the album, Jonathan Eng, also makes appearance in-game.^[5]

See also

• Interactive fiction

References

External links

• Official website
• Device 6 at IGN
• Device 6 at Metacritic