Down Among the Dead Men
| Category | Price | Seller | Device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | $2.99 | inkle Ltd | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
"Down Among the Dead Men" is a pirate adventure in which you are the hero. Play as a male or disguised female - as a magician, a thief, a pirate, a governor's daughter - and explore the high seas as you try to build up a crew and a ship hardy enough to take down to black-hearted pirate Skarvench and his ghoulish crew.
* "Inkle's gamebook engine is fantastic and they're finding some really high-quality writers to publish" - iMore.com
* "An enjoyable little thing to curl up with" - Touch Arcade (4/5)
* "Wonderfully well written... a rollicking good story of swashbuckling pirates, cannibalistic natives, and rum-drenched souses" - Pocket Gamer (Bronze award)
* "Down Among the Dead is a pirate themed gamebook that's quite delightful" - 148 Apps
Adapted from the original gamebook using the same inklewriter technology as Steve Jackson's Sorcery! and 80 Days, "Down Among the Dead Men" provides a fully adaptive text, that rewrites itself on the fly based on your decisions. Survive or fail, be bold or cowardly, lead or connive - the choices are up to you and every one is remembered.
Reviews
Not a Game
Earth Versus Soup
My only real complaint is that this has been completely miscategorized: it is *not* a game. This is a choose your own adventure book and should be listed in the books category. There is no discernible game element at work here. Unlike other Inkle creations your choices are also very limited, the vast majority of choices are between A or B. It lacks the fun, creativity, and depth of other Inkle titles, but that's also setting the bar very, very high. The graphics (few though there are) are gorgeous but for being an entirely text based offering the story/writing just isn't very engaging. It's not bad, but I'm very disappointed with it largely because it was so misrepresented. If I had known in advance that it would lack the elements that made other games so successful and fun and was solely a book I think I would be more receptive to it and might even enjoy it more.
Great fun for a lazy day
R GT D
I really enjoyed Down Among the Dead Men. It was just the right length for a cold, lazy Sunday afternoon. The writing is brisk, the world is interesting, the characters are enjoyable and the interface is fantastic. For .99 there are worse ways you could spend your day!
Terrific
Pheebers
Be aware this is a book -- a choose your own adventure book. You read a paragraph, then you make a decision -- for example, do you fight, hide, or run away? You then get a bit more of the story based on what you chose, then you make another decision, etc. It's well done, and a bargain at this price. If you like CYOA, or Inkle, this is a very safe purchase. I'm really glad I bought it.
Updated classic
David Dunham
This feels like a classic choose-your-own-adventure book updated for iPad. Which is exactly what it is. All the reading & decisions without the fiddly bits. I don’t recall seeing any of the illustrations shown on the Twitter feed, which would have helped the atmosphere a bit.
Should walk the plank.
AingealWroth
Most of the options are uninteresting or verbose, and since most of the time there are only two options, the text and verbiage gets old quickly. Plot is roughly acceptable, but only barely. Descriptions lack a degree of interest and detail to spark real curiosity about people, places, or events. I think the whole thing would have benefited overall from a little less 'adventure' (which is what I assume they were trying to do with the combat and daunting situations at every conceivable turn) and a little more effort into the literary side of things. Yes, I uninstalled it as soon as I got the 'end' screen. Overall: worth the dollar I paid to save me what I might have invested in inkle games otherwise, but only that. ((Personal nitpick: I pick witch and you give me a wand?! The amulet was a good choice, then you ruined it with a wand! A wand bearing pirate witch at sea? Urgh.))
Nothing Like Sorcery
Awesomesauce135
This game pales in comparison to their previous work. Unless you are absolutely dead set on a pirate theme, do yourself a favor an pick up Sorcery instead.
Alright
Doug did dug but only dug
If this was supposed to be on par with sorcery I would give it 3 stars, but it's not. The game has decent story that hints at a wider world with magic existing but neglects to explore it. The story was un dynamic depending on your gender choice except for a cheesy ending if you're female. It was fun though choosing the paths and making decisions like any game book and I couldn't put it down for a while. I'm giving it 4 stars because it's worth 99 cents and it's good to keep us a little entertained to not deter sorcery too much(They didn't pull another 80 days.)
Immersive Interactive Fiction
IndyJohn2010
Before you buy this app you should know that it is more a book than a game--functionally a choose-your-own-adventure style book. It is more linear and less expansive than the Sorcery! and 80 Days apps, but it still has replay value with different choices and plot effects stemming from them, and it's only 99 cents. Helped make a 5 hour plane flight much more bearable.
Good Gamebook
Bird Shat
If you like these kind of choose your own adventure type games you'll like this one. It's well written and a good read. Just enough choices to feel like you have some raw control over the story. All in all it's a good but for 99 cents.
