Welcome to Off The AppStore, a weekly feature with a twist. Namely, that while these – as with all the games we cover here – are games that you can play on your phone, they’re ones that operate outside of the realms of the big two ways to play: The Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.
That means that there might be a bit of work required in downloading alternative AppStores or APKs, or that the games can simply be played in your phone browser. We’ll make sure to detail that for each game though. Anyway, read on to find a new game or experience to play Off The AppStore.
In internet terms, Pocket Gamer is ancient, but even though we’re particually dated (although I’d argue our team is a fourth, or fifth wave team) we weren’t around at a time when Liquid Crystal Display Games were prevalent – or even present – outside of the odd Happy Meal. Heck, even though Nintendo’s handhelds were an early focus for us, we never even touched on Game & Watch.
So, why now? Well, it’s because Lucas Pope, creator of Papers, Please, Mars After Midnight, Curse of the Obra Dinn, Helsing’s Fire and, well, a lot of games actually, has released Moida Mansion: an LCD inspired and stylised game that challenges you to speak around the titular mansion, find your friends, and get out.
Moida Mansion is an incredibly spooky mansion, in fact, rule one of The Adventure Club – of which you are a member – is to never, ever enter it. The big problem is that T.A.C’s mascot went in, and the rest of the gang followed straight in.
Being styled after a Liquid Crystal Display handheld there’s a couple of very cool things going on. For a start, LCD displays worked by colouring in certain pre-existing lines in various combinations, so assets are deliberately reused in the same place through different locations. Secondly, the interface is based around limited button inputs. In this case, buttons for navigating left or right, one button for taking the stairs and a fourth to trigger (and cycle between) interaction points.
The reason that this isn’t a simple search and rescue is the presence of The Monsta, which will appear at windows or doors sometimes, and is brought closer through you searching. It’s not an exact science, but you can normally get a search done if The Monsta isn’t present in the room. This is absolutely fine until you reach dead-end rooms and it appears in the exit, but this can be avoided with careful planning and movements.
You can play Moida Mansion for free on its Itch.io page. I must say, after playing it on both PC and mobile browsers, mobile portrait-mode feels like the absolute best way to play it.