Down Among the Dead Men App Reviews

You cant go wrong getting this game for 99¢, but it was just a little short for my taste. Overall, though, the story is quite nice and the plot engaging.

Such a fun read! And so many new stories yet to explore!

Fabulous game love it and cheap compared to their other book-games!

Interesting stories but all too often the end of a paragraph is cut off. Unacceptable for an app based entirely around text.

Great atmosphere and writing. Can be read in one sitting, which encourages multiple readings to explore different story paths. Good content and production values for the relatively low cost. Unfortunately, there are a few bugs in the final chapter which, depending on your choices, will either loop you back to an earlier point in the story or prevent the story from ending at all. This spoils the immersion and ruins what could have otherwise been a 5-star experience. The "text is cut off" bug mentioned by an earlier reviewer is present on the iPad in one of the orientations; orienting the device the other way mitigates this issue. If the bugs in the final chapter will be addressed I will update my review and rating; the story begins strong, keeps you interested, but the bugs in the final chapter ruin the experience that was built up so well up to that point.

Great presentation, easy to read the story, yet also feel like choices are being made. Clean interface, looking for more from these guys!

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. Its well done, and a bargain at this price. If you like CYOA, or Inkle, this is a very safe purchase. Im really glad I bought it.

Very fun if you enjoy a good read

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.

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.))

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.

If this was supposed to be on par with sorcery I would give it 3 stars, but its 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 youre female. It was fun though choosing the paths and making decisions like any game book and I couldnt put it down for a while. Im giving it 4 stars because its worth 99 cents and its good to keep us a little entertained to not deter sorcery too much(They didnt pull another 80 days.)

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 its only 99 cents. Helped make a 5 hour plane flight much more bearable.

If you like these kind of choose your own adventure type games youll like this one. Its well written and a good read. Just enough choices to feel like you have some raw control over the story. All in all its a good but for 99 cents.

Very limited text-based adventure. Not a whole lot of options or interesting characters. As far as I can tell you cant even check your inventory. The game plays fine and is entertaining on the first play-through. Had higher hopes based off of Inkles other outstanding games.

Played it through 3 times with as much interest as the first. Great game.

It is hard not to compare this to other efforts by Inkle, but it is very different than Sorcery! or 80 Days. This is much more of a traditional choose-your-own-adventure; it is very light on graphics and is entirely limited to story choices. On its own it is a well written story and a fun read. For $.99 it is worth the purchase and time to go through. My criticism is mainly that there are too few choices to make. What Ive enjoyed about the Inkle games is that you are given a lot of prompts to make decisions, making their interactive fiction much more interactive. It helps you feel more in control of the story. That is missing to a degree with this. I give it a four for the bargain price and good writhing.

This game, if you wanna call it that, is awful compared to this developers other work. Limited options and a feeling of helplessness during gameplay. Get 80 days or sorcery

This game isnt as long or as rich as the studios other games but for what it is (a choose-your-own-adventure story with fun characters and writing) it is a great success. Its not as game-y as their other apps but if you dont mind a genre story with some mild interactive elements go for it. And its only a buck!

The beginning of this game is really interesting. As a defecting pirate, you and your small band of crew mates have what feels like a whole ocean to explore. From Homeric false paradises ruled over by would be Circes and naiads to islands peopled by natives taken straight from the adventures of James Cook, from Flying Dutchman like ghost ships to Castaway like psychological and physical depredations, the first act of the story (namely, the voyage) has a real, honest to goodness feeling of pure adventure. Replaying it with various character presets just reinforced that feeling even more. The game is worth the .99 cent price of admission for that alone. Unfortunately, the rest of the game fails to live up to the standard it sets early on. There are fewer branching paths, and the settings are fairly pedestrian, almost like Disneyworld attractions, though the later game still has its moments. Id also like to note that the political tone of this game is completely different from 80 days, which is really great for the setting. Hearing pirates moan about the evils of ethnocentrism and imperialistic western attitudes would have really taken me out of it. Not to say that I disliked 80 days, but its good to see the inkle is more focused on good game design than politics. I figure they just do their best to adapt a good game from their source material,(which in 80 days case was a commissioned script-you will never convince me that that rebel leader Aouda was a real adaptation of Verne, no matter how impressive the game may have been) which is both refreshing, and as it should be.