Like Machinarium and Botinacula? Samorost 3 is a similarly enchanting iOS adventure game

By , on September 5, 2016
Last modified 8 years, 1 month ago

Developer Amanita Design has made a name for itself in recent years with Machinarium and Botinacula - two beautiful and charming adventure games for iOS. Now it's released another in Samorost 3.

As the name suggests, this is the third game in a trilogy, but the first two Samorost games have never appeared on iOS. The first two appeared more than a decade ago as Flash games.

That doesn't matter, though. The developer calls Samarost 3 a "loose continuation" of the earlier games, and it's perfectly self-contained.

Not your garden Gnome

Samorost 3

You're cast as Gnome, a little creature who lives in a tiny three-floor observatory. When Gnome discovers a magical flute (as you do), it kicks off a planet-hopping adventure that's evocative of the point-and-click classics of the early '90s.

However, one crucial difference here - as fans of Amanita's previous games will be familiar with - is that it's completely wordless. Instead of reams of snappy dialogue between characters, you must read environmental clues and audio cues, and solve spatial puzzles based on your intuition and observation.

Yes, these puzzles can be a little cryptic in places. But spending a little extra time contemplating a solution in this imaginative, hand-drawn world is no great hardship. If you do get stuck, there's a neat hint system available - though even that is handled in a suitably clever, word-free way.

An adventure six years in the making

Samorost 3

Samorost 3 might be the direct sequel to a pair of ancient (by videogame standards) Flash games, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's lightweight. With development having started way back in 2010, it's Amanita Design's most ambitious game to date.

Its five planets and four moons spanning 45 screens will take players a number of hours to play through

If you've played and enjoyed Machinarium and Botinacula in the past, you really should give Samorost 3 a shot.