In December 2014, developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital released The Talos Principle, a first-person puzzle game with a strong emphasis on setting, storytelling, and philosophy. The game was a surprise cult hit, with near-perfect reviews from most major outlets and high praise from many important figures in the industry. Originally released for PC, Mac, and Linux, the game has been ported to both Android and PS4 over the past two and a half years. Not to leave anyone out, Devolver Digital announced today that The Talos Principle has come to iOS too—and you can download it now.
With the gameplay centered on patient puzzle-solving and reading the vast amount of text entries and conversations created by writers Tom Jubert and Jonas Kyratzes, The Talos Principle is a good fit for iOS. As many gamers know, trying to play a more action-oriented and precise game with touch controls is a complete chore, but it appears Croteam was ahead of the community in addressing these concerns. Players can choose between the “touch-and-swipe” style, which most iOS games employ, or a “virtual gamepad” that will function more like a traditional controller—save for the physical feedback. Again, there’s little time-sensitive precision needed to complete this game, but the choice of controls is a welcome quality-of-life adjustment that reflects well on the developers.
However, the feature advertised the most is the technical performance—and it’s actually quite impressive. The Talos Principle is a good-looking game to say the least, and upon release in 2014 was considered to be on the cutting edge graphically. The trailer promises a smooth 60 frames per second, and while the iPhone has been more than capable of managing that framerate since at least the 6, seeing the enormous and detailed environments capably rendered would be sight to behold. Luckily, performance tests of the new iOS devices seem to indicate that there won’t be much of a problem.
The iOS release of The Talos Principle is a welcome surprise, and a great chance for anyone who hasn’t experienced this thoughtful and creative title to finally dive in. And who knows—it may even have something to do with the quiet development of The Talos Principle 2.