Blackbar app for iPhone and iPad
4.6 (
1216 ratings )
Games
Adventure
Book
Word
Developer:
Mrgan LLC
2.99 USD
Current version:
1.2.2, last update: 1 year ago
First release : 23 Aug 2013
App size: 2.94 Mb
"Blackbar is a brilliant game." —Ron Gilbert
"Its allegories are smart, and its approach to story-telling on touch-devices is just as well. 4.5/5" —TouchArcade
"Taut and intelligent. 8/10" —Eurogamer
"A political statement—a super fun one. I _______ love this _______ game." —Loren Brichter
"Awesome and totally unexpected." —Shaun Inman
Blackbar is a text game: a sci-fi story of a dystopian future told through the medium of word puzzles. Reminiscent of text adventures and interactive fiction, it has a unique mechanic centered around the concept of censorship. Censorship is frustrating, but the human spirit can beat that frustration by turning it into a game.
Youll pick up Blackbar instantly; however, its challenges will keep you searching, thinking, and trying for days.
"An ingenious puzzle game that critiques censorship" —Fast Company
"The humor is black, the puzzles go from simple to truly challenging, and the story is top-notch." —Gamemoir
"Playing Blackbar is Like High School English Class, And I Love It." —Kotaku
"Wonderfully written and does a fantastic job of pulling you into a not entirely unrealistic tale." —Gizmodo
"Well-written and entertaining, with just a touch of a deeper message to hit a few concepts home. Just plain awesome." —JayIsGames
Pros and cons of Blackbar app for iPhone and iPad
Blackbar app good for
What a cool new idea. The game is beyond hard, and most players will need at least a little help on the way through, but the story is really interesting, and challenging. The app is a little pricey for how short the game is. I hope there is a sequel, or similar game created soon so I can get my fix.
Blackbar abandons the usual ways of communication in a video game, making user input so minimal that the game path is predetermined. Still, playing this game, I felt more part of the story than with most other games; the characters in the story felt more alive than realistically rendered visual representations. Here, the only channel of giving and receiving is letters that have a rather high loss of information.
What the game’s about: the act of writing, sending and receiving under specific constraints, as well as the person on the other end.
How it’s about it: there is no ‘how’ to this game. Gameplay is an interface so minimal that you don’t even notice it.
I do love this thing!
The game runs in the language set in the ios preferences, thus can be changed even during the game. I enjoyed switching between the languages. Great fun playing. A few minor typing errors in the german version.
im sad that its over... make a sequel! i wanna know what happened to #19445...
... but much too short for the price. You can finish it in an hour or two, for 3$ I expect to get more gameplay out of a game.
Beautifully simple. Ridiculously hard at times but always worth the head-scratch. Wish it was longer. More missions please. I want to know more about Vi, Kenty and 19445.
Excellent game!
Some bad moments
Weak puzzles (and only 2 of 32 can even be called that), weaker plot.
Not worth a penny.
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Jogo fraco, enredo fraco, praticamente sem charadas e totalmente sem graça.
Não vale um centavo.
Fill in the blanks with a story I just didnt connect with. Liked the general idea, the execution felt a bit hollow.
A frustrating and boring waste of time and money that doesnt warrant the positive reviews here. (Paid shills or friends of the developers, perhaps?)
I loved this. So creative using only letters... I liked the simple satisfaction of guessing the "censored" words correctly to further the story. Brilliant. I want more!
Also, the app icon is so freakin cool.
Well worth the time and money, for a story and a unique experience that will stick with me for quite a while.
One of the most interesting things (I hesitate to call it a game) Ive ever participated in. I really love the narrative style. This was so great. Oh my god, it was the best. I just cant shut up!
