Took a while to warm up to, but very innovative

I must admit, it took about 40 days in my first play-through before I warmed up to this game. My disappointment was because I was expecting an interactive fiction game, but this is really a resource management game. But the innovative gameplay really grew on me over time. This is a fantastic game and youll get a lot of enjoyment out of it.

Gameplay: The ultimate goal is to make it back to London by day 80. You have to manage several variables/resources: Foggs health, money, time, discovering transportation routes, and your relationship with Fogg. Of course, trying to increase one variable may cost you others (for example, selling an item in Cairo may earn you a lot of money, but youll have to take the extra time to plot a path to Cairo). And youll get opportunities where you can only increase one variable (for example, sometimes when you stay at a hotel, you can choose to attend to Fogg, do extra work to earn funds, or socialize and learn more transportation routes). Further, there are mini-stories in most cities and on some transportation routes. Some stories are small and have no impact on your overall journey, some stories give you a "side quest" that you have to go to another city to fulfill, and some will completely mess with your journey by taking you to a different destination than the city you intended. As examples: I got teleported from the middle east to Africa; kidnapped by a submarine captain; led a mutiny; crashed in an airship and almost died; and discovered a floating city.

Visuals and UI: the visuals are gorgeous. Theyre quite simple--just pictures that move around a little, not even real animations, but the game does it so well that it never felt boring. Every city looks a bit different, and there are probably ~20 methods of transport all with their own pictures. My only complaint is the map--although its pretty, its also quite clunky to use. I wish there was a flat map option, and an option to turn off other players progress markers, since those also clutter up the UI.

Sounds and music: the sound effects are varied and really help the game come alive. Every method of transport has its own sound effects, and cities in different regions have their own music/sound effects. It didnt bug me that I couldnt play my own music, because the sounds felt like part of the experience.

Story: the weakest link for me. Theres no overarching story beyond the fact that you have to return to London in 80 days. Mini-stories in cities rarely carried forward after youd left the city, although there were a few instances where the game remembered my past actions. For example, in one play-through, a chinese mechanic taught me some mandarin, and later on, I had the option to speak some mandarin to chinese workers; in another play through where I didnt learn mandarin, I didnt have that option. However, this example is a rare instance--most of the time your past choices dont matter once youve left the city and its mini-story. Further, I found most of the mini-stories bland. The ones I listed above under "gameplay" were the best examples--most of the time, it was just something simple like meeting a gondolier who doesnt like machines, sheltering a rebel who gives you a flag, etc. (As an aside, I did like that I could smooch a lady in one story and flirt with a gentleman in another)

Characters: unfortunately, most characters in this game are just your drivers/pilots, who you can talk to to discover more transportation routes. These arent real characters, just a clever mechanism to uncover routes. Other characters appear in mini-stories, but only appear in the mini-story and are never heard from again. I found the main characters, Passepartout (you) and Fogg quite interesting though! You can dictate Passepartouts personality through your decisions, though that doesnt seem to have any effect on gameplay. Fogg took me a while to warm up to, especially when he told me he doesnt like socializing with servants. But once you get past that stern English demeanor, he really grows on you. My favorite moment was when he told me I could call him Phileas since we were both dying. Hah!

Battery usage: this app is a huge battery drain! It burns through 100% battery in an hour. I have a crotchety 4S, but Ive never had problems with my battery. As a comparison, I can play interactive fiction games like Choice of Games and Tin Man Games without much impact on battery, and browse safari or listen to music for hours.

Sophia2M about 80 Days, v1.2.1