iPhone App: Distant Shore

March 31st, 2009

= 4 stars

Distant Shore presents an interesting scenario: you wander a beach, picking up bottles containing messages written by other players of the game. You can respond to others’ messages or compose ones of your own.

The Good

• Imaginative interface — it’s basically an email client reimagined as a game, and where you don’t know the identity of the senders or receivers. The messages are picked up by finding bottles on the sand, and you get the ability to write more messages by finding bottles.
• Soundtrack of waves on a beach is way relaxing.
• The real sauce of the game are the messages received by random strangers. I’ve already played a tic tac toe game, gotten the weather in Sweden, and started writing a story line-by-line. It’s the curiosity of what new messages await you that spurs one to launch the app the next day.

The Bad

• Wandering around the shore looking for shells / new messages can feel at times tedious. It would be nice to spice up the game with some variety, say the ability to interact with other objects on the beach, or weather changes (rain, hurricane).
• Ultimately the enjoyment relies on the imagination of the humans playing the game and what they put into their notes. While I’ve gotten a few good ones (see above) other notes I’ve received aren’t even worth answering (“are you a cute girl” only deserves a one word response).

Conclusion

Interesting and imaginative game that is actually a metaphor for an email client. Recommended.

iTunes App Store Link: