80 Days

80 Days takes Verne's story of a journey around the world in eighty days and turns it into a text-based strategy-adventure game with thousands of possible routes: the player, as the servant Passepartout, plans an itinerary by train, ship, and airship, manages money and luggage, and at stops in each city goes through short text passages with choices that change relationships with characters as well as the direction of the journey. Controls are based on touch selection from a map and text options, ideal for reading in pieces on mobile, even just for a few minutes between other activities.

The studio inkle, which built its name on a clever storytelling engine for branching narratives, combines here a steampunk aesthetic of an alternative nineteenth century with a huge amount of written content — practically no two playthroughs look the same, since the route and outcomes depend on dozens of decisions and random encounters along the way. Visually, the game relies on stylized illustrations of cities and a minimalist world map, while the music reinforces the feeling of traveling across continents and changing weather.

It's a paid game with no ads, lasting anywhere from hours to dozens of hours depending on how many routes the player wants to explore and how many times they return to the story, since every playthrough offers a different order of cities and encounters. After release, 80 Days won acclaim for its writing and is often cited as an example of what a branching story on mobile should look like, where text isn't read passively but actively shapes the outcome.

Why play it: For lovers of reading and decision-making who want a replayable story with enormous route variety and not a single ad.