Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars

Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars ranks among the most distinctive European adventures of the nineties, and British studio Revolution Software proved with it that it could confidently compete with American productions like LucasArts. The story of American tourist George Stobbart, who in Paris accidentally gets caught up in a conspiracy linked to the Templar order, combines a detective plot, historical mysteries, and tried-and-true adventure humor. The player moves through locations, collects and combines items, and untangles dialogue trees full of witty tangents, while the pacing of the storytelling remains surprisingly readable even after all these years and never forces the player into tedious wandering.

The game stood out with its elaborate hand-painted backgrounds and characters that, despite the technical limitations of the time, felt alive and believable, which helped the Broken Sword series become one of the longest-running European adventure franchises with several further installments. The mobile version carries over the original story unchanged, only with adjusted controls for touchscreens.

It's a paid app with no ads, controlled by tapping on the scene and items in the inventory, which proves considerably better suited to touch for a slower, thoughtful adventure than for action genres. The port runs reliably and doesn't feel like a hastily slapped-together conversion, the texts and voice acting remain faithful to the original, and the game loses very little of its charm on a small screen.

Why play: For adventure fans looking for a well-crafted story with a touch of history and conspiracy who don't mind the slower pace of the classic genre.