Old School RuneScape

Old School RuneScape brought to smartphones a version of the legendary MMORPG frozen in the form it had in 2007, that is, before a number of later changes that the player community itself democratically voted down as undesirable and preferred to return to the original take on the game. The mobile version preserves the complete game world of Gielinor, including all the skills, quests, and the open economy tied to trading with other players, just with controls sensitively adapted for the touchscreen – simple tapping on the movement target, clear contextual menus, and an adjusted interface for the inventory and skill panel.

With this step, Jagex allowed players to continue characters created perhaps many years earlier directly from a pocket device anywhere on the go, which was a major milestone for many longtime fans, since RuneScape had traditionally been perceived as a purely browser-based and later desktop affair requiring a mouse and keyboard. Transferring the complex system of dozens of skills and a sprawling open world onto a small phone screen turned out surprisingly well and without major compromises, even though touch controls never quite match the precision and speed of a classic mouse and keyboard in more demanding combat.

The game is free-to-play, with limited content available for free and a paid monthly membership that unlocks the vast majority of the game world, skills, and quests; the mobile title adopted this membership model directly from the original PC version without any changes.

Why play it: Ideal for longtime RuneScape veterans as well as entirely new players craving a classic MMORPG experience on the go, though keep in mind that genuinely full content requires a regular paid subscription.