Sorcery!

Sorcery! is a digital adaptation of Steve Jackson's legendary gamebook, which studio inkle turned into much more than just flipped pages on a screen: the player moves across a fantasy landscape on a stylized map, makes decisions in text passages, and alongside that fights turn-based battles using a custom spell system where the player assembles spells from letters of the alphabet based on the knowledge they have and the combinations they remember from playing. Controls are touch-based, and selecting from maps and text options feels natural even on a small screen.

Unlike a plain scan of the book, inkle added mechanics here that expand the gamebook — the player can display a map of already explored territory at any time, revisit decisions, and track the consequences of choices in a broader context, something the paper original with its numbered paragraph references couldn't allow. The series was released in four parts that follow on from each other, tracking the player's journey from the borders of Analand all the way to the sorcerer Mampang himself, with choices from earlier parts affecting later ones, and the character carrying their name and reputation between installments.

These are paid titles with no ads, each part lasting a few hours, and they can be played individually as well, though players who go through the whole series in order and carry their character and equipment between parts will appreciate the continuity most. Sorcery! is often cited as an example of how sensitively a paper gamebook can be brought into interactive form without losing the character of the original.

Why play it: For fans of fantasy and gamebooks who want to see how clever design can turn a paper original into a full-fledged RPG on mobile.