Stop forcing me to use a phone on my phone
Why I no longer use custom Android ROMs
It's been decades since games started implementing in-game communication devices similar to our own real-life phones – and it's often a successful mechanic for separating and consolidating menus, as well as tracking progress. But recently I've noticed a strange trend: mobile games that are entirely inside a simulated mobile device. In other words, phone games that feel like playing them on your phone. And honestly, I'm over it.
Take Guildlings, the very sweet turn-based RPG. The game opens with you, a character named Coda, discovering your magical phone (also called a Tome). The phone comes with a purple bug-like wisp that acts much like your avatar to move around the world – as your Tome takes you to new locations in Worldaria, you'll use your wisp to control Guildlings (aka wizards) through battles and exploration.
The game eventually transitions into these more complex interactions – you can move around, explore with various items, recruit new Guildlings, and finally fight other wizards and warlocks – but for the first 15 minutes or so you're basically just using a text- like chat on your magic phone to make basic decisions. It's… frustrating. And it doesn't do justice to the game's otherwise decent gameplay.
