A Dark Room

The UI can't be simpler, but the story is cruel yet beautiful.

I can’t turn my phone sideways to activate it, and there’s no button option. Why is the dev telling people it’s fixed?

ADR was more than a game for me. The story was beautiful, and poetic and tragic, and (dare I say) life changing. Yes, gameplay was a grind in the middle, but it was for a purpose. The UI was easy and navigable on a phone, it did simplicity extremely well. An absolute hidden gem. The update has destroyed all of my goodwill (most likely) the goodwill of the community that’s been here from the beginning. IMHO the Dev traded all of the charm of this experience for a UI (seemingly) designed for a child on an iPad with attention issues. I would gladly pay $50 for the original game back, this disappointing monstrosity is being deleted from my devices. I see a compromise being “ADR classic” and “ADR +”. DEV—Please don’t wreck ‘The Ensign’. #notmyADR

*editing my review after some amazing game fixes* I absolutely loved this game and was excited to see it was getting an update. This was a slam dunk 5 star game. I love the sound additions. Absolutely amazing update after the fixes!

I’ve had ADR since it first released and I’ve played The Ensign and A Noble Circle too. Many many many times. At this point, I’ve completed the game so many times and I’m so used to it that I can beat it in about an hour start to finish. Somehow, even…what? A decade later? I still enjoy playing the game even though I know precisely what will happen. It has become my bed time mantra. Somehow, playing this game, stoking the fire, running through the motions, has given me a way to quiet my mind and go to sleep. I literally play it every night before bed. The small lines of dialogue have become even more relatable and this game now truly brings me a sense of solace. When I first started, I had a sense of wonder and horror and imagination strike through me when I played the game. It’s a brilliantly done story. Done perfectly with so little. I have loved it from the start and hope to have it for years to come. Please play The Ensign too. It’s worth it. Enjoy the little Easter eggs that were planted in there. Question your morals. Embark in chaos. Go forth and conquer.

A Dark Room is one of my most recommended apps when someone asks me for a game on the App Store to play. It starts as a simple resource management game but builds into something much more than expected. I can't wait to see what else Michael and Amir have in store. Thank you to them for making such a worthwhile experience. The ending is truly something special. I purchased The Ensign minutes after completing this. If there is any game worth playing on the App Store right now, it's this. From the moment you press light fire to your thousandth death on the dusty trail during your hundredth play through makes it all worth it for the second you see your starship fly into the unknown the game holds puts you on the edge of seat. To reiterate I cannot recommend this game to people enough.

Changing back to portrait was a very good first step but the new UI still feels slightly buggy. Also the game does not take up the whole screen and could benefit from using the unused space at the top / bottom of the screen.

This new UI is so dark and the text is near unreadable. I tried stoking the fire to brighten it up so I could see the screen and it didn’t work. This isn’t playable for me now.

I got this game to play on a three hour trip. I have never enjoyed playing such a simple little game so much! The storyline is great, as of right now I’m doing my first no hut run!

I dont mind it but understand why some people might not.