Lifeline...

 iOS
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 2 out of 20
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  1. ErnoRen
    Jan 17, 2016
    10
    It is the best game I've played in my entire life for a mobile phone. This is a game based on taking decisions about the guy that is stranded in the space. The perfect thing that the game is in Real Time. What means that Taylor is going to be busy doing stuff and you will need to wait for him to write you.

    Another thing that I love about this game is that you can play it without opening    It is the best game I've played in my entire life for a mobile phone. This is a game based on taking decisions about the guy that is stranded in the space. The perfect thing that the game is in Real Time. What means that Taylor is going to be busy doing stuff and you will need to wait for him to write you.

    Another thing that I love about this game is that you can play it without opening the game, entire with push notifications, and if you have the Apple Watch you'll get another level of experience. Highly recommended.    … Expand
  2. CenkAlp
    Jan 3, 2018
    8
    Hikaye = -
    Oynanış = -
    Grafikler = -
    Sesler = -
    Keyif = -
    Atmosfer = -
    Süre = -
  3. StevenvanL
    Jan 12, 2016
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. When you boot up the game Lifeline, you will find yourself with a stranded astronaut called Taylor in your phone. He – or she, the game never specifies – has crash-landed on a planet and is now trying to survive and to find out what made his/her ship crash. You will receive text messages from Taylor, leading to points at which you have to decide what to say or what action to advise. Why you are deemed qualified to make life-or-death decisions for Taylor, which are often followed without question, is not entirely clear. Supposedly you are the only person Taylor can contact, though why you would not run straight to NASA with your phone, I do not know.

    But never mind, some suspension is required in any case, as time works in interesting ways within the game. Frequently, Taylor will go off to do something or simply sleep and you will see stated on the screen ‘Taylor is Busy’. At that point, you will just go about your day until you hear from him/her again. However, once you hear back, you are not required to reply straight away. Just as well, as that would be very inconvenient to those of us with busy lives. Instead, all will remain in stasis and the story will resume whenever you respond, until you get to the next ‘Taylor is Busy’ bit and put the game away again.

    As a story, Lifeline takes some interesting turns. The plotting is good, but the dialogue can come off as a bit glib at times. Taylor keeps cracking jokes and waxing eloquently even at points where it feels forced. It calls to mind Matt Damon in The Martian, but the humour doesn’t always fit as well here. Despite that and the undeniable artifice, you do start to feel invested in keeping the astronaut alive. It is definitely possibly to get Taylor killed in a multitude of ways, but I managed to reach a happy ending on my first playthrough. (Even though I discovered online that I bypassed an even happier, optimal ending.) Once you have reached any ending, the game gives you the option to restart or to jump back in time a bit. This makes it easier to experiment with other outcomes. But I am glad that I didn’t have to resort to that, as I think that reviving Taylor from the dead would have made the experience feel less immersive. The story does have bits you can miss out on, though unless you die along the way, you will end up in the same basic end-game.

    As a kid, I used to play Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s Fighting Fantasy books a lot. These are interactive adventures with branching paths. Lifeline reminds me of these, often having me make decisions that seemed like a blind guess with no idea of what the outcome will be. Some are based on common sense and logic, others on luck. But the fact that the story kept reaching out to me and setting its own time table, was a unique twist.

    By the way, it’s interesting to be confronted with your inner prejudices – with a protagonist just called Taylor in what I assumed to be a scfi action story, I instinctively imagined a white, thirtysomething male. I conjured up an appropriate voice in my mind when I read the texts and never gave it a second thought. Until someone online pointed out that Taylor could have been a 55 year old black woman, as no description was given anywhere. So I had an adventure and learned that my liberal mind is prejudiced. Lifeline is totally worth the journey. @PopCultJunk    … Expand
  4. MatRevo
    Feb 16, 2016
    10
    Brilliant and one of a kind! The plot is amazing. It will really test your decision making skills. The simplicity of this game made it standout than the rest. It will also make you constantly check your phone. Moreover, your relationship with Taylor will deepen as you go along the story.
  5. korea09
    Sep 8, 2016
    9
    A worthwhile game of a character you will care about and a satisfying story as you help out Taylor on a crash on a moon. You will also develop an emotion for the character as you are her only hope a fine game although the game is a bit short, if you have some money to spare this game will serve you way better than a bag of chips.
  6. hoanns
    Jun 6, 2020
    8
    Go play it. It is text based, story driven. Very unique: it simulates as if Taylor would do everything in real time, and you get notified when they are ready. Good to play casually in idle times.

Awards & Rankings

35
#35 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. GameCritics
    Jun 1, 2015
    70
    Despite the fact that (potentially) dying and restarting feels like a design misstep, Lifeline was still a worthwhile experience, and one that I would recommend to people looking for something new and fresh for their mobile device. If nothing else, I appreciated the unusual approach, and well-written text is always a welcome thing in my world.
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  2. TouchArcade
    May 9, 2015
    70
    The highs of Lifeline are very high...the lows are disappointing.
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  3. Apple'N'Apps
    May 8, 2015
    90
    Lifeline delivers a compelling adventure that is a must have experience with such a great story that is provided through an all new form that fits your daily lifestyle
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