Mobile games mostly suck. They’re usually time-wasters or heavily monetized with microtransactions and the production value is often low. Occasionally there are some stand-out games on mobile devices however. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, while filled with microtransactions is nonetheless excellent, and games like Stranger Things and Alien: Blackout show how branded content can really shine on a mobile platform. But rarely do you see a game as impressive as Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins from Maze Theory and for it to be on a phone is even wilder.
Granted, this is a “found phone” story, a genre that has picked up popularity in the smartphone era. But Doctor Who games have been notoriously bad across the board, with only a handful of mediocre releases. It’s hard to expect much when most previous attempts have been commercial failures with limited distribution. Even the PSVR Doctor Who game that was recently released was only decent. Fortunately, Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins changes this, taking a mildly entertaining genre, adding a well-designed Doctor Who spin to it, and telling a short but absolutely fantastic story for a very reasonable price!
In Doctor Who: TLA, you play as a random person who has found a cellphone. The phone in question suddenly starts a self-destruct countdown as you poke at it and you’re off! Fortunately, Osgood, a character from the TV series, deactivates the self-destruct and contacts you, looking for Lawrence, the original owner of the phone. As you talk with her via text, she enlists your help in finding out what has become of Lawrence and a whole lot more besides. As this is an entirely story-based game and only lasts a few hours, it would be a shame to ruin the plot, but suffice to say there are twists and turns, several familiar characters, and a whole bunch of interactive excitement! Also, some Weeping Angels if you’re familiar with them, but hey, the screenshots and icon are a dead giveaway. The plot is cleverly written, well-acted, and above all, interesting.
But what’s a plot without a good interface? Well, Doctor Who: TLA has that in spades! The entire game plays like you’re using a smartphone with its own unique graphical user interface (GUI). Interface lines are crisp, clean and modern, and the touch sensitive contextual buttons work perfectly. Everything about the interface design in TLA absolutely screams quality. There are actual photo albums to poke through, back chat logs, a browser history, and even an email account. In short, the game entirely looks like a functioning smartphone in every way. It’s absolutely gorgeous with the graphics turned all the way up, and responsiveness is high. If you didn’t know better, you’d honestly think you’d actually found someone’s lost phone! On top of that, you can make and receive calls, talk with Osgood via text (though you only get to choose from options for conversations rather than actually texting), and a host of other neat activities, all in gorgeous high def.
Osgood directs you how to investigate the phone, slowly unlocking abilities and access to new area of data that have been corrupted as you look around. You’ll have to pay attention too, as you’ll need key data to progress and the only way to find it is to look carefully. You’ll find more than a couple mentions of the Doctor as well during your investigation! Eventually, there are even some interactive games to play where you’ll have to defeat enemies, a welcome change of pace from reading the emails and checking through websites. The pacing in TLA is excellent, never letting anything become too stale, never giving away too much until just the right moment, and always including just a sprinkle of levity, much as most of the better Doctor Who episodes do. There are several instances where you watch video or listen to audio too, and the video is outstanding with not even the hint of an issue during play on a modern smartphone. This is one of the most stable games out there and it’s hard to imagine a game running better or more cleanly on your mobile device than this one. Oh, and if you weren’t clear on it, the entire game is performed with live-action actors. It’s an absolutely fantastic piece of modern Doctor Who cinematography, perfectly converted to a mobile game!
The music is limited and sound effects are intermittent but that’s to be expected when you’re playing a found phone game. Audio is great though, and sound effects are used to chilling effect, especially if you’re wearing headphones when you play! But you’re here for the Doctor Who goodies, and there are plenty of them! A cameo by David Tennant is a pleasant surprise and Jodie Whittaker makes an appearance too, so there’s some solid crossover happening, as one would expect in a good Doctor Who game. But it’s the way that the game manages to be more of a tangential experience than a direct Doctor Who episode that gives it its charm, and without a doubt, this little side story will absolutely draw in Whovians of all sorts!
Now, normally, you’d expect to pay $10 or $15 for a game like this one, but here’s the next surprise. It’s only a paltry $3.99! That’s right, you’re only paying $4 for a fun, well-designed licensed Doctor Who game and there’s no advertising! No microtransactions! No nonsense at all in fact! On Google, it does ask that you use Google Play Games, but that’s pretty standard for a lot of games these days. It’s honestly a refreshing treat to have a game that just exists as a game on your phone with no extraneous nonsense and little boxes you have to uncheck and advertisements that you can’t get rid of. This is a pure narrative Doctor Who experience at a super-low price point and on top of that, it’s entertaining as all hell! If you have never watched Doctor Who, you might miss a fair bit of nuance, but even then, TLA is not only playable but would even make sense due to the excellent design work.
Honestly, it is easy to go on about Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins. It’s an absolute gem of a game that deserves to be recognized, even though it’s designed as a mobile title. This is what we need to see more of on mobile platforms. Clever, well-made short games that are reasonably priced. Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins is the kind of title that will make you reconsider mobile gaming as a legitimate contender in the game industry. It’s simply brilliant! Go buy it and play it. Now.
This review was based on a digital copy of Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins provided by the publisher. It was played on a Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus with a 64GB microSD Card. Doctor Who: The Lonely Assassins is also available on the Apple Store and on PC for Steam, though due to its design as a mobile found phone game, it’s probably better to play it on a mobile device if you can!