Today, I’m here to talk about an IOS game. Yeah, I know, I don’t do this very often, but the kind folks at Play by Ears have generously provided me a test copy of Evidence #111, a new interactive audio drama. Yep, that’s what Evidence #111 is. It’s all narrative, where you make choices that influence the story. And spoiler alert, it’s good!!!

I will absolutely admit to you that Evidence #111 surprised the heck out of me. Firstly, I had heard nothing about it before the developers reached out to me, so its very existence came as a surprise, and secondly, well, while some audio games are good, others, (I’m thinking of a recent example here), are not. But this one… Guys, this game is genuinely good! Gestures work as they’re supposed to. The whole game runs on a simple swipe system, and can be played with 1 to 2 fingers. Everything feels responsive. The things that change depending on the choices you’ve made feel seamless and solid. But for me, that’s only the beginning. Yeah, you know where this is headed.

The audio design of Evidence #111 is… Get this… Really good! From the rustle of clothing to the environment-based reverb, it’s genuinely awesome. And the voice acting… Yeah, the voice acting is ALSO very good! In an audio game, this is an extreme rarity, but it’s true, I promise. Almost all the voice acting is fantastic, and there are a few names of note involved in this one, including actress Rosamund Pike, known for her work in blockbuster movies like Gone Girl and Die Another Day. She doesn’t phone this in. None of the actors do. It’s fantastic.

So I’ve said all this first because I feel that in the world of audio games, these are the things people want to know before anything else. Yeah, it’s good. Now a little synopsis. Our protagonist is a police woman with a tragic past who receives a call one day. Someone’s got her secret, and is threatening to reveal it to everyone if she doesn’t pull a piece of evidence from the evidence room of her station, and bring it to a specific room in a specific hotel. But of course, like many similar stories, not all is what it seems. The difference here, of course, is your influence. What path will you take her down? Will you escape your past? Can you? It’s worth finding out.

Part of me doesn’t want to say anything negative about this game, because I enjoyed it so much, but I do have to say one thing. There’s… Well, there’s a pretty monstrous plot hole in here. I won’t go into detail about what it is since doing so would spoil certain aspects of the story, but let’s just say that the reason our protagonist has a dark past never ever had to happen, and when you’ve played this out, it’ll be pretty easy to see why. Now that I’ve put that out there, though, I just want to reiterate this is a fantastic and fun game with lots of replay value.

Evidence #111 will probably run you about an hour and a half for a single playthrough, but just think of all the other paths you could try next time. Maybe even the time after that. There is definitely some replay value here. I know I intend to do at least one more run, to see how certain decisions affect things. The best part is, you can try the game for free! You can play the first section, and if you like what you hear, the rest of the game is only $4.99! Seriously, give this thing a try if you’re on IOS. I think you’ll have a great time. I only hope this developer sticks around, because I would love more choice-based narrative experiences of this quality. Thanks for reading!