An Elmwood Trail in IOS

★★★★★ App Store Editors’ Notes

★★★★★ refreshingly mentally stimulating

I have tried so many mobile games as a way for my mind to decompress during down time, and most of them I delete the same day I download it. I find it extremely difficult to find “games” which are educational, challenging, enjoyable, and engaging. The Oregon Trail, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, and Assassin’s Creed are three of the only video games I have genuinely enjoyed. But now, with Elmwood - I can’t put it down! I’m glad I downloaded it on a Sunday because I don’t feel bad about letting it take up a chunk of my day. It’s very frustrating to see all the idiotic, pointless, redundant games that people somehow find enjoyable? This is not that! This is a hidden gem! if you are a critical thinker, enjoy solving puzzles (this isn’t a puzzle game, however. or like where’s waldo, those are boring) and mysteries, or are skilled in anticipating behavior - try it!! the only thing I would change is that the side trails were more accessible (aka not an in app purchase) I know you can play the Symmetry game but 800 points takes forever. literally my only complaint. and I understand why it’s that way, it’s a small team of developers. I cannot wait until episode 3 comes out!!

★★★★★ Best detective game out there!

I had heard of this game through TikTok and it didn't disappoint! The puzzles are fun and a bit difficult but not impossible I also really enjoyed that it was all done through the phones. I've tried playing other games with a similar format to this and game they didn't compare. This games story telling was well done, and it does it through the texting, it tells you who you are, how you got her phone, and why you’re so eager to find her all without explicitly saying it through narration but as a part of the actual story. The mysteries surrounding every single character, including our detective, truly pulls you in and you don’t know who you can trust. I also love how it’s free and it doesn’t require coins or anything to unlock episodes like the other games or that random ads just pop up randomly in the middle of the story. The only thing I've noticed about this game is how some things are worded a bit weird or written incorrectly but I don’t really care about that lol. I can’t wait for the next episode to come out and I hope they make another game like this or that others take notes cuz I legit cannot find another game that compares to this one.

★★★★★ Incredible, Wonderful, Amazing.

I won't lie, free games, especially IOS games, tend to be misleading or very misleading or inaccurate. However, this game absolutely without a doubt one of the best and most phenomenal games I have EVER played. I am a very picky person when it comes to games, especially on IOS because of all the non stop ads, bad graphics, or just poor overall gameplay. This game is everything I could've asked for in a mystery game (for free). It's an ad free game unless you want a hint for if you get stuck on a difficult riddle or problem throughout the game. The ads are only maybe 30 seconds each? And the hints are very very helpful. This game is tricky, but not overly hard or overwhelming to the point where you want to quit. Throughout the game your characters name is Adam, and Adam is trying to figure out a missing persons case using both his phone, and other clues to help solve "who done it." It is SO much fun especially if you like solving things like puzzles and also if you love a good mystery game. I will 100% be raving about it to my friends, and I cannot WAIT until episode 3 releases. I am praying it is soon because I seriously cannot wait!

★★★★★ Super fun!

This game is so intriguing and fun! It’s so cool to go through a game that is so realistic and mind bending. The quality is great, especially if it was made by only three people! The texts were realistic, the phone and apps were too! Sometimes the apps were so realistic that I swiped up and got out of the app Elmwood instead of getting out of the app in the game. It’s fun to put all the clues together! I love how it has all the apps that regular people usually have on their phones. I also love how you can take your time and there are no adds that just randomly pop up! The only adds that do pop up are when you want a hint, but you can choose! (I love games like that.) One suggestion is maybe making the texts more realistic, more use of emojis, not always correct punctuation, and maybe more people spelling words wrong. But that is just to make it more realistic, it’s already really great the way it is! Also a tiny suggestion is that you don’t make the chats on text too long, and you kind of get to the point in only like 4 texts rather than 10. Overall: download this game immediately!

★★★★★ good but glitchy

I was really enjoying this game at first and if the developers work on fixing the glitches, I will seriously consider redownloading the game. It was a fun story and pretty easy for the most part to get through. The mini games were a little difficult, only due to the game not providing information on how to play the game. These moments were the only times that I had to use the hints (and watch ADS). Some were almost impossible to solve without using hints (basically just telling you how to play the game which should automatically be included, but ok). Otherwise, I was locked into the game and I had a hard time stopping. However, the game stopped for me. After sending Lily the photo, I could not delete it as the game asked. There is no way to scroll up in the messages. This was incredibly frustrating in the moment, but after reading that this was developed by three people, I can give them some grace. I see other reviews with similar issues, so I hope they work on resolving these glitches. They have a really great game here and I would love to play it through. Although it has some issues, I would still recommend playing whatever the game will allow. If you are a true crime lover, you will love this game.

★★★★★ Fantastic!

I’m a fan of mystery games, but have been disappointed by pretty much every one that I’ve tried. So when I saw this one, I won’t lie- I did not have my hopes up. Little did I know how (delightfully) wrong I would be! This game is amazing, with a gripping story, lots of fun and engaging sleuthing to do, and with a tasteful sprinkling of pop culture and meta humor to give it just the right amount of personality. I thought that not ever actually getting to physically explore any of the areas in this world would be a downside, but the game not only manages to keep it from feeling dull and stationary, but does it so well and with such atmosphere that it delivers some truly pulse-pounding moments without your character ever leaving the interface of your phone connections. I’m not the type to leave reviews normally :( so for me to go out of my way to write one for this- well, let’s just say if you like mystery games, I can’t recommend this enough! Edit: you do eventually venture out into the dangerous world of Riverstone! And it does not disappoint! Can’t wait for episode three, or even just more side trails!

★★★★★ Amazing.

I got this game just today and I have finished ep 1-2. It is so incredibly addicting for a mobile game. I feel like I’m in my own horror movie, with a modern feel since it’s set on a phone. Playing for the first time I noticed zero glitches or anything that was annoying besides ads (which I will touch on later). You know it’s a phenomenal game when you sweat, get chills and gasp when something scary or unexpected happens. I couldn’t put this game down even if I wanted to. I like how ads aren’t rly a thing with this game unless you need help with a riddle/puzzles which if you’re anything like me that will happen a LOT. I would like to see more clarification with riddles/puzzles from the get go so I don’t have to watch random ads to get a lick of info on what to try in look for. Other than that I have thoroughly enjoyed this game with the impeccable storytelling. Can’t wait for ep 3, and find what happens to Zoey as I’m on the edge of my seat. If you’re looking for an in depth detective game for when you’re very bored not just some little quick game please consider this you won’t regret it. Would love to see more games follow this theme!