Roia in IOS

★★★★★ App Store Editors’ Notes

★★★★★ Lovely idea, maybe just needs gameplay polish

First I want to say that I love the idea and appreciate that something this nice is coming from a solo dev! Many of the ideas in here are lovely. I had originally wanted to rate higher but I am completely stuck in chapter 3 or so. I’ve read in comments that there are walkthroughs but the potential beauty of this game to me isn’t in completing it but making my way through and seeing all the sights. I am stuck at a place where it is unclear how to proceed. Some of the things I’m rubbing up against are clarity that is lost because of the visuals, the limitations of the interactions and their feedback, and the inability to rotate the view, forcing a very clumsy constructing at times. It also feels like where something like this could be really fluid, natural, and open ended instead im guessing the path the devs want me to take. Other things like resetting the current chapter seem to be missing obvious needs. Overall it feels like the game could greatly be served with a whole lot of user testing, feedback and smoothing of the rough edges, it feels like there is so much potential and such a lovely start!

★★★★★ Really wanted to love it

But the controls make it unloveable for me. You mold terrain in 3D, but your view is 2D. Flowing from peak to peak is difficult with poor depth perception, and the lack of 3D view makes the controls feel unpredictable. I am open to the idea that I’m dumb or missing something, but something is definitely very unintuitive here. In addition it definitely feels like there is a correct answer for your path, but there is very little guidance. Combine all that with a frequent lack of landmarks, and I often didn’t know if I was progressing or reworking the same bit of river over and over. I think game play needs to be less rigid, or else more guidance. I got stuck and gave up. Maybe I’ll revisit, maybe not.

★★★★★ 10/10

i absolutely LOVED this game - if you have the patience to beat all the hard parts then i think this beautiful game is meant for you. i beat the entire game but there are parts where it gets difficult, finding out this was made by a solo dev blew my mind! its so cute and minimalistic though sometimes i got lost and i couldn’t find the bird haha but i downloaded and took a break last night and completed it this morning ! i need to find more games like this!!

★★★★★ Dark souls of terraforming.

Why is this random mobile app one of the hardest games I’ve ever played? The music tells me to relax, the game play shows the horrifying destruction of water. I can’t pass chapter 6 because I can’t figure out how to flow the water around the houses at all? Despite trying for over 2 hours, I can’t figure it out. Like being a hard game is fine, but maybe don’t make it so frustratingly hard it ruins the core message of your game, which is to relax. Lol

★★★★★ An Excellent Game

Such a peaceful and beautiful game! I’m lucky to have stumbled upon this gem. From sculpting the land to watching the water break into tiny blue strands, this game has become one of my favorites. Roia is easy to understand and all you need is two fingers. This game gives you the chance to appreciate the land we stand on. Great work!

★★★★★ I want more!

The game is very relaxing and feels rewarding when you get the water to go to the places you want it to go. Basically, I just want more of the game to play as it’s such a terrific base. There a few things that could make the game perfect: Sometimes the water gets lost behind things. A way to see through obstructions would do wonders. Some terrain can only be lowered so much, but that’s not communicated to the player. (Darkest purple colors denote this). Some sort of feedback when the terrain won’t move anymore would help a lot. More decorations or buildings or animals on the top of the mountain. Land Bridges.

★★★★★ Wow

There’s something about being able to move mountains (and take them away) that makes this game so appealing. Its clever, interesting, intriguing interspersed with whimsy. Its more problem solving than game which makes this one very unique. It’s a keeper for sure. Try it.