Play Ex Astris

Ex Astris
by GRYPH FRONTIER PTE.LTD.
Released: Feb 26
$9.99

I took my time to mull over this game before picking it because it is not an easy sell. But then I found myself reaching the end credits and feeling like I had gone on a complete rpg adventure in a reasonable amount of time, all while engaging very enthusiastically with its combo-based combat system.

Why you should play it

This is the part where I could explain what Ex Astris is about, but that’s probably the weakest part of the game. The story here is very difficult to follow for a number of reasons, but it’s essentially a “stranger in a strange land” situation. The bigger draws are its inventive visual style, tight pacing, and multi-faceted turn-based combat system that relies on experimentation and execution over experience points and grinding.

Why you might not play it

I can assure you that the narrative in Ex Astris eventually turns into something parsable, but even then it’s not a strength of the game. Also, this experience very much feels like a console game being squeezed into a mobile format, but I forgive it for that as it does it in the best way possible. It delivers a nostalgic feeling of playing a mid-tier rpg from the 2000s while still being incredibly convenient for mobile play in terms of cloud saves, checkpointing, and combat restarts.

_{Small Screen is an independent curation experiment by Campbell Bird, who has been covering mobile games since 2013. To learn more about Campbell, try following him on Mastodon. Small Screen's mission is to bring only the very best games on the App Store to your inbox. If you like Small Screen and wish to support Campbell, consider buying him a coffee or sharing Small Screen with a friend.}