MidBoss’ cyberpunk adventure game Read Only Memories: Type-M (Free) is out now on the App Store. The game has you exploring San Francisco, circa 2064, in a world full of robots and genetic modifications, and a conspiracy involving the disappearance of Parallax engineer Hayden Webber. Your goal as the player is to work with Hayden’s robot Turing and uncover the mystery in the rapidly-changing world of Neo-San Francisco.
If you want to take this one for a spin, MidBoss released the app as a free download, with the full download costing $5.99 to unlock chapters beyond the first one. The Android version hasn’t shown up on Google Play yet, but expect it soon on the 6th. Nintendo Switch owners will also get their chance to check out the game when it releases on Nintendo’s platform in April.
It’s been a long and winding road for Read Only Memories to wind up on iOS. The Kickstarter project back in 2013 promised the game for mobile in 2014, before all the sorts of things that happen in game development happen, and Steam saw the game first, before the rollout to consoles, portables, and now mobile. Heck, even the Ouya saw a release for the game! But now, the only viable system without ROM on it is the Nintendo 3DS.
Honestly, this is quite the sign of the times. A game that openly invokes queer themes, that even a few years ago would’ve probably never seen production, is available on almost every single gaming platform. Even notoriously conservative Nintendo is allowing the game to relese. We’re living in dramatically changing times, and if it leads to more games with unique perspectives like Read Only Memories seeing release, I’m all for it!