Indulge in Serenity: Emoak's New Mobile Masterpiece, Roia

One of the things we love about mobile gaming is the way it has accelerated innovation in game design. 

The unusual buttonless form factor of a smartphone and the sheer universality of its audience have combined to take video games in all sorts of unexpected directions, and Roia is a perfect case in point. 

This ingenious puzzle-adventure is the latest title to come out of Emoak, the ambitious indie studio behind Paper Climb, Machinaero, and the award-winning light-based puzzler Lyxo. 

Believe it or not, Roia is about making a river. That’s it. A stream begins at the top of a mountain, and you have to gently shepherd this cascade of water towards the sea by manipulating the landscape with your finger. 

Emoak reveals in the press release for Roia that the game has a deeply personal significance for one of its chief designers, Tobias Sturn. 

During his childhood, Sturn spent time playing in the creek behind his grandparents’ house, using homemade waterwheels, bridges, and other contraptions crafted with the help of his grandfather to explore the way that water flows and gathers. 

Sturn’s grandfather died during the making of Roia, but the influence of those happy days in the creek is obvious. The game is dedicated to him. 

In terms of gameplay, Roia is difficult to categorize. While there are challenges and obstacles to overcome in your quest to help the river reach the sea, the true goal is chilling out. 

Your journey will take you through several handcrafted environments, including forests, meadows, and quaint little villages. All the while a helpful white bird will patrol the sky, gently prompting you to make the right moves. 

No doubt you’ve already glanced at the screenshots, so you’ll know that Roia belongs to the elegant, spare, Monument Valley school of aesthetics. 

What you can’t see is that it sounds great too, with a simple, stirring soundtrack. Emoak has commissioned a score from Johannes Johannson, whose previous credits include the studio’s own Lyxo. 

You can check Roia out right now on the Google Play Store or the App Store. It costs $2.99.