Indie Gaming Hit Limbo Brings Its Macabre Black And White Charm To iOS

For Americans, the long weekend looms, so it’s great timing for the release of Limbo, the indie gaming title from Danish developer Playdead, on Apple’s iOS mobile platform. The game is out now, and is a universal title optimized for both iPhone and iPad that retails for $4.99. If you haven’t played Limbo, it’s a steal on your mobile device at that price, and even if you have, it’s probably worth a second play through.

Limbo translates extremely well to the iPhone and iPad, with controls that work great with touch and a simple, essentially HUD-less interface that shines on smaller screens. The sombre atmospherics of the title, which adds considerably to its charm, work well on both the iPad and the iPhone, especially if you plug in your headphones and play in a darkened room.

If you’re new to Limbo, it’s a platform game with puzzle elements that came out in 2010, at first as an Xbox Arcade exclusive. Since then, it’s made its way to a variety of other platforms, including the PS3, Windows, OS X and Linux. It may have been three years since the initial release of the game, but the title still holds up amazingly well, both in terms of its unique art style, and regarding its simple yet challenging and engaging gameplay.

Graphics in Limbo are simple, with essentially only silhouettes for characters, enemies and backgrounds. But the 2D style is meant to emphasize the gameplay and story, rather than devoting a lot of time and resources to 3D graphics that mostly take away from those other two elements. Limbo has been lauded pretty much universally by critics, and while somewhat short by modern game standards, it’s sure to please gamers of all stripes.

In other words, go get it now. Everyone in the world should play Limbo at some point, and you might as well do it on an iPhone or iPad if you haven’t yet.