Do you remember those “choose your own adventure” books? They were huge when I was younger, and I remember having many adventures where I made some major decisions. And inevitably doomed my fictional character. Now people can have the same experience of making these little decisions with the iOS app Episode. Does Episode offer the compelling adventures that mean I will no longer need to talk to real people? Let’s find out.

What Is Episode?

Basically, the app offers conversation-based adventures relying on dialogue and choices. Rather than offering one streamlined adventure, you are offered three to start out: Demi Lovato’s Path To Fame, Mean Girls: Senior Year, and my personal favorite Campus Crush. And no, that’s not like Candy Crush but with college students. I decided to try out each chapter and see what they have to offer. What did I find? Well, you’ll just have to read on to the next section to find out.

The Gameplay

While each individual adventure has something unique to offer, they all have something in common: choices. Whether big and small, you’ve got tons of choices available to you. Everything from what you wear to who you flirt with will affect your future in the adventure. Additionally, there are options in your conversations. I figured that much of the dialogue would simply be yes or no questions. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see the sheer amount of conversational options available. My characters seem to have much more expansive vocabularies than me. (To be fair I mainly converse with others through a series of grunts.)

Is It Good?

Actually, yes. I can honestly say I haven’t seen anything quite like Episode on the App Store. The game surprised me in many ways. There is tons of dialogue, and much of it seems to have larger effects on the story at large. I found myself much more invested in changing outfits, applying for sororities, and flirting with the R.A. than I thought I would be. The art and animation also surprised me. Everything looks nice and people move very fluidly. It’s all the best parts of talking to people without all the stress of making up your own words.

The Bottom Line

While I only just scratched the surface on the three adventures, I could tell this game is deep. Considering I downloaded it after seeing an ad for Celebrity Shave (a considerably less in-depth game by comparison) I was not expecting much. In fact, I expecting a very low-detail dating sim or something. I can honestly say I was surprised for the better.