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While the vast majority of the games I write about here are PC games, I do also play games on my Android phone. I’ve even written about a few here and there. But most I don’t write about, because a lot of mobile games are either simple and light time-wasters, or complex enough that I’d rather just be playing them on my PC. Hoping to find a game that hit the sweet spot for mobile play, I turned to role-playing games, figuring that they are often turn-based and therefore easy to pick up and put down while on the go, but feature substantial narratives and deep enough systems to remain engaging over many play sessions. I scoured the internet for recommendations and came across this list, which put the Tales of Illyria series in the number one spot (it’s a living list, updated on occasion, so if you are reading this from the future, positions may have changed). So I grabbed the first game — originally known simply as Tales of Illyria, but later re-released in updated form as Tales of Illyria: Fallen Knight — and tried it out.
Tales of Illyria combines a sword and sorcery fantasy role-playing game, tactical turn-based battles and all, with The Oregon Trail. Somehow, this actually works. Really well. And yes, your characters can get dysentery.