Popular text-based adventure game Lifeline was named Apple's App of the Week, and as a result, it's available to download for free for the first time since it launched in April of 2015.

Lifeline is a text-based game that asks players to make life or death decisions to help navigate Taylor, the protagonist, through the storyline. Written by Dave Justus, the story walks players through the aftermath of a crash landing on the moon of an alien planet.

lifeline

Lifeline is a playable, branching story of survival against all odds. Using your iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch, you will help Taylor make life or death decisions, and face the consequences together.

Lifeline is a deep, immersive story of survival and perseverance, with many possible outcomes. Taylor is relying on YOU.

What's unique about Lifeline is its realtime gameplay. The story progresses in actual real world time, with the game sending players notifications throughout the day to make decisions about where the storyline should go. Players can answer as the notifications come in or catch up on their own timelines.

Lifeline is also notable because it was one the first games to be made available on the Apple Watch. When notifications come in, players can respond on the Apple Watch or directly from the iPhone's Home screen without needing to open the actual game. Since its release, Lifeline has earned 4.5 stars in the App Store with more than 9,000 reviews.

Lifeline will be available for free from the iOS App Store for the next seven days. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

Anonymous Freak Avatar
120 months ago
The realtime aspect sounds both cool and annoying. I don't need or want to play a game throughout the work day.
You could just disable notifications for it. It's not like it's so real time that if you don't respond, bad things happen. If you don't respond, it just "saves them up" until you decide to respond. So if you turn off notifications, you can just come back to it in the app and "catch up".

Yeah, it means you can't just sit down and play the game all the way through in one sitting, since it does take real-world time for various events to happen, but neither do you have to play it exactly when the notifications would pop up.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kajje Avatar
120 months ago
The first game on the iPhone 6S 128GB that is compatible with a 20 year old Nokia 2110
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E.Lizardo Avatar
120 months ago
It's a knock off of a game from the 80s on the Apple II, which was a knock off of a few old games that were floating around on mainframes since the 60s.

An old concept. Very easy to code.
Kind of like books,no? Old concept,easy to write,writing a good one however...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aston441 Avatar
120 months ago
It's a knock off of a game from the 80s on the Apple II, which was a knock off of a few old games that were floating around on mainframes since the 60s.

An old concept. Very easy to code.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
120 months ago
The realtime aspect sounds both cool and annoying. I don't need or want to play a game throughout the work day.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mr.steevo Avatar
120 months ago
I'm surprised there hasn't been any knockoffs of it yet. The idea is interesting and could easily be expanded into more genres.
I just finished the game. I agree that there is something interesting playing a text based game with time delay's. It certainly makes more sense having this type of game on your phone as you can be walking around doing your own thing and then have to respond to your lost astronaut. I was disappointed that as I came closer to the end the pace picked up with almost no delay's which for me took away from the suspension of the story.

Good game!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...