# Anodyne Mobile — user reviews > 50 indexed App Store user reviews of Anodyne Mobile by Sean Hogan, rated 3.70/5 from 25 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/anodyne-mobile/id655470654/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/anodyne-mobile/id655470654.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 13 · 4★ 3 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 0 · 1★ 6 ## Newest reviews (11 of 50) ### 4/5 — Awesome to be able to play this classic on my phone *2021-03-22* Loved this game on console. By the way, tou really gotta fix the screen orientation screwing up at random times. Happened during a boss battle and I died because I couldn’t see half the screen or buttons. Speaking of the buttons it would be nice to have some haptic feedback from our phone when the buttons are pressed so we can “feel” them without looking while we play the game ### 4/5 — Fun *2017-06-17* Fun ### 4/5 — Good! *2014-03-07, version 1.507.5* controls need fixing though. ### 3/5 — Great game, terrible controls. *2014-03-04* I bought this game because I watched a friend playing it and it was a lot of fun. He didn't seem to have much of an issue with the controls so I bought it. However, after three days of owning this game I can't progress any further because of the clunky controls. I have a 4S, while my friend has a 5C, so perhaps the screen size is part of the control problem. Either way, they need an overhaul. The buttons need to be larger and the D-pad needs to have a larger contact patch or it should be replaced with a something else entirely. That all being said, I very much want to play this game. It is witty, well-developed, and intriguing. I look forward to a future update that improves playability, because this game looks like a great amount of fun. ### 4/5 — So far so good *2013-10-28* For those having control issues try setting the controls to D-Pad only. This game is pretty cool, I love the music! I'll edit this as I go ### 3/5 — Problem controls. *2013-09-12* I want to like it. It has great atmosphere. But the controls are atrocious. Walk off ledge. Get pushed off ledge. Rinse repeat. Continue. Just a frustratingly bad implementation of directional pad. ### 4/5 — Great game! *2013-09-10* Anodyne has a great story, amazing music and is overall a great game. Sadly I think there are some flaws with the port to iOS. The control pad is a bit clunky and I got slowdown when there was more than a 5-ish creatures on the screen, so I can only give this a 4/5. ### 3/5 — Frustrating controls *2013-09-09* An exercise in frustration, the d-pad either needs more range (bigger) or needs to be a dynamic floating d-pad ala the Final Fantasy games. Game looks interesting but I gave up at the first boss due to the frustrating controls. ### 4/5 — Pretty Great aside from the controls *2013-08-14, version 1.507.4* The D-pad makes the platforming sections frustratingly hard. Sometimes it sticks in one direction, and sometimes you move diagonally when you need straight! It is not precise enough for getting on those small platforms. Other than that it is a fantastic game, music, bosses, graphics, weapon mechanics all recieve top grades. This is the closest thing you'll get to Zelda on iOS! ### 2/5 — Amazing game marred by awful controls *2013-07-23, version 1.507.4* I bought Anodyne on the Steam summer sale for PC/Mac, and have been enjoying it immensely. So much so that I wanted to check out the game on iOS. Everything is in tact, except there are MAJOR control issues. I'd advise against buying this until the controls are straightened out. I'm playing on an iPhone 5, and was hoping for a good virtual D-Pad. The other reviewers are spot on. Occasionally your character will dash off in a random direction, often resulting in death or injury. Also, the D-Pad feels unresponsive. I'm not interested in the touch controls, as the game screen is so small that blocking out my character with my finger doesn't suit my play style. On the bright side, it looks like the developer has been patching this pretty regularly, so hopefully this will be resolved soon. Until then, I'll be enjoying it on my laptop instead. ### 2/5 — The New Gold Standard *2013-07-22, version 1.507.4* For terrible D-pad controls in an iOS game. The game itself it pretty fun, but this flaw makes playing it beyond frustrating. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — There is no sound *2025-12-27, version 1.516* The sound does not work on this app at all. I’ve tried multiple times to adjust the volume in its own configurations and on my phone is simply does not work. I am using an iPhone SE that is under five years old. ### 1/5 — Potential....but controls are make it unplayable. *2020-04-13* The control pad makes this game unplayable. Absolutely trash. Don’t waste 5 dollars. ### 1/5 — Controls constantly get stuck. *2019-06-22* Paid $5 for this game and I have to constantly restart it due to the d pad getting stuck in a direction causing me to die and have to restart the game from the last save I had, hoping it wasn’t too far ago. I can’t pass the final boss due to this issue, it has made me lose interest in the game. ### 1/5 — Black screen *2015-05-06* As soon as i was getting into the game the game stop loading. I get a black screen and title screen can be heard. Would like an option the remove that awful white dot! ### 1/5 — Unplayable *2013-09-24* This is very disappointing. I love games like Zelda and Secret of Mana, so I was excited to play this. The game lags horribly. I have to constantly reset my device just to play for a few minutes. The controls are unresponsive. The bad controls, frame rate, and lag make the game literally unplayable. I hope one day I can actually play what I spent my money on. ### 1/5 — Who Tested the Movement Controls and said "Ship It"! *2013-09-13* Controls are miserable, one star until movement is fixed. Really glad I only paid a dollar for this. It's a shame too, because this is such a great game otherwise. ### 1/5 — Bad controller and bad framerate *2013-09-09* The game is practically unplayable due to the terrible framerate and bad controller. I should have paid attention to the reviews. I tried rebooting the game several times but it didn't fix the framerate issue. Waiting for update. ### 1/5 — Unplayable Mess *2013-08-24, version 1.507.4* This is by far the single worst control experience on any game I have played in the app store. I was expecting "bad" controls due to the other reviews here but these are not just awkward, they are buggy and unusable. Often when you lift your finger off the screen the character keeps on walking. Occasionally you walk in the exact opposite direction from what is pressed or the character randomly switches directions. I cannot fathom how this was released to the store in this state. I hope the developer completely rethinks his control scheme for the next update because this is a shambles. ### 1/5 — Do not buy!! Controls further in too flaky *2013-07-26, version 1.507.4* I really wanted to love this game, early levels = awesome so zelda like. I desperately wanted to love this game. Controls are so poor as soon as you get to any depth in the game where jumping is an issue it's impossible to play. Constant deaths and boredom. Such a shame as it could be an awesome game, I wanted it to be 5 stars but impossible to play. I'm afraid another delete !! ### 1/5 — Still Unplayable *2013-07-14, version 1.507.3* The stuttering jump issue has been fixed. But unfortunately this most recent update adds a new problem. For some reason they added the ability to move by touching the game play screen. So when you are dragging right on the D pad, if you drag a little to far, your finger is on the left side of the screen and the unexpectedly player reversed direction. Thank you for fixing the horrible jump stuttering issue - please remove the 'control by touching game play area' feature. It kills the controls, and no one would want to control the game this way anyway, because the visible area is so small that you can hardly see anything when you put your fingers over it. If this issue gets fixed, ill change my review to 5 stars. Looks like it could be a great game, if it were playable. The small screen size is also pretty annoying but I can live with it. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Great game!! *2018-09-26* I’ve basically binge played this game, which is saying something because I’m not a gamer. I’m really enjoying it! Maybe it’s because I’m playing on my phone so at times the controls are a bit hard or maybe it’s because I’m not much of a gamer, but there are a couple sections where I’m like “gahhh!” I can’t get past the 3 air vents towards the end. I like exploring all the dungeons and most of the time I feel the right amount of challenge. Well worth the time spent. I hope they make another game ### 5/5 — A Memorable Journey Into Dark Thoughts *2015-05-16* You might need to google the ending to truly make sense of its story, but once you do it adds to an otherwise deep and engaging experience. This 'experience' is made all the better by the fantastic score and frequently humorous/dark dialogue. Gameplay is generally fantastic, but there are some puzzles for which the iPhone controls do not feel perfectly tuned. There are a couple of jumps, for instance, which took me far too long to complete. This doesn't detract from the game in general, however, since the developers have added checkpoints in convenient places to account for this added difficulty. Story: B+ Gameplay: A- Intrigue: A+ Music: A+ Humour: A Overall: A ### 5/5 — Great game, minor glitch with controls *2015-04-21* First off this game is great. The entire game feels like a long lost Gameboy Color game. The level design is perfect, and I got the soundtrack before I even finished the game. One minor complaint specific to the IOS version. This version adds a white dot that follows the main character around to assist in control, I believe it's logic is backwards. It's only supposed to appear when you have touch controls enabled, but it seems it's backwards. It's there on d-pad only and missing on touch-only. ### 5/5 — Thank you guys *2014-03-23* This is by far my favorite game on ios. Controls are fine on my ipad, I assume the game wasn't made to be easy (and thank you for that). Great writing as well. ### 5/5 — 👍 *2014-01-23* This is probably one of my favorite games recently for its atmosphere and imagination. It's a strange game but a great trip, especially the music. There are issues with the port but it's well worth it for a mobile version of this game. I'd recommend checking out the PC version as well ### 5/5 — Perfect *2014-01-17* Not only the best game I've played on the iPhone, but probably one of the best I've played that has come out in years. If you're a fan of Zelda it's a must have. ### 5/5 — Thanks game is great! *2013-11-16* It is especially frustrating during parts that require plat forming including boss fights. Furthermore when pressing the directional pad diagonally you automatically start walking, thus making platforming terrible. Edit Controls are better know, making the game a whole lot easier not to die thanks. ### 5/5 — My favourite RPG on IOS *2013-11-07, version 1.507.5* I grew up playing these kind of RPGs, but theres truly something special about this one. I'm convinced that this game could've been a serious contender with other NES classics. I admire the weirdness. It's unique. I would definitely play an Anodyne II. ### 5/5 — Awesome game! *2013-09-09* Loved this game on PC. Great on the iOS as well. ### 5/5 — Great game, needs better d pad *2013-08-13* Beautiful game with an abstract but awesome story line. Visuals are great. Only problem is the d pad is hard to use in things like boss combat and jumping puzzles, it needs to be bigger, or at least have an adjustable size. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-18.*