# Voice of the Ancients — Adventure with your voice

> Voice-controlled narrative adventure game for mystery solving and language learning. (iPhone/iPad app by Bad Access Trading and Service LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/voice-of-the-ancients/id1142099795 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Bad Access Trading and Service LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/524324172)
- Category: Games, Adventure, Role Playing
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 9+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 179 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2023-12-02
- Data updated: 2026-07-04
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/voice-of-the-ancients/id1142099795/reviews.md

## What is Voice of the Ancients?

Let me tell you a story! Meanwhile, you can sit at the fireplace, close your eyes, and listen to the tale about ancient hidden treasures and secret societies. This time, you won't just listen. You will be the hero of the story. It will be your adventure. Your voice guides the way. Can you solve the mystery just with your voice? 

VOTA is highly optimized for blind and visually impaired people (thanks to the extensive testing by the Applevis forum members). Still, the game is also for other kinds of users:
For intermediate and advanced English learners, this game offers an unparalleled opportunity to enhance your spoken English skills.
And for all adventure enthusiasts, this game rekindles the power of imagination, often stifled by the graphical grandeur of modern video games.
Unleash your inner detective and unravel the mysteries that lie ahead, solely using your voice as your compass.
With the first episode available for free, what are you waiting for? Embark on this extraordinary journey today and discover the magic of storytelling through voice.

## Key features

- Voice-controlled gameplay
- Narrative-driven mystery
- Enhance spoken English
- Immersive storytelling
- Accessible for visually impaired

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Episode 2&3 | $7.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 10)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/voice-of-the-ancients/id1142099795/reviews.md

### 5/5 — ,

*2026-01-18*

I do like the game and I also like how it was made however there is the point where you have to purchase the other two can you make them all for free please get back to me if you can

### 1/5 — The only fate worse than hate is being ignored completely

*2025-11-09*

Maybe made by an ambitious but premature pioneer; perhaps even the earliest, then forgotten first of its kind; hopefully at least in some sense released too soon to succeed. The premise of text adventure with native vocal interface proved viable enough that there are many such games (most likely, mostly cloned) by now in late 2025.  So finding this game 9 yrs after its release, with a fairly recent update, yet not a single prior rating or review was bizarre to say the least. Even if some technical catastrophe had caused complete loss of legacy reactions, it wouldn’t fully account for this void (unless it happened today). 

Before continuing, I should note that I didn’t check if any of the other games are older, or what their responses are like, or anything else. I did try to try playing this one, but I’ll get back to that. 

It’s clear that this game is & probably always was a total failure. IMHO, the explanation for how this happened begins and ends with its core premise. Making something fully voice controlled is a demanding proposition. The inherent accessibility it grants to the vision impaired comes at the expense of being able to play silently, which greatly reduces the environments in which playing is possible. While headphones allow audio output, mandatory audio input makes playing in almost any social setting awkward at best. During a flight, train, bus or rideshare trip, for example, who wants to be the obnoxious person talking to their game? So right from the start, you’re at a severe disadvantage employing an interface that by nature reduces practical playability for all. I don’t mean to disparage or condemn the idea, just to honestly state its inherent downside.

Given the significant limitations, it is vital for such a game to excel at what it does. The writing, of course must be first rate, with the same added importance as any non graphical game. But when using speech, the best script will then depend upon delivery. 

It follows that if voice is a game’s primary focus, it ought be the foremost priority. This seems so obvious as to need no mention. Yet it’s here that this game fails before it begins, bringing me back to my attempt to try playing it. 

Would it ever be acceptable for voice acting in a traditional game to be supplied not by the game itself, but rather through a device’s own AI voices? Of course not, so how magnified is the offense in a game that makes its entire nature speech-based? That’s what this does, and I’ll wager most if not all the others like it do too. Classic monetize piggybacked iOS device features as an original product scheme. 

Right at the start, after mic and voice recognition permission, it strongly suggests downloading the enhanced premium version of several iOS provided voices, which would require a storage footprint of multiple gigabytes. After seeing that, it became clear that its interactive functionality was also entirely enabled by using iOS capabilities. Just pure sham in my book. 

Now rewind 9 years, recall the state of voice recognition and range/quality of Siri voices provided a decade ago. On the best devices, maybe a clunky interface and obviously artificial speech. Most would find the experience cheap and unappealing. The piggyback scheme tried to exploit prematurely, before its basis was fully developed.

Meanwhile, iOS accessibility has improved dramatically, allowing traditional games to perform better than this would anyway. Back then or now, whatever the piggyback game did was already possible.

**Developer response:** Hello, and thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and honest critique. I appreciate your perspective, even if we disagree on the conclusion.

You are absolutely correct that a voice-controlled game requires a specific environment. As mentioned in the description, this is designed as a 'fireplace' experience—something to be played in a quiet, private space where one can close their eyes and imagine, rather than on a busy train or bus. We believe there is still value in games that require a quiet moment in a noisy world.

Regarding the use of iOS native voices: This was a deliberate design choice, not a shortcut. Using system Text-to-Speech allows us to keep the app size manageable while offering a vast amount of dynamic story content that would be impossible for an indie studio to record with voice actors. Furthermore, for our primary audience—the visually impaired community—using familiar system voices often provides a more consistent and accessible experience than recorded audio files.

I understand that this specific genre and technical approach weren't for you, but I am grateful that you gave it a try.

### 5/5 — Nagyszerű játék.

*2025-10-01, version 1.1.1*

Kitűnő a játék, tervezitek-e hogy hasonlót találtok ki?

### 5/5 — Viharos

*2024-11-24, version 1.1.1*

Tiszteletem… Nagyon örülök hogy végre van egy olyan játék, ami látássérülteknek van… Én személy szerint is látássérült vagyok, kifogástalan a játék! Így tovább… És szeretnék kérdezni, hogy van-e még ilyen játék iPhone telefonra.

### 5/5 — budapest

*2024-08-19, version 1.1.1*

nagyon köszönjük a játékot
köszöni a gazdám is hogy gondolsz ránk!
utó üdvözlettel:
márton a  a macska!

### 5/5 — Érdemes végigjátszani!

*2024-08-01, version 1.1.1*

Izgalmas, fordulatos, elgondolkodtató játékmenet! Lehetetlen abbahagyni míg végig nem mész rajta! Remélem lesz még más ilyen történet is a jövőben!

### 5/5 — Great.

*2024-06-26*

I will definitely buy the other episodes.

### 5/5 — Szuper játék. Mindenkinek csak ajánlani tudom.

*2024-03-16, version 1.0.4*

Nagyon szuper a játék. Kár hogy csak három pályás. csak így tovább!

### 5/5 — Really fun

*2024-02-01, version 1.0.1*

This game is really fun! I love it!

### 5/5 — Terrific!

*2024-01-03, version 1.0*

I had so much fun going through this, and found that the puzzles did get harder with progression to the game, which is something I do like a lot. Thank you for making more accessible games for us! This one really rocks, I hope you do more in the future.

## Frequently asked questions about Voice of the Ancients

### What is Voice of the Ancients?

Voice of the Ancients is a narrative adventure game where players use their voice to solve mysteries and progress through the story. It's designed to be an immersive audio experience.

### Is Voice of the Ancients free to play?

Yes, the first episode of Voice of the Ancients is available for free. Additional content may be available through in-app purchases.

### What devices does Voice of the Ancients support?

Voice of the Ancients is supported on iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices.

### What is the age rating for Voice of the Ancients?

Voice of the Ancients has an age rating of 9+, making it suitable for a younger audience as well as adults.

### How often is Voice of the Ancients updated?

The latest version of Voice of the Ancients was released on May 22, 2024. Updates typically include new content, bug fixes, and performance improvements.

### Can I play Voice of the Ancients offline?

The provided description does not specify if Voice of the Ancients can be played offline. However, narrative-driven games often require an internet connection for certain features.

### Does Voice of the Ancients have ads?

No, Voice of the Ancients does not contain advertisements. The monetization model is free with in-app purchases.

### What makes Voice of the Ancients unique?

Voice of the Ancients stands out with its voice-controlled gameplay, focusing on storytelling and imagination rather than graphics. It's also highly optimized for blind and visually impaired players.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.1.1 — 2024-05-22

Bugfix:
- In the last version, hints disappeared in story mode when the engine didn't understand the command. I fixed it now.

Feature update:
- The game automatically offers help after two unsuccessful commands.

### 1.1.0 — 2024-05-18

Functional improvements:
- You can skip text by double-tapping on the screen during speech or with a magic tap if the voiceover is active.
- Improved command interpreter using two new techniques:
   - Last chance recognition: use more flexible patterns to categorize commands just before giving up and returning an error message.
   - Ignored words: Ignore some common words.
   
Bugfixes:
- Hopefully, the final bug fix for the rare crash when a phone call arrives during the game.

### 1.0.4 — 2024-02-29

Bugfix release:
- To improve speech quality, the Hungarian default narrator voice has been changed from Tünde (Premium) to Tünde.

### 1.0.3 — 2024-02-22

Bugfix release:
- Fixed a crash that occurs at the beginning of Episode 2 in some cases.

### 1.0.2 — 2024-02-21

Bugfix release:
- Fixed a bug that prevented the use of non-premium or enhanced voice if premium or enhanced voice is installed. It is a crucial bugfix using the Hungarian language because the premium version of the Hungarian voice (Tünde) is far worse than the standard one.

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*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 2026-07-04.*