He chooses her favourite, which depicts a painting of a swan missing its neck. His artist mother’s died and he’s been told by a tightfisted orphanage that he can keep just one of her 300 incomplete works.

£4.99/$5.99 | For iPhone and iPad (Universal) | Getting to the elusive full-fat win condition (no jail new life stinking rich) involves repetition, but the game’s breezy nature and script ensures that’s never dull and the shortish games make Overboard an especially ideal fit for iPhone. On subsequent playthroughs, you’ll fast realise Overboard is about taking notes, chipping away at a solution to find a path to freedom. Within 30 minutes or so, you’ll be done – and almost certainly in jail. This ramps up the tension while the hours speed by, as you dart between the ship’s few locations and chat with its handful of characters.

However, unlike 80 Days or Sorcery, Overboard provides a sense of claustrophobia rather than offering free-roaming and space. Routes through a branching narrative are taken by selecting responses to people during conversations, or by performing actions on objects. The game plays out like other inkle titles, in being an old-school adventure game in fast forward. Either way, the game’s a delight and suitably different from other arcade adventures you’ll have played before. iPad is arguably the better option, though, the larger canvas letting the visuals properly wow. On iPhone, the controls are cramped (use a physical controller if you can), but in widescreen you do have the advantage of additional seconds to spot upcoming obstacles or rare collectables. The first finds you installing huge sails on to your vehicle, which can sometimes be used instead of fuel. Punctuating this journey are various challenges. Fortunately, there are many moments of contemplation as you move through the landscape, taking in its strange sights. The game omits to tell you pretty much anything: it’s down to you to figure out what’s going on and what to do.

You leap about its innards like Mario, smashing switches to make the great beast rumble into action. The massive form is reminiscent of an upturned boat, and yet it has two massive wheels on its sides. Your ride is discovered almost immediately, and it’s a beautiful, baffling contraption.

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