Lifeline: Whiteout is an Exciting Game to Play on the Apple Watch

If you haven’t tried any of the Lifeline games, you need to do so. There are four so far. In the first one, Lifeline, you are the sole communicator with Taylor, who has just crash-landed on an alien moon. Like a choose-your-own-adventure book, Taylor tells you what’s happening and asks your advice periodically. His life is in your hands; he will survive or not based on what actions you choose for him. Lifeline 2 puts you in touch with Arika, a young woman on a deadly quest to avenge her parents and rescue her brother. Lifeline: Silent Night brings Taylor back for another adventure (even if you accidentally got him killed in the first game, which I did.)

The just-released fourth installment, Lifeline: Whiteout, more closely resembles the original. This time, a man known only as “V. Adams” based on the the patch on his uniform, has crash-landed someplace bitterly cold. He needs your help to figure out who and where he is, and how to get home. He will ask you questions like, “Should I try to salvage the sinking snowmobile or investigate this mysterious briefcase?” The game progresses differently depending on your responses. So, no two people will have the same adventure.

The game took so long to load, I almost gave up on it. But it’s worth the initial wait. Once the game gets going, gameplay is smooth. It’s hard to put down, because it feels like you’re talking to a real person who needs your help. Like the other three Lifelines, you can’t play the whole game in one sitting. Periodically, Adams will go off to explore something and then you’ll get a notification when he needs you once again. You can choose whether to have the notifications come to you in real time, or batched together less frequently.

I have a feeling that there will be a lot of Lifeline adventures in the future. If you haven’t jumped in yet, do so. You do not need to play them in order, though the older ones are discounted.  Lifeline: Whiteout is $2.99 on the App Store.