APP STORE AWARDS

iPhone Game of the Year

AFK Journey

Overworld Fantasy RPG

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Idle roleplaying game, tactical battler and fantastical storyteller. The most engrossing adventure of the year offers more ways to play than you can shake a wand at.

– App Store Editors

AFK Journey is an astonishingly deep roleplaying game, with a mighty roster of fully realised characters – each with a comprehensive backstory – and an ambitious narrative layered with rich lore. By the time we finished the first chapter, the city of Holistone’s cobblestone streets felt as familiar as one of our childhood haunts.

Experience the world of Esperia through tactically rich battles – and by chatting up its massive cast of characters.

But AFK Journey is also as innovative as it is deep. While travelling through the quaint towns, verdant wildernesses, windblown deserts and tropical islands of Esperia as Magister Merlin, we were struck by how AFK Journey streamlines the genre in brilliant new ways.

Handy teleportation Waystones and auto-navigation had us zipping through quests. Boosting stats for entire classes of characters is accomplished in one fell swoop. Let your squad of heroes tussle automatically, or unleash fight-changing ultimates as you see fit. And because heroes level up together, experimenting with new tactics is unintimidating and instantly rewarding.

True to its mobile roots, AFK Journey also makes it easy to dive back into its world, no matter how much (or little) time we have to play. Starting a long bus commute? Return to the ever-expanding campaign, filled with sidequests, mini-games and slick cutscenes. Have a few minutes in the grocery line? Tackle a Dream Realm boss fight to rake in resources, or climb the Graveborn Tower of Eternity in the lucrative Legend Trials.

AFK Journey even doled out rewards when we were doing nothing at all: log back in after a couple of hours and – voilà! – buckets of free treasure! (AFK stands for “away from keyboard”, after all.)

With countless entertainment options competing for our time, this “everything” game magically expands and contracts to fit seamlessly into our lives. It’s a journey we won’t soon forget.

Quick tip

It’s tempting to balance your squad with one of every class. But doubling up– particularly with healing Support characters – can be especially effective. Try multiple healers (maybe Rowan and Hewynn) alongside a self-reviving Tank like Thoran or a damage-dealing Marksman like Cecia.

Fun fact

The sweeping score to AFK Journey was performed by the Budapest Film Orchestra. This full symphonic orchestra includes a range of unique instruments, including the hurdy-gurdy, a mechanically complex stringed instrument played by turning a crank.

Meet the creator

Based in Shanghai, Lilith Games unleashed a blockbuster with the 2019 turn-based RPG AFK Arena. They also created epic strategy games such as Rise of Kingdoms and Call of Dragons and the battle royale game Farlight 84.