Roia review – Go with the flow

There’s something enthralling about the flow of water. Combine it with relaxing music and, well, you’ve got new soul-soothing, subtly sophisticated Roia from Austrian mobile game studio Emoak.

In wholesome puzzler Roia, players guide a river from its source in the mountains all the way to the sea. More specifically, you’re in charge of a stylised version of Europe’s Roia, taking it from the French highlands, through Mercantour National Park, into farmlands and ultimately all the way to the picturesque resort town of Ventimiglia on the Italian coastline.

A casual game, accessible for all, Roia’s mechanic is straightforward. Switching between an up and down arrow, players can increase or decrease the height of the landscape, creating an optimum path for the water flow, and, later, manoeuvring it around obstacles. Even without Johannes Johannson’s gentle, emotive score, it’s immensely satisfying to alter the terrain of this charming universe with a few finger swipes, saving campsites from flooding in the process, and merging trickles into impressive waterfalls.

Throughout, you’re accompanied and guided by a bird, leading you to your destination. This same bird also adds an extra gameplay mechanic as you need to follow its path to unlock the next stage of your journey.

Consisting of eight chapters, Roia is a short game that can be completed in a single sitting of one to two hours. That said, if you want to tick off its multiple achievements, that will likely take you a lot longer as you try to accomplish goals like irrigating an entire multi-tier vineyard.

Rather unsurprisingly, Roia becomes more challenging (and honestly more stressful) as the game progresses; and deserted, rugged mountainscapes give way to inhabited areas with more complications to avoid. Fail at any of these and you have to rewind the game slightly, although course correction is as simple as reshaping the riverbed before the barriers. Where the difficulty does ramp up is when you’re trying to shepherd figures in real-time. Getting a trio of kayakers down a steep cliff face without tipping is arguably the toughest part of Roia, but also the most gratifying when you do get it right.

My only real complaint about Roia is that it doesn’t have a menu screen. Once you’re in the game, that’s it. You can force leave, or access a pop-up with audio settings and a complete game reset, but those are the extent of your options – which is a bit unnerving if you’re anxious about losing progress.

This niggle aside, Roia delivers a powerful emotional experience centred on a fascinating (and increasingly precious) natural resource, combined with a minimalist approach to game design. With high replayability, Roia could easily become a go-to for anyone needing a quick, calming hit on the run, or otherwise.

Roia is out today, 16 July and is available on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store (for $2.99 / €3.49 / £2.99).