Trying to Play Old Books

Hello fellow sleuths! Something I've been really wanting to accomplish is being able to play the old Mobile Mysteries: Shadow Ranch game, but have had no success...

...until today's discovery. I've tried to find an emulator that can run the game but haven't had any success with that. Today, I came across an iOS emulator that has been designed to run old iOS apps as early as iOS 2.0. The Shadow Ranch app was designed for iOS 3.0 and later which makes it the ideal candidate for this bit of software.

Sadly, when I try to open the app, I see the loading screen for a total of about 0.3 seconds and then the entire emulator crashes. On the app's website (https://touchhle.org/), there is a list of games that the software is able to run as well as how capable they are of running. Unfortunately, Shadow Ranch isn't on the list of games at all. I'm optimistic that it will be able to run on here because the software can actually recognize it as an app, it's just a matter of finding someone that is able to get it up and running.

The amazing thing about this emulator is that it's open source which means anyone is able to download the source code to make their own contributions in order to get it to run the apps of their choice. The app is written in Rust, which is apparently a very difficult programming language to learn. THAT BEING SAID, if anyone reading this is able to program in Rust and is willing to give this project a go, please contact me at [email protected] because I would LOVE to work with you to make Shadow Ranch playable on here! I'll also be trying to reach out to the developers to see if they're able to get it up and running, so hopefully something amazing happens by the end of the year or in the new year!

Anyways, I'm super excited about this new prospect and really want to record a walkthrough for this game. I'm crossing my fingers that this will be the opportunity to do so! I know myself and many others have wanted to play this game, so I can't wait to see what the future holds. Would you be interested in playing it if it were to become compatible with the emulator? Did you play the game back when it was originally on the app store? Let me know!

Also, here's a little fun fact: HeR Interactive still has the game page up for the game despite having been discontinued for over a decade! Check it out here!

That about wraps up today's post. Until next time, detectives!

Huw