Last updated on January 17th, 2026 at 03:09 am
Beneath a Steel Sky – Puzzle Game Review
Beneath a Steel Sky is a Puzzle/Adventure game from Revolution Software Limited, first launched in 7th October 2009.
It’s rated 12+ and currently has 33+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Beneath a Steel Sky Stand Out
When orphaned Robert Foster is seized at gunpoint from the peaceful village he calls home and flown a thousand miles to a city he’s never seen, he can only ask himself: why me? Escaping from his abductors into the dark metropolis, he vows to avenge the murder of the only family he’s ever known.
Play 10+ hours of intense narrative puzzle-solving, meeting an array of dazzling characters, to ultimately uncover a terrible truth.
“Whether you're an established fan of puzzle adventures or just a newcomer to the genre, Beneath a Steel Sky is an absolute delight.” 9/10, Neon Kelly, Videogamer.com
“This is a story rich and layered throughout…” 4/4 (must have), Keith Andrew, Slide to Play (Game of the month)
Set in a dystopian future, with an ironic twist, this remastered version has many special new features, including:
• Stunning new animated movies from Dave Gibbons, co-creator of 'Watchmen'
• Context-sensitive hint system
• Remastered audio track featuring re-sampled voices and higher quality music
English speech with Spanish, French, Swedish, Portuguese, German, Italian, and English subtitles.
This software is covered under the terms of the GNU General Public License Version 2. For the full text of this license please visit our website.
This Puzzle game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Beneath a Steel Sky is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 14th November 2020
Recent improvements include:
• Improved stability
• iOS14 compatibility
Download & Availability
Beneath a Steel Sky is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Beneath a Steel Sky on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Although we have this game on our computer for free but we must support Revolution.
Very fun, old school point-and-click adventure! The humor and characters were a great touch.
Beneath the Steel Sky is genuinely one of our favorite games. If you like point and click adventure games this is a must have! Ive originally played this on PC and loved it, when we realized it was on iOS, we had to buy it just to support revolution software. This game, and its sequel Beyond a Steel Sky are truly masterpieces. Great story, and great gameplay.
Ive played many a point and click throughout our time and this one was pretty good. We were going to play it on PC but why not play it on sleepless nights in bed. Good story, good humor, creative world, and a hint system for the not so obvious steps thankfully bc the maps can be on the larger side sometimes. Id say its worth the price if you like games like Whispers of a Machine or Unavowed, this seems like a solid predecessor. Gonna try out the Apple Arcade version of this series next.
Near the beginning of the game, the putty cannot be inserted into the empty light socket. IPhone running version 16.7.11.
"sepcial phoenix" doesn't work even though we have one. Please fix this.
This could be a fun game but the controls are glitchy and inconsistent. Takes all the fun out. At least they are on Apple.
Joey got stuck by the elevator and the glitch is saved into the game. We would have to start over and Im not doing that. Ugh.
We especially liked Joeys second form, with the Doctor Who reference. Am we the only one whos seen the post-credits scene.
Ended up finding this game after playing partway through Beyond a Steel Sky and was curious about a prequel. While different voice actors everyone sounds similar. The development of the story is great even with 1994 graphics the story is compelling. Only issue we had was the app would sometimes crash when pulling up a hint.
We loved playing this! We played Beyond a Steel Sky first and we appreciate that game a lot more now. We love the references to the original. And we did not expect Miss Piedmont to be a horny old lady! This game will be played again and again. Just as its sequel has been. Thank you.
Please dont enhance a classic game, it ruins and tarnishes its original vision.
This game is seriously underrated and we never heard of it until we did a search looking for cyberpunk games. It got us back into retro games. Its challenging, funny, beautiful and unique. The story is really good as well.
We have never played the original game but have been a fan of the Broken Sword series. This game is fun to play. The story line is great and has a twist at the end which we enjoyed. The only downside is that it was too short in comparison to the later released Broken Sword games. But still, it's a great game.Ran flawlessly on our iPhone 6s with iOS 10.2.
Very good port that represents it's genre and time period very well. We like this story because you can't screw yourself over mid-game like in the Kings Quest series. Decent controls and sound. We found exposing a hint will force close the app, but minor nuisance since hints aren't used that often unless you are very lazy.
Perfect port for iOS. Runs great on iPhone 4s.
Classic game but broken on latest iOS version. The game appears shrunken in the lower left quadrant of the screen.
Never played the original version. Great adventure game, amazing story. Perfectly optimized for touchscreen play. Very minor bugs, almost unnoticeable.
After playing the broken sword bundle, we were expecting better or at least different graphics. It has an older style look that makes you think it wont be a good game from the get go. Soon to learn it was from a PC game so there you go. The puzzles are intelligent and thought out. A lot of the puzzles are simultaneous which we always give high marks for. This is true for a good part of the game and then youre kind of moving one by one. Some of the dialog is not convincing, like, Here, have a present. It needs to be more towards whats going on and who youre talking to about what, have a present doesnt cut it. Still it doesnt take away from a great storyline and interesting characters and fantastic voiceover accents. All old-time adventure game lovers will like it and be able to ignore its little quirks. For a few bucks, a lot of game play.
It's Fun to Play but it's missing the Speed Control needed for later on in the game etc….! Unlike the PC version of the game that it's based on…! Also in terms of parity with other Revolution Software Remastered games Broken Sword 2: Remastered has a completion percentage indicator after you Save Your Game. Since this is the Remastered version of Beneath a Steel Sky it probably should have a progress indicator as well too.
We think the game is amazing however we wish they would update it so it can run better and not force quit every time we need a hint. Thats all, simple as that.
Seriously, whats the point in having an iOS game if we cant sync the save files between our iPhone and iPad? Great game, but super annoying that we cant carry the game from one device to another.
We would have given 5 stars, but the game repeatedly froze on our iPad Air 2020. Sorry to say that the game ran better on MS-DOS 25 years ago.
The only problems we had with this game were that, for one, the cinematic opening from the original game seems to have been removed. Starting a new game just casts you into the first area with absolutely no backstory or explanation. We had to watch the opening cinematic on YouTube. Secondly, initiating conversation with Vincent in the park eventually leads to a lock up of the game. Once all dialogue options were exhausted, trying to talk to Vincent just took all the other buttons off the screen. The music and animation continues to play, but no dialogue options appear, leaving us with no way to leave the conversation or do anything else, forcing us to close and restart the game. Fortunately there was no need to have any further conversation with him and we were able to ignore him and complete the game.
The only thing remastered is the horrible controls.
We bought and downloaded this game after playing Beyond a Steel Sky and liked that game enough to want to play the original. Unfortunately the game needs to be updated. We will give a better rating after the game is updated.
Just crashes after the opening cinematic every single time. What a rip off.
We have no idea if this is simply due to a new patch or update, but we have been unable to play any part of this game for the last few weeks. We have uninstalled and reinstalled several times, and have the latest iPad iOS for our iPad Pro. Once the beginning cutscene is done playing, the game freezes on a black screen 100% of the time. Dont bother purchasing until this is fixed…which may be never.
Spent $3 on a game that crashes at the end of the (way too long) intro, cant even get to the gameplay. Worthless, dont waste your money.
Downloaded and started new game. Watched the complete intro, then black screen. Nothing. IPad running 14.0.1.
We got a few minutes into the game before it started to crash horribly… The worst crashes Ive ever experience on a mobile phone game. The screen was locked and we couldnt use our home button or even our lock button for about 30 seconds until the game shut down. Unplayable.
We had the same problem as several others. The game beginning did not show full screen: small screen on black background, and all that the character Robert could do was go down the steps and tumble off and die. This was on our iPhone 6+ with the latest OS update. So the game was unplayable.
Visible screen is only ~the lower quarter of total screen (the rest is just black), and even more infuriatingly, the clickable area of the screen does not match up with the visible area. Literally the only thing we can do is get the character to run down the stairs to be shot, because it is impossible to correctly click anything else. Skip this one.
On the 6s plus it only shows the game on the bottom left corner of the screen on you can't click on anything.
Absolutely adored the original version on PC and now we can finally finish the game on our phone! An absolute classic and well worth the $3 spent. Only gripe is that there really isn't much new here. The animated movies are weak, the enhanced audio is nice but not great, and touch controls are all around spotty. Honestly would've rather either paid $1 for a basic port or $5 for a real remake/remaster, but we're glad it's here none the less.
One if the best point and click adventure games.
Finallyt we can play it on our 6+ Kudos to the developer for updating.
We love a good ole point and click game! This certainly took us back to our childhood. Great game.
Security card won't open the door even though we've got all the files and dlinked card. Is this a bug.
We have the latest IOS and advance well but then it seems to get stock. We are really not starting all over again. The game is some how entertaining but too much text some times.
We hope to see more revolution games like this! Keep them comin!! Update: we check all of the time for new stuff, we hope y'all are working on stuff because this game was so great.
Does it not support the iphone 6 plus resolution? Hope there's an update for it soon.
Completely worth the price! If you like point and click adventure games then this one is worth a shot. A tad short and you won't explore too many places, but still kept us entertained. If you're on the fence, cross it and prepare to entertain yourself.
Loved it back in the 90's and love it even more now in the 20-teens! Did they add that new sequence (right after the final credits) recently? We don't remember it from the first time around. Highly recommended to older point & click adventure fans. Would love to see a sequel and also a port of "The Lure of the Temptress", as well as the 3rd, 4th and 5th installments of the "Broken Sword" series.
Thoroughly enjoyed this old skool puzzle adventure – brings back fond memories of our early 90s gaming! (still engaging & fun after all these years later) Would love to see a sequel…make it so, it'll be well received.
Love this game. It eludes to a sequel when you beat it, let's have it. One of the best we've played for iOS.
We love the revived classics like this. We wish that they would bring back Maniac Mansion and Iceman as well. This game doesn't seem to have any major bugs; we doubt most people will even notice the very few minor bugs unless you get out of sequence on the steps following the plot. The sound and control are great as well. This is a top notch game.
Such a great, classic title. This is one of the better experiences we've ever had with ios games. Classic games like this are few and far between. Great 'remastered' update, with savestates and tips/hints (if you get stuck) to assist you, wether you're playing for hours on end, or just minutes at a time. Worth every penny! Still crossing our fingers for the 'in-the-works' sequel.
Even now, over a decade after its original release, Beneath a Steel Sky is still a pleasure to play. The plot still holds up, even today. It's lighthearted and funny, but definitely has serious overtones. The voice acting is great, which is good, because there's a huge amount of it. This is just a rough estimate, but we're guessing that around a third of the 100+ megabyte file size of this game is taken up by the voice recordings. For anything/anyone you can talk to or interact with, there's always at least a sentence of voice acting to go along with it. With people, (or your talking robot friend,) that one sentence can usually be extended to five or more. And there are no repeats, either; each and every character in the game has something completely new to say. The controls in Beneath a Steel Sky are simple, but easy to use. You slide your finger over something in order to see if you can interact with it or not. After you select the object, you then you have a choice of either looking at it, trying to interact with it, or combining it with something in your inventory to see what will happen. As can be expected of a 10+ year old game, the graphics aren't exactly revolutionary. However, the animations are solid, the intro cutscene is amazing, and we like the art style. So, it all balances out in the end. The sounds in this game are great. The music perfectly fits the tone of the game, and the sound effects are nice. Neither are ever overused to the point where they become annoying. With a top-notch story, amazing voice acting, good controls, decent graphics/animations, great sounds, and a huge amount of content in general, it's no wonder that Beneath a Steel Sky is considered one of the best adventure games ever made. Buy it.
The game beneath a steel sky is one of the classic jewels from the 90's when games relied on story lines instead of graphics and multiplayer, the last few years however, great stories in games have been so sparse and almost restricted to indie games. Bringing this game back is a refreshment from our normal lifestyle of having to practice hours on end for a week before a major competition to place in a spot earning money. We are currently seventeen and many teens around us play video games, but few know what games are truly "good". All they do is complain about graphics, or how the campaign is too short, and refuse to play something old because its dated, we feel many people won't understand a game does not need to be old to be good either. L.A. Noire, Red Dead Redemption, and (a personal favorite) Heavy Rain, are all great games. It is quite hard to balance story and gameplay for they don't go together all that well, it is easy to terribly make a game but a great story (FF13) but even easier the other way around (CoD). Beneath a steel sky takes place in a future that seems to have suffered a tragedy of some sort. You play as Robert Foster a young man adopted by a group of people who live in a place known as "The Gap". The people cannot afford to live in the city, every one seeks guidance from, your adoptive father. One day the Hobart company comes and takes you without giving explanation. As the game progresses you learn why Foster was taken to the large and overbuilt Union City. The game was formerly a point and click "moving comic book" and it adapts quite well to the Iphone. There is little to be dissapointed about with this little known game (at the time Chrono Trigger was fairly close and that meant you wouldn't see the person for a week, unless you visited them after they grew a neckbeard, stopped showering, and over caffeinated living off of takeout). The point and click genre fits so well to the Iphone and this game is A MUST GET. There is no greater love than a man and his cube. Sile et philosophus esto.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.9
- Size: 167.08 MB
- iOS: 9.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes, Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence, Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor, Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes, Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
- Developer: Revolution Software Limited
Last updated: 14th November 2020 | Genre: Puzzle, Adventure | Developer: Revolution Software Limited