Last updated on November 22nd, 2025 at 06:35 pm
Burly Men at Sea – Roleplaying Game Review
Burly Men at Sea is a Roleplaying/Adventure/Books game from Brain&Brain LLC, first launched in 29th September 2016.
It’s rated 9+ and currently has 218+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Burly Men at Sea Stand Out
Burly Men at Sea is a folktale about a trio of large, bearded fishermen who step away from the ordinary to seek adventure.
With gameplay halfway between a visual novel and a point-and-click adventure, the branching story carries its ungainly heroes into waters where lurk creatures from Scandinavian folklore and other misadventures. You play as storyteller and wayfinder, shaping a custom tale that begins again where it ends.
BRANCHING STORY: Play through multiple choice-driven adventures, each designed to be completed in a single sitting.
INNOVATIVE CONTROLS: Shape the narrative through a unique, draggable viewport and your interactions within it.
PLAYFUL AESTHETIC: Colorful art style with handcrafted animation, set to a whimsical original soundtrack inspired by folk music of the far north.
No in-app purchases or ads.
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“The closest thing I’ve played to an interactive fairy-tale.” —The Telegraph
“Artful interplay of visual minimalism, waggish writing and hilarious but also haunting sound effects generated by gorgeous a cappella voices. 5/5” —TIME
“9/10” —Pocket Gamer
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Burly Men at Sea is the second game from married duo Brain&Brain, developed during their own adventures as nomads and erstwhile farmhands.
This Roleplaying game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Burly Men at Sea is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 8th October 2024
Recent improvements include:
• Minor bug fixes
• Localization corrections
• Updated engine
Questions, problems, high-fives? Email us at [email protected].
Download & Availability
Burly Men at Sea is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Burly Men at Sea 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:
This is absolutely not a game, its just cutesy, snail-paced animation and written dialogue. There isnt a single puzzle/challenge throughout the entire adventure. On top of that, the story is boring and the end is pretty unsatisfying. The only thing game-like about this is a race in which your objective is to lose by making the characters sit still. Sounds fun, doesnt it? Totally bogus. Avoid.
Confusing. Too much duplication. No direction.Too hard to figure what to do to open up the tales.
Th' game be amazin' anyone who doesnt play it will be in jail.
It would have taken 10 minutes if you could speed it up. Beautiful music and graphics but the price is ridiculous for the short experience. We will not be buying from this group again.
T h we s we s an Incredibly b o r ing long winded story. We dont want to play a game where it takes 10-15 minutes just reading dialogue and uninteresting dialogue at that. F.
We have to laugh. Ive had this game on our iPhone for months and never got around to playing it. Well, out of nowhere, we finally played through it this morning on our new iPhone Xs Max. And then the app updates this afternoon to be properly outfitted for the latest iPhone models. Talk about timing. Guess Ill have to play through it once more! Was a lot of fun. Beautifully done, love the artwork and especially the sounds/music. Is this a puzzler or brain teaser in any way? Not really. Just good, clean, whimsical fun. And its well worth it. We may even end up ordering a book for our wifes kindergarten class.
This is more of a story however it is the best one Ive ever read It has a Groundhog Day type of feel.
Im honestly not sure why this is being referred to as a game. Its a 20-30 minute interactive story. Nothing really happens. The characters dont grow or change. They just take a short trip together and meet a few odd and adorable creatures. Even if you think of it as a childrens book, it really lacks a compelling story. We were fully prepared to freak out about how awesome this was given all the hype. Cant do it. We were super underwhelmed.
This game had cool graphics but the story is very boring.
There is no thinking required for this app. Its not a game its a story. It will take you 20 minutes to get through and then youre done. You just wait for them to walk around and when you think somethings finally happening then its over. Pretty graphics and a cool story but we were expecting much for the money.
Very pretty story. Storyline seems limited though. Just finished our 2nd play through, and Im not seeing a whole lot of potentially for more times through.
Burly Men at Sea is a cut above most of the cobbled-together apps and games you will find in the App Store. It's full of delightful surprises, secret opportunities, careful details and gorgeous art work. If you're wanting to be immersed in ancient Nordic mythology with as a burly, bearded sailor, this is the adventure for you. Fun for kids, parents, wanderers, explorers, this game offers something for all. You can even have a picture book of your adventure created if you know where to look! Aye aye sailor! MILLby 4 lyfe.
The sentences are way too long to read on screen. Its boring and waste of our money.
Beautiful – yes. Extremely SLOW & BORING. $4.99 – we want our money back. Complete waste.
Minimalistic art looks good. The story is neat and you can repeat it many times for a decent variety of story options.
We like the idea of sailing out to explore, but the game failed to draw us into the spirit of adventure. It felt like the authors threw a bunch of clichs together with a minimalistic art style and gameplay. To us the game feels more pretentious and kitschy than engaging or thought-provoking.
Beautiful visuals and audio but gameplay is non existent. Was looking forward to an interesting indie title like "superbothers sword and sorcery" but instead got what amounts to a short baby book with a couple different paths. Would have been a great free concept demo. Not worth any where near $5.
We got this game thinking it would last us about three or four hours. The game is literally twenty minutes long. Don't waste your money.
No this game does not leave much room for choice or action, yes there's only one control and that's moving left or right, but yes, this is a game. And it's as impressive and beautiful a game we've seen on the App Store in months. We've only played about a gal an hour, and we are taking our time, but we don't think it's going to be too short. And as for the story, it's fun and very well thought out. We'll definitely be running brought it again to change up the course of the game. If you're bored or just want to relax with a fun story, buy this game.
What a wonderful game! Fun to play and beautiful to behold. Just delightful.
Sure, this adventure appears to be a short one. But with the beauty of the art style, the consistent allure of the soundtrack and the reassuring wit of the writing; we know we'll be back for many more playthroughs. Great way to start a Saturday. :) Thanks Brain & Brain.
More of an experience than a game, this is totally awesome! Very relaxing and soothing, with a quaint little story. If you're looking for a lot of "action," this is not going to deliver. But if you like the idea of INCREDIBLE music, GORGEOUS art, and a story based on folklore, this does not disappoint! Our days are pretty jam packed, and we like how this game helps us relax a bit. Highly recommend.
The design is awesome and the details perfect, but it is important to know that this is not a game. If you are looking for an interactive storybook with cool art and a fun, ever changing plot then look no further, but ultra-engaging fast paced entertainment it is not.
Everything about this game is delightful. From the music, to the sound effects, to the puzzles and the animations… We loved it all. If you're looking for a game to play on a rainy day or while sitting in the sun, look no further. We loved every minute we spent with the burly men and you will too. Purchase this game today.
As a modern adult gamer, this is exactly the kind of experience we're looking for. Friendly to short play sessions, and guaranteed to make you smile, no matter the kind of day you're having. Delightful.
Burly Men At Sea is simple interactive storytelling at its beautiful best. Each run-through is short and sweet, perfect for story time with the kids or a quick whimsical break from your day. Some of the puzzles can be a little frustrating at first, but not enough put someone off. A grand yet tiny adventure whether you're 5 or 95.
Reviewers should take the time to actually play and explore before judging. As you play this charming and lovely adventure, you are constantly making choices (though you may not realize it) that change how the game plays out. To really experience all the delightful surprises in this game, we would suggest playing through at least twice. Try to do things a bit differently each time! Explore and enjoy! It's so worth it.
We're not sure what genre Burly Men at Sea belongs in. Perhaps it's own? Brain and Brain have created a truly unique experience with bite sized adventures, an excellent sound track, vocalized sound effects (the guy that did the whale sphincter must have been ill), simple and pleasing visuals, well developed characters, and plenty of humor in the fresh dialog. This game was well worth the purchase. Try it out and poke a loaf of bread for us.
Wow, this game is beautiful! Art like an animated children's story book, with clever animations and a neat exploration mechanic. Multiple story lines, too.
It's not often you find a game that has it all, but this one certainly does! If you're looking for a game that you can lose track of time with, look no further. You'll quickly be caught in the net of the Brothers Beard, journeying with them on the adventure of a lifetime to places unknown. Along the journey, you'll be struck with the creativity, storytelling and humor of the game, as well as the gorgeous artwork and the innovative interface Brain & Brain have come up with. The one of a kind soundtrack is totally amazing as well. Creativity, great storytelling, humor, fantastic artwork, innovation, music, and the ability to replay with different discoveries each time – like we said, this game has it all.
We've only just begun with this but we actually had to stop just to come here and tell the developers thank you. This is by far the most visually original app we've ever seen here. Thank you.
TIME published a review of this game (5/5) so we thought we would give it a try. We don't think we've ever played a game like this before. It's took our brain some time to adjust to this style but it's AWESOME. The artwork is perfectly minimalistic and the sounds are quite fun. It feels like an interactive, adventure storybook. We play it before bed, very relaxing! Update works great.
This game is short and sweet. Beautiful images, well written and subtly humorous text. We love the "hand made" sound effects and score too. We've yet to play a second round to see the other storylines, but we'd always loved "choose your own adventure" books as a kid, this is the digital version! Keep them coming.
We loved this game it was very captivating and had a interesting but not over saturated story, this gam should not have been priced at the price it was as it was shorter then we imagined and we feel a little scammed. Still a great game and a must have if you have some pocket change and some time to blow.
It has great, charming graphics and a cool interface, with superb soundtrack….so why do we feel scammed? Because despite all those positives it plays out like an interactive story book where you don't do anything but move your characters from one spot to another and read more dialogue…while this is a well-crafted product, there is really no gameplay to be had and we're sorry but we're not into interactive storybooks and there's no gaming elements…we want something where we can atleast gather items, explore MEANINGFUL areas where we can do stuff, choose our own words to speak etc. As this is what the game tries to come off as in the previews and descriptions….we really wish we would have listened to the other reviewers calling this not a game but we gave it a chance and we really regret it – especially for a $5 price tag! We're still giving 3 stars for all the positives we've mentioned, but this should NOT be in the game section. Very misleading to customers who buy a lot from the game App Store. Not happy with apple on this one.
The reason this is getting 3 stars and not 1 is because the theme, music and transitions are very creative. This is not a game and we only share our opinion because we paid way more than we thought it was worth. The concept is great and if they decide to make a real game out of this we will totally purchase it.
Lovely production values, but quickly becomes too repetitious.
Coma-inducing, hipster cuteness can't save it, slow, obscure, boring.
Please add more to this game. The design is very cool, but it's way too short. We couldn't believe it was over so quickly, especially for a $5 game.
Illustrations & music are wonderful! But, we will say we were thoroughly disappointed with how short it was. We have played through the storyline about 8 times now, mostly we think, in hopes that we had missed something. Unfortunately, it seems to only be a 4 stop adventure where 2 of the stops are predetermined for you (& the same every time). This doesn't leave much to do in a game that claims to have story changing decisions throughout. It's cute & would probably recommend it, if it wasn't $5.
There is almost nothing to this "game." we had far more disappointment than amusement. Don't bother.
We've never written a review on an an app before, but this app has led us to do so. We do it so that you all save the money and time that we have wasted. We were enticed by the simple graphics and even the name. We like simple things which seem out of the ordinary and stand apart from other things. This app seemed interesting and so we went ahead with the purchase. After having played the app three or four times we realized that it is just the same scenario being played out with little variation. It is the Ground Hogs Day of apps. It's really not worth the money. At the end of each scenario the app gives a code which can be entered at the app web site which offers to sell a booklet for thirty dollars. It really comes across as a scam. Sound effects are sort of cheesy, too. We give it one star for effort.
Played two adventures and found that it is not an "video game" as it is more of a story/interactive experience. The mechanics pacing gently submerges you into the story leaving you and the three burly man to explore at will. The music is well blended along with its quirky vocalized sound effects. Be gentle now, you'll find that every decision you make can change the course of your little 3 man crew adventure. Clean and delightful art, story well written and and the overall pleasure to experience Burly Man at Sea.
Lovely experience, thank you for creating it.
It's a great game with original music and original sound effects separating it from the rest of the mass-produced status quo apps on the market. The story line is fun with good graphic design. The art work is simple and sleek with a nice warm and homegrown feel. Burly Men is like reading an interactive book. It reminds us of the old Nintendo RPGs, but with a nice 21st century air. Thanks for the outstanding game Brain&Brain.
A very charming game with a unique way to play. You discover the story by poking and sliding your burly men along. The art is beautiful, the animation style is wonderfully simple, and the soundtrack is a treat. Brain and Brain have pulled off another great adventure.
This game is a beautiful game. It has a minimalist art design and a good soundtrack. We did not give five stars because the game feels short, but you can play multiple times and choose something different each time. Overall, we would recommend buying this game. It is worth the money.
Tried to stick with it.. Moved way too slow for us.
We guess there's a reason it's for kids ages 9+ When you buy a game for money, you'd at least EXPECT it to be good They say you know a game is good if you get an hour of fun for every dollar you pay. Well we got 10 minutes of some elementary storyline and a waste of ~200 MB.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.4.5
- Size: 186.43 MB
- iOS: 13.0 or later
- Languages: EN, FR, DE, IT, JA, KO, PL, PT, RU, ZH, ES, ZH, TR
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Developer: Brain&Brain LLC
Last updated: 8th October 2024 | Genre: Roleplaying, Adventure | Developer: Brain&Brain LLC