Last updated on February 16th, 2026 at 03:41 am
Somme Trench – Roleplaying Game Review
Somme Trench is a Roleplaying/Adventure/Books game from Hosted Games LLC, first launched in 30th December 2014.
It’s rated 17+ and currently has 34+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Somme Trench Stand Out
You're a fresh British infantryman at the Battle of the Somme, one of the longest, bloodiest battles of World War One. Can you survive a clash that kills almost twenty thousand of your countrymen on the first morning alone?
"Somme Trench" is an interactive historical novel by Andrew J. Schaefer, where your choices control the story. It's entirely text-based—without graphics or sound effects—and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.
Your best bet might be as an airplane gunner, or a trench fighter, or even as a stretcher bearer. Firing squads, brothels and homeward-bound steamships are all in your possible future. Or you might give in to your inner demons and wind up chatting with ghosts and skeletons as though they're your friends. Whatever path you choose, you'll be immersed in a richly detailed, interactive historical novel that has almost as many twists and turns as there were soldiers at the Somme.
• Immerse yourself in the world of the Western Front
• Choose paths as diverse as infantryman, stretcher bearer or aircraft machine gunner
• Learn about some of the most important events of world history
• Challenge your mind
• Enjoy a richly-detailed interactive novel with countless storylines
• Solve mysteries embedded within the game
This Roleplaying game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Somme Trench is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 8th January 2026
Recent improvements include:
You can now choose a font in the Settings menu. Switch to Helvetica for crisp sans-serif text, or try the OpenDyslexic font, designed against some common symptoms of dyslexia. If you enjoy "Somme Trench", please leave us a written review. It really helps!
Download & Availability
Somme Trench is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
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:
Our only gripe is how clearly disdainful the author is at timeless military practices like marching, drills, and discipline. They very very heavy handily associate bravery with naivety. It would be nice if there were several writers for this app, rather than one. Still had a lot of fun.
Bought the app to use in our classroom. First try seemed to work fine, but hasnt worked since. Would love to be able to use it, but cant get it to operate.
We have played dozens of war oriented games, read dozens of military history books, and biographies. This game is the best iOS game we have ever played (we have played 100s). So simple yet so immersive and gut wrenching. You feel as if you are on the battlefield. You also realize how much war is luck and chance rather than Hollywood heroics. Extremely memorable! The writing is amazing. We will buy any game this author ever writes. How we wish they had a few more like this. Could be other eras too. Hope to see more like this.
This game is so cool!!!!! Make sequels, like the rest of World War 1 from the same perspective (Assuming you make it through the Somme), and maybe more paths, like tank crewman? Or Royal Engineers? Anyways, great game, we totally recommend to people who are interested in WW1, military history, or just CYOA gamers in general.
We really love this game but we wish that there was more! Example maybe a new game like Verdun or other battles.
This game is very immersive and true to history. Every decision feels fantastically real and vividly descriptive. Five stars is simply not enough to properly award this remarkable masterpiece. Thank you for this wonderfully stirring work of art.
This game is awesomely written.
This is the first interactive fiction game that we played on mobile and almost certainly remains the best. It captures the tone of the war excellently and allows the player to take decisions that make for very different playthroughs. If you enjoy this, Divided We Fall, about the Spanish Civil War, makes for a strong follow-up.
We downloaded this game for the first time over a year ago. We've played through dozens of ways and still find different paths. This is a great game we've never experienced anything like this. You can laugh and smile at somethings and at others be heartbroken. We still remember our first play through. We love this game and no matter what we've always comeback to it at some point. It was very well made. Just to point out how much we like it this is the only game we'll ever write a review on. We can't stress how amazing it is without spoiling it. Anyways. Just. Get it it's. Amazing to say the least. No just the fighting and all that just. Get it. You won't be disappointed in the least.
This overall was an amazing game with three branching options to carry the story. It makes you strive to see if you'll be able to survive the Great War. We wish more games were made like this.
This is a great game. You have so many choices. If you like choice books then you should get this one because it is one of the best.
The one problem we have with this game is that we've been playing it for the past 7 hours straight. We've played through many times. We've died probably 10 times (mostly within the first 10 mins of fighting). It's a great game which actually has a lot of replay value. It's really interesting to see how each job you can have ties together and how a couple different choices can so greatly affect who lives and dies. Must have game right here.
A great game, summing up the simple spirit of the Tommy and Fritz, and showing the horrors of war with some lovely outr and oddly noir twists. Highly recommended and for playing again and again.
The story was great, And very enjoyable. The replay value isn't that high, but it's still worth the money.
First, a disclaimer. We're a WWI nut, but we will try to remain objective. We've got library going of CYOA games, and this one is one the best written Choice of Games we've played. We didn't encounter so much as a typo. The author has a clear passion for the subject matter, and it bleeds through in each paragraph. The author also has a palpable respect for the human tragedy that was WWI trench warfare. The writing pulls you in and at times we felt real anxiety about going over the top. The game is on the short side, but the narrative is so concise it was still satisfying. We hope to see more from this author. Worth the money.
We found that we would read page after page, repeatedly after we said we'd stop. This game is very fun, addicting, and we would love to see more, especially WWI games. 9.5/10 would buy again.
This story is incredibly well written, but there were not enough choices or interactive (for lack of a better term) features that made us feel like we were a part of the story. The story was also kinda short. $.99 is the most we'd pay for this. It is a shame this masterfully written story doesn't live up to its potential.
This game had an immersive and detailed plot that really gave a great impression of what trench warfare was. The problem with this game is that the character development is so small and hard to figure out that you are never quite sure how you're choices affect the outcomes. Worse, there are no saves in the game so you end up having to start all over when you die without actually knowing what you did wrong. Recommended if you're the die-hard WW1 fan or like to spend hours trying to figure something out. Otherwise, skip this one.
Not only interesting, but also very fun.
You can play so many different paths and they're all rewarding. Totally worth the low price and highly recommended.
Dumb game and a waste of time. If you enjoying reading senseless text then this is game is for you. We want a refund.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.1.5
- Size: 28.18 MB
- iOS: 12.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Profanity or Crude Humor, Frequent/Intense Realistic Violence, Frequent/Intense Mature/Suggestive Themes, Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes, Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity
- Developer: Hosted Games LLC
Last updated: 8th January 2026 | Genre: Roleplaying, Adventure | Developer: Hosted Games LLC