Evoland: The RPG That Evolves Its Own Graphics As You Play

By Nham Vu · Updated July 2026

Evoland is a 2013 action-RPG from Shiro Games that turns the history of adventure gaming into its actual gameplay mechanic. Every chest you open and switch you flip upgrades the game itself, moving graphics from monochrome Game Boy blocks to full 16-bit color to 3D, and shifting the combat and camera rules right along with it.

I still remember the first time a friend showed me the opening dungeon, where you crack open a treasure chest and the screen literally gains color for the first time. It is a gimmick, sure, but it is executed with enough affection for the genre that it works as both a joke and a real game. What follows below covers where it sits next to Zelda, whether you can play it on your phone, and what a first run actually looks like.

Is Evoland Like Zelda?

Evoland borrows its top-down dungeon structure, sword-and-shield combat, and overworld exploration directly from the classic Zelda formula, and it does so on purpose. The early hours have you slashing grass, pushing blocks, and finding keys in a layout that any Link to the Past veteran will recognize instantly.

Where it splits from Zelda is tone. Evoland treats those mechanics as raw material for a parody of RPG history rather than a straight adventure. As you unlock new eras, combat shifts from real-time Zelda-style swings to turn-based Final Fantasy-inspired battles complete with a world map and random encounters, something Zelda never does. It is less a clone and more a loving tour through the tropes that games like it made popular.

Can I Play Evoland On Mobile?

Yes, Evoland runs on Android and iOS, with Playdigious handling the mobile ports after the original PC release. The mobile version is a faithful adaptation, not a stripped-down one, and it includes touch controls tuned for the shifting camera perspectives and combat systems the game cycles through.

In practice the touch controls hold up fine for the top-down sections but get a little fiddly once the game moves into faster real-time combat stretches. I would still recommend a controller if your phone or tablet supports one, since precision matters more once enemies start attacking in groups.

• Android
• iOS
• PlayStation 4
• Nintendo Switch
• Microsoft Windows
• macOS
• Linux

What Platforms Is Evoland Available On?

Evoland originally launched on Windows and OS X in April 2013, then expanded to Android and iOS in early 2015 and Linux the following month. Console ports and the Legendary Edition bundle later brought it to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch.

Playdigious currently maintains the mobile builds, with the most recent update sitting around version 1.8.1 and a file size under 90 MB, small enough that storage is never a concern on a phone.

What Is The Evoland Legendary Edition?

The Evoland Legendary Edition bundles the original Evoland with its sequel, Evoland 2, into a single package, giving new players both games in the order they were designed to be experienced. It is the version most commonly sold on consoles through publishers like Red Art Games.

If you are starting fresh, the Legendary Edition is worth seeking out over buying the first game alone, since Evoland 2 is the more ambitious and better-regarded of the pair according to plenty of longtime fans. The first Evoland works best as a short, focused introduction before jumping into that bigger sequel.

How Does Evoland Gameplay Actually Work?

Evoland's gameplay hook is progression through gaming history itself, where finding a chest or activating a switch permanently changes a graphical or mechanical rule of the world you are standing in. One chest adds color, another adds music, another switches the whole game from real-time action to turn-based menus.

What trips up new players is expecting a normal RPG pacing curve. Evoland is closer to a series of short vignettes stitched together, each one testing a different era's conventions before moving to the next. The best players I have seen treat every new area as a fresh puzzle about what rule just changed, rather than assuming the last system still applies.

• Real-time Zelda-style combat
• Turn-based Final Fantasy-style battles
• 3D exploration segments
• Card-based minigames
• World map travel with random encounters

What Should A Walkthrough Cover For Evoland?

A solid Evoland walkthrough needs to flag the forced graphical and mechanical unlocks early, since missing an optional chest can mean missing a joke or a shortcut rather than actual progress loss. The game is fairly linear, so getting stuck usually means an interactive object was overlooked rather than a genuine puzzle wall.

The map itself starts simple and expands as new movement options unlock, including later vehicles and terrain types. Anyone writing or following a walkthrough should pay attention to the collectible cards scattered through Evoland, since they tie into a light minigame that rewards thorough exploration rather than combat grinding.

Is Evoland 3 Coming Out?

As of now, Shiro Games has not announced a full Evoland 3, and fans hoping for a third mainline entry should treat any rumors with caution until Shiro Games or Playdigious confirms something officially. The series' last major release was the Legendary Edition and later 10th Anniversary re-releases of the first two games.

That anniversary edition is worth mentioning here because it repackaged both games with modern updates rather than introducing new content, which suggests the studio still sees value in polishing what exists over rushing a sequel.