Category Archives: Puzzle

Blind World Review

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Blind World Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Dmitriy Kuzmenko
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.05 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.89 out of 5 stars

Blind World is one of those games that takes a while to sink in. The directions are all in a one page “Help” screen that makes no sense at all. In fact, it took a a couple of minutes to figure out what was going on. Once I got it down though, Blind World proved to be a fun, if slightly flawed, experience.

In the game, you are a ball that has to uncover an invisible shape. Either by moving the screen with your hand or by tilting the phone itself, you must roll the ball around the edges of the object to uncover it. The longer you go without a hard crash or a fall, the higher your score gets. The key is to go really slow, and to be good at guessing where the turns of the shape will be.

With 40 levels, there is a good amount of gameplay to be had, but it isn’t without its flaws.

Like Zen Bound, each level can be finished once you get to a certain score. After you hit the score, you can leave the level or choose to keep going in a quest for a high score, but the way the game lets you continue is poorly done. Instead of a passive system that lets you leave the level, the game throws out huge words during gameplay that are easily touched on accident, potentially ruining the level that you are in.

The other major issue for me was the placement of the static “Finish” button that is in the top right corner. Most of the turning that I do to control the game is done with my right hand, and it is constantly hitting the “Finish” button which instantly shoots you to the menu screen. I can’t even tell you how many levels I lost because of this button. In a predominantly right handed world, there has to be a better spot for this button.

Aside from those issues with the games aesthetics (which are definitely frustrating), I found that it was an otherwise solid game. If you are a fan of gravity based puzzle titles, you’ll certainly get a kick out of Blind World. And watch out, I have the #1 score for level 2. If you beat it I’ll personally send you a congratulations letter. (That’s a challenge, internets. Leave your score – and a screenshot – below in the comments — Ed.)

[ Blind World Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Beyond Ynth Review

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Beyond Ynth Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: FDG Entertainment
Price: $3.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Beyond Ynth is a puzzle game that just does things right. Too many puzzle games come out that have plenty of creativity, but lack the technical polish that Beyond Ynth delivers in spades.

The most memorable thing about Beyond Ynth though has nothing to do with the gameplay, it is the amazing job that FDG Entertainment did on the sound. All of the cut-scenes are read out by a real person, the game has an oh-so-awesome theme song (it’s amazing!) that was recorded in house, and the sound in the levels is very slick. I don’t usually comment on the sound of iPhone games, given the fact that I play so often with the sound off, but they really did an amazing job with this one.

The game itself is a fun puzzler that has you playing Kribl the bug on a quest to bring light back to your kingdom. The goal of each level, most of which take under 5 minutes, is to get to the end while gathering the few crystals on the map. To win, you have to carefully navigate through the levels, pushing and navigating through objects, all while being aware of your treacherous surroundings. Be sure to watch the gameplay video at the end to really grasp the concept.

One word of warning though is that the game is extremely difficult. Beating the levels on their own is tough enough, but going out of your way to get the crystals is brutal. Prepare to hit “restart level” about 800 times… ten times for all 80 levels in the game. Beyond Ynth isn’t for the weak minded or for people who just want to breeze through games, it’s a puzzle challenge that will really test your wits. If you like puzzle games, you’ll love Beyond Ynth.

[ Beyond Ynth Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Avast, Me Hearties! Our Booty Be “Stoneship” from Cyan!

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Avast, Me Hearties! Our Booty Be “Stoneship” from Cyan! is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Aaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!!!

For the lot o' ye landlubbers readin' this post, I first be tellin' ye today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day. All ye squiffies not knowin' this a'fore ought be keelhauled off me vessle! For the rest of ye buccaneers, enjoy the sweet trade 'till the sun be settin'! One lot o' scallywags that would ne'er be missin' this great, grand day be the scurvy dogs o'er at Cyan Worlds, thar in the far nor' west. And how timely it be for 'em to bestow such booty upon yer bold and mighty scriber (that be me) as a pre-release build of their latest 'ware, Stoneship: Curse of a Thousand Islands! (And I be not talkin' about the dressin', yer can be sure!) </piratespeak>

Indeed, never quite able to find enough ways to properly celebrate this fine holiday, I must thank Cyan Worlds for providing us with an exclusive preview build of their upcoming title, Stoneship. It has made my day of festivities that much richer.

As Cyan indicated to us earlier, Stoneship: The Curse of a Thousand Islands represents "a lighthearted new direction" for the studio. Cyan describes the game as a casual, top-down, turn-based, strategy puzzle game. That's quite a string of adjectives. After spending a bit of time with the game in its current form, I can say that each of those descriptors indeed apply. And, as such, it's something of a difficult title to nutshell for the uninitiated — but I'll try, and in two different ways.

I will first give a rather general characterization of the game "on paper," is it were. Stoneship sets you and your first mate on the high seas, charged with exploring, controlling, and protecting vast oceans and islands, under continual threat of pirate sieges and tangles with ghastly monsters from the deep. The game is played by moving about any given level, uncovering obscured blocks of both land and sea in an attempt to discover ports, and temples (and, as a result, weaponry) as well as rafts of men lost at sea who will join your forces, as well as the location of any pirate ships that make your forces necessary in the first place.

Once you find a port, it becomes your own…as well as a target for pirates in the area. Each level has a set number of moves you're permitted to execute before the inevitable pirate onslaught ensues. Multiple ports can be linked together to allow resource (battle-ready men) sharing, which is all about shifting men from port to port in the 10 second count-down before the pirate attack comes. Of course, you can only set things up to your advantage here if you've uncovered the location of the lurking pirates in your set number of turns. If not, the pirates come from one of the remaining hidden blocks on the map (which is pretty much a bad thing).

The core play mode is Campaign, which is a round-to-round push through the eighty three included levels (with additional levels to come later via update). A Challenge mode is also offered, which is a sort-of pick and choose affair.

Stoneship is not a complicated game — really, it's not. But it sounds like it might be, described thus. And so, in a move not typical for our demo videos, I've recorded nearly the entire tutorial session, which explains the gameplay by example, far better than I can with words alone. The action in the video steps up towards the end, after the tutorial, but forgive what must necessarily be somewhat of a less exciting, if highly informative, glimpse of the game in action.

It does take a little while to get the hang of, but after a few rounds, it ends up feeling quite natural.

The pre-release build we were given feels quite close to complete, with the minor issue here and there that should be addressed prior to launch. Stoneship is expected to soon make it's App Store appearance, and an update will shortly follow, bringing with it various enhancements including Game Center support.

Stoneship: The Curse of a Thousand Islands is a casual and interesting mix of ingredients from a number of different formulas that come together to make up a rather unique title. We hope Stoneship marks the beginning of a series of new iOS releases from MYST-maker Cyan.


Review: Puzzle Agent

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Review: Puzzle Agent is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

The first time we’re introduced to Nathan Tethers — a character who’s so unremarkable that it’s almost funny — he’s asleep at his desk, slumped over the crossword page of a newsletter. It’s a fitting introduction.

For those of us who’d sooner reach for our mobile phone’s RSS feed aggregator than pick up a newspaper, that’s exactly what Puzzle Agent is. It’s a crossword and comic strip section for the Information Age. As it turn out, a digital version of the crossword page still isn’t that entertaining.

Set in a small, fictional, northwestern town, Puzzle Agent’s script takes cues from the dry humor of the Coen Brother’s Fargo and the bizarre supernaturalism of Twin Peaks. Just don’t expect to run across any midgets in tuxedos living in the walls or people getting stuffed into wood chippers. Telltale’s story is subdued, flat even: it’s a comedy of manners that forgets to be witty, a theater of the absurd that skirts around absurdity.

Agent Tether’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding an accident at a local eraser factory is presented in a sketchbook style and told through a series of comic-strip like vignettes. Funnier than comic fluff like Cathy and Family Circus, yet far less entertaining than the plots of the game’s inspirations, these skits are connected by a quasi-point-&-click adventure framework, and in turn connect a grab-bag of logic puzzles.

The selection of puzzles are mixed, but are largely the types of puzzles you’d find in the back of a Boys’ Life. You’ll help a waitress remember customers’ orders by scrutinizing a non-conclusive list of facts, and place logs on a grid to make a path for Nathan to ride his snowmobile along.

You won’t be asked to determine when two trains will meet if one train is traveling from St. Paul to Bismarck at 45 mph and the other is traveling from Bismarck to St. Paul at 27 mph, pulling out of the gates at 11:00 and 11:15 respectively, but it wouldn’t feel out of place.

There’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned puzzle, but these rarely got my gears turning. Few of the puzzles benefit from the things computers can do. A pen and paper are often all you’d need to solve them, and having a scratch sheet on hand can prove helpful. There are a number of rotating tile-based puzzles, including jigsaws, which indeed feel marginally interactive.

Puzzle Agent is a well-planned and produced game, but while each of its pieces fit, none of them are remarkable. The writing, the puzzles, and the graphical adventure trappings are underwhelming, and the results are too.


Tetrapped – iPhone App Review

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Tetrapped – iPhone App Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Post image for Tetrapped – iPhone App Review

tetrapped icon Tetrapped iPhone App Review

Tetrapped ($0.99)

Version – 1.0.1

Review – “Familiar shapes in a new type of puzzle game!”


tetrapped 1 200x300 Tetrapped iPhone App ReviewTetrapped is a puzzle game that is designed to really make you think. There are no timers or score, it’s just how many moves will it take you to solve the puzzle! The basic idea is that you are given various shaped pieces inside a box and you have to move them tetrapped 2 200x300 Tetrapped iPhone App Reviewaround each other to get a certain piece in a certain place. While it may sound simple, it can be extremely confusing!


The man menu screen is simple, and yet creative. The main menu is made up of 4 blocks of various shapes that make up your menu options. To get started just touch the “Play” button at the top and you’ll be taken to a tutorial the first time that you do so. Once you finish the tutorial you’ll be taken to the first level. The game defaults to a 6×6 board the first time that you play but there are two other sizes: 7×7 and 8×8 that make it more difficult!


Every time you start a new level you’ll see the “target” block start out where it goes and then move somewhere else. Once that block is in place it is surrounded by some othertetrapped 3 200x300 Tetrapped iPhone App Review blocks of random shapes. At the top of the screen you’ll see a box that shows how many moves you’ve made and your best score on that level if you’ve already completed it.


To play the game all you have to do is grab the block you want to move and drag it where you want it. You can only move blocks in one direction in 1 “move,” but they can be moved in any direction. The levels are all designed to make you think, and some of them are actually very easy if you think a little outside of the box.


There are three buttons at the bottom of the screen that will take you back to the home screen, allow you to select a new level, or restart the current level you’re working on. Whether you bring up the level select from in-game or through the option at the main menu, you’ll be given a list of the different board sizes to choose from first, and then you’ll be taken to the list of levels for the on you choose.


There are a few basic options that you can set under the “settings” button from the main menu of this tetrapped 4 200x300 Tetrapped iPhone App Reviewgame. They include the ability to turn certain sound effects on/off, change the color scheme and reset your stats. There is also an option to turn “Auto Advance” on/off. This will send you straight to the next level when you finish when it’s on, or just stay at the finished screen till you do something if it’s off.


The basic concept of the game feels somehow familiar, but at the same time new. One thing that seems to betetrapped 5 200x300 Tetrapped iPhone App Review missing is a “competition” factor. It would be cool to be able to see the minimum number of moves that are required to solve a particular puzzle. This would give you a number to shoot for and would make the amount of moves that you solve a puzzle in mean a little more.


While I have played a couple of other games that use a concept similar to this game, the “Tetris” shapes really add a new twist that I had not seen before. There is plenty of challenge in this game and it has hundreds of levels that will test your patience for hours on end! The game is currently available for $0.99 and I would definitely recommend it if you need something to pass some time, or if you just enjoy games that make you think.

- David H.

Download Now!

Tetrapped

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Developer – Andrew Wilford

URL: http://www.yorksoft.com

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© 2010, iPhone and iPad app reviews. All rights reserved. An expedite fee may have been paid for some reviews. We work diligently to ensure that this does not affect the content of the review and strive to keep the journalistic integrity intact. All reviews are the personal opinion of the reviewer.

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Exclusive Hands-On with Upcoming ‘GravBot’ from Team Phobic

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Exclusive Hands-On with Upcoming ‘GravBot’ from Team Phobic is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

A few weeks ago we showed a new trailer for an upcoming gravity-based puzzle platforming game called GravBot from Team Phobic. They have since sent us a near-final build of the game, and after completing nearly all of it, I'm thoroughly impressed with just about everything that GravBot has to offer. Team Phobic has already proven that they know how to bring cute, colorful graphics and excellent level designs with Bounce On [$1.99/Lite] and Bounce On 2 [$3.99/Lite], and those skills have translated well into the creation of GravBot. The levels start out simple enough and ease you into the different elements in the game, but as you progress GravBot will really test your puzzle solving skills and force you to look at each level from every angle.

In GravBot, you'll play as a tiny robot who must collect all of the batteries on each perilous level. In order to accomplish this, you can spin the entire level either 90 degrees left or right or entirely upside down to change the direction of gravity. Your robot can travel left and right on its single tire, and will fall towards whichever way happens to be down at the time. Levels are filled with hazards like spikes, enemies, and lasers which will kill instantly if not avoided. The batteries can be tricky to get to, and a color-coded system of trapdoors, elevators, and various other obstacles will need to be triggered by switching a lever or pushing blocks onto buttons – all in the name of snagging every last battery on a given level.

While just completing each level is sufficiently challenging and fun, the real hook to GravBot is trying to obtain gold medals for each one. The game keeps track of how many times you switched gravity to complete a level, with bronze/silver/gold medals awarded for using it efficiently. What is really satisfying is when you figure out a way to win gold using fewer gravity switches than is required. Due to the physics engine in the game, you can sometimes make it to a hard to reach area without changing the gravity and instead gliding through the air or just barely catching the edge of a platform and hanging on. These types of moves can be risky however, and if you don't pull one off just right you can easily fall to your death. If you do happen to beat a level using a ridiculously low number of gravity switches, you will be immortalized in leaderboard form thanks to the Plus+ network, and there are a number of achievements to obtain as well.

GravBot looks and sounds absolutely great, with Retina Display enhanced graphics and catchy music and sound effects. I especially love the little blips and bloops that your robot will spout out during the game, and he has a ton of personality for essentially being a TV set with a wheel. GravBot has already been submitted and Team Phobic is shooting for a September 30th release. The game will be free to download and comes with 12 levels, with two additional 20 level packs available as in-app purchase for 99¢ apiece. The 12 free levels aren't terribly difficult and serve mostly to get you familiar with the game, but the additional level packs contain some seriously challenging stuff that should keep you busy for quite a while. Make sure to head over to the upcoming thread in our forums to check out more about GravBot, and we'll take another look at the game when it hits the App Store later this month.