Updates

Remember the Point Scoring game Lines 123? My high score is now 31,020. Unfortunately, there is still  no leaderboard for this game.  My highest # for that particular game was 12. Or may 13. Sorry, I'm not sure. It's one of my favorite point scoring puzzle games because it only takes about 20 minutes to play.


March: Simple Chess - I've completed all 30 levels.

Light Up the Grid

 

Ajitha Samarasinghe's Light Up the Grid combines 2 old puzzle elements: connecting the energy source to the light bulb, and the element of 'all the tiles slide together' action.

 

Other Interesting Things
1. Some pieces need to be rotated.
2. The Blue Squares are instant freezers: any tile landing on it will lock onto it.
3. Fragile tiles - crashing into them once will demolish them.


At the moment, I've about 55 levels.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/light-up-the-grid/id1071364931?ls=1&mt=8

Brain Game University

 

Dan Hansen recently contacted me about his new puzzle app game Brain Game University. (I think you can get a degree in playing his puzzles. Maybe get a job writing a blog about puzzle apps. Make your parents proud or extremely disappointed. Wasting so much time. It's really okay. I don't need your sympathy and/or pity. My grade point average could be a bit higher too.)

 

Dan's description:
The multiplayer brain game app you've been waiting for: 41 challenging brain games, each with hundreds of variations, that let you play alone or in Game Center while earning your Bachelor of Gaming Arts degree.

Can you make the dean's list? Wreck the curve? Get straight A's? Getting schooled has never been so much fun.

The Brain Game University Curriculum:

• 2048 - Earn the 2048 tile before the grid fills up
• 4 Letter Words - Solve a puzzle filled with 4 letter words
• Arrows Away - Swipe in the direction of the most arrows
• Block Star - Tap on groups of blocks to remove them
• Boomer - Avoid exploding tiles while swiping paths
• Brink - Slide puzzle tiles into the correct positions
• Card Sharp - A card game where it's 21 or bust
• Code Breaker - Tap colored pegs to solve the code
• Color Match - Match tiles with reversed colors
• Concentration - Match hidden letters, numbers & shapes
• Connect: Connect dots with matching colors
• Deja Vu - Try to remember which tiles you've seen
• Edge Match - Match puzzle tile colors & patterns
• Fifteen - Slide tiles into the correct order
• Flash - Simon Says using flashes & sounds
• Fruit Crunch - Match 3 fruits to crunch them
• Grid Guru - Repeat increasingly complex patterns
• Heap - Try to move all the playing cards onto the heap
• Hopscotch - Slide letter tiles between rows to spell words
• Hunt & Peck - Create words by tapping letter tiles
• Mines: Uncover tiles without detonating mines
• Misfit: Tap the item that doesn't belong
• Number Crunch - Answer math expressions with swipes
• One & Only - Find the unique tile color
• Paired Up - Tap the matching pair of colored animal tiles
• Peg - Peg Solitaire with colorful marbles
• Rounders - Slide round tiles until the numbers match
• Scramble - Slide letter tiles to unscramble words
• Shape Shift - Match shapes before they shift
• SlideWays - Slide tiles until they match the board
• Smashed - Smash groups of blocks as fast as you can
• Sudoku - Fill each 3x3 box with the numbers 1-9
• Tetravex - Slide tiles until all adjacent edges match
• Total Recall - Memorize & recall words
• Treys - Find 3 cards that are all the same or all different
• True Colors - Tap tiles that are true to their color
• Unity: Unite matching tiles by swiping them together
• Word Crunch - Find words by swiping in a straight line
• Word Hunt - Form words by tracing adjacent letters
• Word Warrior - Recall letter tiles in order to create words
• Yacht - Roll 5 dice to make 12 different combinations
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brain-game-university/id930527050?mt=8


I reviewed Dan's other game Edge Match about 5 years ago.

NEGENTROPY!

 

Negentropy! is quite an interesting puzzle.  The object is to place the men on the board and avoid collisions.


The early puzzles: place the circles with the vertical lines in the grid and they will bounce up and down within the grid. Then place the circles with the horizontal lines in the grid and make sure there are no collisions.

 

I like this concept a lot.  Where it gets particularly interesting are the pieces that do not move horizontally or vertically. One piece hugs the wall on its right - that's the best way I can describe it.


Here's what I'm not crazy about: some levels are impossible in that there will be a collision eventually. However, if you can place the pieces on the board strategically so that there is no collision for the first 5 seconds or so, it will be viewed as a success.


Still, this concept is fun.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/negentropy!/id1068777263?mt=8

March: Simple Chess

 

Kazuki Ohta is the author of March: Simple Chess. It's not a true chess puzzle.  The object is to get your dark blue piece to the top before your opponent's dark red piece gets to the bottom. Alternatively, seize the dark red square before you get seized.


Squares can move and capture diagonally forward and straight ahead forward.


There are just 30 levels, which is great!  At the moment, I'm stuck on level 18 - the grids are small, but the puzzles get pretty tricky.
https://itunes.apple.com/jp/app/march-simple-chess/id1079804119?l=en&mt=8


Other chess-like puzzles that I've blogged about:
Solitaire Chess - my favorite from this list
Overgrown
Pirate Ring
Board: Chess Puzzle
Blip Blurp
Knight Trade
Troyis
Mate in 3? Ok!
Chess Puzzle of the Day
Chess Free
Ruby Capture
ChessQuest
Blind Knights
Intersection
Chess Light - very good
No More Kings

Lines 123 - FREE Point Scoring puzzle App

 

Sang Moon Joo has produced some nifty puzzle app games recently. It's hard to keep up.


Lines 123 looks like a version of Tower of Hanoi.  It's not.


The instructions are simple.
1. Move 1 tile from one column to another.
2. Then a tile will drop, always in order from left to right.
3. Combine like numbers to form larger numbers and clear up space.
4. The average game takes about 10-15 minutes.
5. The tiles at the top are randomly generated.


My top score is 9800. My highest tile so far - 10.


There is no leaderboard, which is a shame, because I'm wondering if anybody has gotten an 11.
I suspect this is one of those puzzle games that nobody downloads. It's really good.
http://blog.naver.com/wntkdans123
https://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/lines-123/id1080177776?mt=8


Some of Sang Moon Joo's other games
Maze 11
Number Escape
N16
4 Way Puzzle
Loop 101

Hex Merged

 

Hex Merged is not from the developer of Merged!  Almost everything is the same except for the hexagonal grid. 


Another thing that is different: the domino can only be rotated in two orientations.


I like this game, except for the fact that it's now too easy.


I only played this game once and scored 33,010.  Multiple times, I was on the verge of losing. But the game kept going.  I think this game lasted an hour. I was relieved when I lost.


At the moment, there are 196 players on the leaderboard and I'm #3.


BrainUP Squares Puzzle - total ripoff

 

Do you remember the great point scoring game Stickets?  BrainUP Squares Puzzle is a total ripoff.  Feel free to download this game, then write a negative review, as I just did.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brainup-squares-puzzle/id981348994?mt=8

RYB.

Loyal Blog Follower William Hu sent me this info about RYB.

'The pure puzzler must be one of my favorite games of all time now. I found it today and couldn't put it down until I'd finished it completely, it's utterly genius. It's called 'RYB'. The mechanics... well, that's up to you to figure out :)

I had to contact the developer Paul Hlebowitsh, because I couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on.  A little hint steered me in the right direction.


This is one of those many many puzzle games that are clever, but will not gain large popularity. 
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ryb./id1052611304?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

PutNumber2

 

Earlier this year I got into Put Number. It's a terrific little point scoring puzzle app game.


Recently, I discovered Merged! which is very similar.


Which leads us to the sequel Put Number 2.  It's very similar to the original Put Number. The difference is a 'stone' number that must be eliminated before you run out of room. The rules for eliminating the stone - I understand.  The scoring with the stone - I'm not too sure.
https://itunes.apple.com/ky/app/putnumber2/id1073503789?mt=8

Nokori - free puzzle app game for iphone, ipad

  
Stephen Henney's Nokori is very similar to The Chain Free from last year.


The object is to combine elements along the same row or column and eliminate all but one. For example, look at the first image.  The blue square can shift onto the blue circle. Then the green square can land on it, then the green diamond.  Then the purple square will come on it.

There are 21 levels with each level having 7 puzzles.  They start off pretty easy.  I'm in the middle of Level 13 and they're tough!  My only criticism is the leaderboard. Instead of the fastest time each level, it should be just total levels solved. Keep it simple.
http://www.omnihandedinteractive.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nokori/id1078484140?mt=8

Plagiarism!

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/a-plagiarism-scandal-is-unfolding-in-the-crossword-world/

Update on Merged!

Recently, I've been playing Merged! a lot.  One mystery that I have not solved: after playing a game, coins are awarded.  But what's the formula for that?

Another mystery has been solved.  How many points does one get when merging three 4's, three 5's, three 6's and three M's at the same time.

 

Look at the two images above: I had 4's, 5's, 6's & M's set up. I got a 4. This led to 1588 points.

My high score is now 13,000 which places me at 57 on the Leaderboard.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/merged!/id1055672607?mt=8

Other Point Scoring Games Worthy of Your Time

NumberMania

Four Straight Lines

Pushopolous

Stickets

Folt

Nineout

Nineout II

BeeCells Lite

Kindly Colors

HexAgony

Domino Drop

Put Number

Tripevo     

Triple Town          

Kindly  Colors    

COLORswipe     
SubaraCity
Virus Pop Smash
+1 Number
4 Way Puzzle
Twelve Hardest Puzzle