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Wednesday, December 27, 2017

QB - a cube's tale by Stephan Goebel $1.99

iPhone Screenshot 1  iPhone Screenshot 2
QB - a cube's tale comes from Stephan Goebel. It's a maze game with obstacles.
iPhone Screenshot 3  iPhone Screenshot 4
The object is to get Your Man, the black cube, to the black square.

Features:
1. Landing on a red square will destroy the square immediately forward. It matters whence you land on it.
2. The yellow towers must always be destroyed, by landing on a yellow square, which will fire a laser. Again, landing on the yellow square from the correct orientation is critical.
3. The blue squares enable you to jump 1 square.
4. The little black squares indicate that Your Man can only traverse that space once.
5. The green square: the forward and back squares will swap places. Very cool.
6. Not shown in these images: red/blue, red/yellow and blue/yellow squares. If Your Man lands on a red/blue square with red being up and blue down, it will act as a red piece. But will then flip upside down to act as blue the next time.
7. The green, white & black squares slide 1 space. They show up in the last 10 levels.

There are 60 levels (a perfect number!). There's a lot of trial and error. Some good 'aha' moments.

It took 3-4 hours, but I solved them all.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/qb-a-cubes-tale/id1289455886?mt=8
http://20edges.com/

Announcement:
The annual PAGY Awards are fast approaching. Each year, I nominate the best Puzzle App Games of the Year on December 30.  The winners will be named December 31.

Note: the PAGY Awards are very subjective. (Just like the Oscars, the Grammys and the Pulitzers.) The first purpose is to draw more people to the joy of puzzles. The second is to recognize the indie gamers who put forth their best creative efforts. Sadly, many of these games are unprofitable. It's the elephant in the room. But we hope they continue.

 To be sure, I have play tested every single game thoroughly. A constant regret of mine: overlooking a puzzle. If I've missed a worthy game, send me a note, and I'll include it for 2018.


Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Swim Out by Lozange Lab $2.99

iPhone Screenshot 1
Mat Lozinguez contacted me back in August about his game Swim Out. He and his wife Ava are the team behind Lozange Lab. The object is to get the swimmer with the blue cap to the ladder without crashing into any of the swimmers with the red caps.
iPhone Screenshot 2
Swim Out has numerous features:
1. For some levels, you must retrieve an object that will temporarily halt another swimmer.
2. Most of the swimmers do simple back and forth laps. Unless there are 45 degree angle walls which force a 90 degree turn.
3. Avoid the ladies who sit with their legs in the pool.
4. Blue Boards: for those who can't swim, these 'swimmers' take up 2 square units. 
5. Boomerangs, kayaks and too many other things like waves, divers, and fins.
iPhone Screenshot 3
There are 115 levels.  I love the graphics.  The puzzles are challenging. Lots of trial and error. I've done about one-fourth of the levels.
iPhone Screenshot 4
Shuttle Shuffle is their old game, which I reviewed almost 3 years ago.
iPhone Screenshot 5
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/swim-out/id1204231646?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lozangelab.swimout.googleplay

Announcement:
The annual PAGY Awards are fast approaching. Each year, I nominate the best Puzzle App Games of the Year on December 30.  The winners will be named December 31.

Note: the PAGY Awards are very subjective. (Just like the Oscars, the Grammys and the Pulitzers.) The first purpose is to draw more people to the joy of puzzles. The second is to recognize the indie gamers who put forth their best creative efforts. Sadly, many of these games are unprofitable. It's the elephant in the room. But we hope they continue.

 To be sure, I have play tested every single game thoroughly. A constant regret of mine: overlooking a puzzle. If I've missed a worthy game, send me a note, and I'll include it for 2018.

Monday, December 25, 2017

follow.trail by Grzegorz Pykacz $.99

  
Merry Christmas Puzzlers!

follow.trail comes from Grzegorz Pykacz, originally from Poland, but now in Canada. The object is to get Your Man, the blue square, to pass over all the white squares and finally land on the checker board square. Essentially, it's a maze game.
  
Interesting Features that we've seen before:
1. The white squares must be traversed based on how many dots appear.
2. The swirls are wormholes.

New, Original Features in a Maze:
3. At times, Your Man, must cross onto the red grid. When this happens, new black squares emerge.
4. Your Man, must land on the Sun. This will reverse the white & black squares. Since the Sun can only be landed on once, eliminate all the white squares first.
5. Your man can drift off the grid to the right, and will land on the extreme left edge. Same for the top/bottom edges.

I'm wondering:
6. Are there levels with multiple Suns?
7. Multiple wormholes?
.
follow.trail is not available for android devices.  (I've heard from some puzzle appsters that they make more money per iphone user than per android user.)

According to the Leaderboard, 'znonymous' is #1 and has solved 1,111 levels.  That's incredible, because I'm finding that there's a lot of trial and error and each level can take 15 minutes. I've only solved 34 levels.

There are 358 players on the Leaderboard.  This game is definitely worthy of your time.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/follow-trail/id1248146448?mt=8
http://followthetrail.info/

Announcement:
The annual PAGY Awards are fast approaching. Each year, I nominate the best Puzzle App Games of the Year on December 30.  The winners will be named December 31.

Note: the PAGY Awards are very subjective. (Just like the Oscars, the Grammys and the Pulitzers.) The first purpose is to draw more people to the joy of puzzles. The second is to recognize the indie gamers who put forth their best creative efforts. Sadly, many of these games are unprofitable. It's the elephant in the room. But we hope they continue.

 To be sure, I have play tested every single game thoroughly. A constant regret of mine: overlooking a puzzle. If I've missed a worthy game, send me a note, and I'll include it for 2018.

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Sticks. by Kamil Kucma FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1  iPhone Screenshot 2
Sticks. comes from Kamil Kucma. It's a point scoring puzzle app. You are given 3 tiles at time to place within the grid.  At all times, everything can swivel.  Match up 3 in any direction, score points and keep going.
iPhone Screenshot 3  iPhone Screenshot 4
I've only played this game twice. The second time was this morning and I was still alive, but had to go to work.

I think this is a very solid point scoring game.  I like the graphics a lot.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sticks/id1174328165?mt=8
http://gamezaur.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gamezaur.sticks

Monday, December 18, 2017

Gerrymander: Rig the Election by Good Egg Games FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1  iPhone Screenshot 2
Gerrymander: Rig the Election comes from Good Egg Games. The object is is draw some lines so that each group has an equal number of people and that your political party will prevail in a majority of the regions.
iPhone Screenshot 4  iPhone Screenshot 5
Note to Puzzlers not in America: every 10 years the United States does a census. The purpose of this is to reallocate the number of representatives to the House of Representatives.  Let's say New York needs to lose 1 seat while Texas gains a seat.  The government in each state will then redraw the district lines. Theoretically, this would be done logically. However, some democrats and republicans will be very craft to ensure that their party wins a majority.  The origin of the term Gerrymandering is also interesting.  See the link for the other game Districts.

I've solved about 15 levels. It's okay.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gerrymander-rig-the-election/id1314200834?mt=8

Districts is very similar and came out earlier this year.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Sujiko (English) by Kobayaashi Studios $.99 and Sujiko2015 FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1
Sujiko is a tough little puzzle. Assume that the top space is A. The middle row is labeled B, C & D

First equation: A + B + C + 4 =15 
Second equation: A + C + D + 6 = 21

From those we get that D - B = 4.  There are only 2 possibilities: B = 1 while D = 5   and B = 3 while D = 7.  We plug them in and go from there.

I don't think the image above is solve-able. The 30 should be surrounded by 6, 7, 8 & 9, and 6 is already used.

Below are the rules and the links to 2 versions of this game, made by the same people.

The playboard is composed of a 3 x 3 grid, with four circular spaces at the internal intersecting nodes of the grid. The objective is to "Place the numbers 1 to 9 in the spaces so that the number in each circle is equal to the sum of the four surrounding spaces." At least one number in the grid is filled in on most examples to ensure that each puzzle has only one possible solution.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sujiko-english/id1319373995?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D2  $.99

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sujiko2015/id1027053814  FREE

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Knights by HIKARI SASU FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1  iPhone Screenshot 2
It's been a while since we've played a new chess app game. Knights comes fromHikari Sasu. The object is to move all the knights from the bottom to the top. No capturing is allowed.
iPhone Screenshot 3  iPhone Screenshot 4
Interesting: some squares are 'no go'.  No piece land on them, or pass over them.

The puzzles start out pretty easy with all the other pieces being just rooks.  The difficulty rises at level 16 when a pawn is introduced. It can go up, and never down.

The graphics could be a lot better. The user interface is clunky: it's slow and does not record the number of moves.

Still, I was sufficiently frustrated by the puzzles themselves: they require careful consideration.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/knights/id1264536362?mt=8
http://www.smartgamestudio.com/

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
March Simple Chess

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Waltzing Tiles by Boris Sokolsky FREE

iPhone Screenshot 2  iPhone Screenshot 3
Waltzing Tiles comes from Boris Sokolsky. The object is to slide the rows/columns back/forth and up/down to un-mix the colors.

The easy mode is way too easy. We've seen this type of puzzle way too often.

The medium mode is slightly harder. Each tile has either 3 or 4 colors.

The hard mode is fantastic.  And very hard. As you slide a row across, each tile rotates 90 degrees. So there are 2 tasks: solving for the position of each tile and the orientation.  I've tried it only once and ran out of moves.

iPhone Screenshot 1
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/waltzing-tiles/id1315369332?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ilanymob.waltzingtiles&hl=en

https://sites.google.com/site/waltzingtiles/

Similar Games (This list is very incomplete.)
Slangle
Rubik's Block
Cryptic Cross
Digits Square Puzzle Game
iRectangle
Align It!
Cube 2D
Pixel Shift
Mezzo Puzzle
Flat Cubes a 2D Rubik's Cube
Shuttle Shuffle

Monday, December 11, 2017

DropPocket FV by miho ito FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1
DropPocket FV comes from miho ito. The object is to fill up all the spaces with tiles from the piles that have numbers on them. Slide them vertically/horizontally.

I think the directions from the App Store came from a translator.
It is a game that buries six stroke packing under all ditches. 
Packing begins to move by the automatic operation in that direction when the slide is done. 
The direction is changed, and packing jumps when it passes the sign. 
The figure of packing is a number of packing. The ditch is sequentially buried only in the number of figures by packing in the operation of one degree. 
If packing goes out outside the room or it undertakes the packing that cannot be passed, it becomes a re-doing. 
To collect the packing moved once, it ..packing of "0".. touches. 
The kind of the game is increased at any time, and look forward, please.
iPhone Screenshot 2
The first 30 puzzles go very fast.  Then some interesting elements are added. Curved arrows change direction. The 'go back' arrow sends you in reverse.

Look at the first image.  See the tile with the red symbol. It's surrounded by 1's on the left/right/bottom. If the 1 at the bottom passes over it going up, it will be enabled to pass over the tile with a 1 on it. Normally, this would be an illegal move.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/droppocket-fv/id1319742838?mt=8

Zhed is similar.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Disjoint by 2056516 Alberta Limited $2.99

iPhone Screenshot 1  iPhone Screenshot 2
I started Disjoint about a month ago. The object is to swivel triangles around each other on various pivot points so that all the triangles will fill up the shaded areas.  Some triangles are isolated. They have to be rescued in a chain-like way.
iPhone Screenshot 3  iPhone Screenshot 4
Then I forgot about this game. It's hard to get back into a game when so many new games are getting published every week.

There's a lot going for this game. The puzzles are clever. The graphics are crisp and clean. After each chapter there is a picture story about a pig and a man looking for wisdom.

I've completed the first 2 chapters, which totals 24 levels, I think. I'm definitely coming back to this game. This game needs more attention.

Somewhere on their webpage is this: IF WE HAD ANY AWARDS, THEY WOULD GO HERE

Which reminds me, I have to get going on the famous PAGY (Puzzle App Games of the Year) Awards. The nominations will be December 30. The Finalists will be December 31.

disjointgame.com
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1225775112
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.copperbrain.disjointrelease&pcampaignid=MKT-Other-global-all-co-prtnr-py-PartBadge-Mar2515-1

Other Triangle Puzzles
Triangle Flip
Yankai's Peak

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Videos to Watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5p2A5mazEs&sns=em  Amazing spirals & sculptures. John Edmark is a genius.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqJC3YxfcyM&sns=em Do you recall my mentioning Oskar van Deventer's world breaking 17x17x17 cube?  That was almost 7 years ago.  Greg Pfennig has created a 33x33x33 cube. Definitely check out his other twisty videos.


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Joint Number Place by Yuki Fujimoto FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1  iPhone Screenshot 2
Joint Number Place comes from Yuki Fujimoto. The object is to form a Latin Square such that: each row and column has numbers 1-n. Also, each colored area has numbers 1-n. 

Each black line connects consecutive numbers x and x + 1. Kropk'i Sudoku (see link below) had a similar feature.
iPhone Screenshot 3  iPhone Screenshot 4
There are 25 levels in each grid size from 4x4 through 9x9.

These puzzles are fun and challenging.  I've solved all the 4x4's, half the 5x5's and some 6x6's.  I tried the 9x9's: no progress - yet.

The graphics for Joint Number Place are overdone. There should be no white or tan squares.  The background should be black.  The connecting lines should not have two colors. These are minor complaints.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/joint-number-place/id1312632074?mt=8

Other Latin Square Puzzles
Sudoku Sweeper
Futoshiki  also known as Hi-Lo Sudoku
LogicCity
Kropk'i Sudoku
Logi5Puzz
TetragonoS

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Flat Cubes: a 2D Rubik's Cube by Christophe Scholly FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1 iPhone Screenshot 2
Flat Cubes: a 2D Rubik's Cube comes from Christophe Scholly. How many times have we seen puzzles described as a 2-dimensional Rubik's Cube?
iPhone Screenshot 3  iPhone Screenshot 4
The object is to slide/transfer the colored tiles onto their targets.

Interesting: not all the rows/columns can slide.  Only the ones that have the black borders can slide.
iPhone Screenshot 5
There are 100 levels and I solved the first 25 in about 30 minutes.  Last night I solved the next 40 levels in about 45 minutes.

If you've never done this type of puzzle, then definitely give this a chance. The graphics are really very polished.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flat-cubes-a-2d-rubiks-cube/id1303173025?mt=8
https://www.chrisscholly.com/

Similar Games (This list is very incomplete.)
Slangle
Rubik's Block
Cryptic Cross
Digits Square Puzzle Game
iRectangle
Align It!
Cube 2D
Pixel Shift
Mezzo Puzzle



Monday, December 4, 2017

Cube Escape: The Cave FREE

iPhone Screenshot 1
I've been a fan of the Rusty Lake people for a while now.  See the list below of their games that I've played. The artwork is good. The puzzles are generally fun. And there's usually a creepy element.
iPhone Screenshot 2
Cube Escape: The Cave continues the horror-story/puzzle-room experience.
iPhone Screenshot 3
Bonus Points: See the man in the Fedora hat? He's been a fixture in these puzzles: always give him a drink. Or two!  I'm not sure if he's been in every Rusty Lake game. He should be though.
iPhone Screenshot 4
Demerit Points: the puzzle with the key is the same as in The Mill. A mold of the key is given and you must pour molten ore to make a copy.
iPhone Screenshot 5
Weird: in the submarine portion of this game, I was fiddling with the controls at random and moved the sub to a spot that led to my skipping a whole section.

The Cave is an okay game. Not nearly as good as Seasons, which is their masterpiece. What's definitely missing is one of those 'what the hell is going on?!' moments like the ones in Birthday and Arles.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1209468207
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.RustyLake.CubeEscapeTheCave

Sometimes it's okay to consult a video walkthrough!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d80AQGv7BfE  Part I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCkc-nMAKa4  Part II

Other Rusty Lake Games I've played/reviewed:

Cube Escape: Birthday
Cube Escape: Case 23
Cube Escape: The Mill
Cube Escape: Harvey's Room
Cube Escape: The Lake
Cube Escape: Arles
Cube Escape: Seasons
Cube Escape: Theater

Friday, December 1, 2017

Cool visuals & 1 Mechanical puzzle

Puzzlers: I'm way behind in posting about good puzzle apps. Sorry.  Check out these cool things. Back on Monday.


https://m.imgur.com/tWq3D7l


https://twitter.com/bigblueboo/status/935166326074732544

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RIEOOvcTFN0  Tony Fisher is bringing the Astrolabacus back.

Thursday, November 30, 2017

Strimko Book 1 $2.57


Did you download Strimko Gold when I told you? It's no longer available. However, you can now buy this very cool, colorful version of Sudoku from the famous Grabarchuk family. They're quite prolific when it comes to producing puzzles. See links below. For this volume the specific authors are: Helen, Tanya, Peter & Serhiy.

But let's talk about Strimko here. These puzzles are really not sudoku. They are actually a variation on the famous Latin Square where each row & column has the numbers 1 - whatever, depending on the grid size.  But each string must also contain the same sequence of numbers.

There are 150 puzzles and the grid sizes go up to 7x7.  They're fun!  My only qualm is that it's printed in black and white.  When the app existed, the colors enhanced the overall appearance.   And the Grabarchuks have assured me that the app will reappear soon.

Of the 150 puzzles, I've done about half of them.

https://www.amazon.com/Strimko-Book-Easy-Master-Puzzles/dp/1973162962/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510170615&sr=8-1&keywords=strimko

Other Grabarchuk Family Puzzle Apps
Fish Crackers
Sliding Tiles
icut
Puzzlium