Innecto by 45RPM Software $2.99/Free

  

Pascal Harris recently contacted me about his puzzle app game Innecto. It's a pipe rotating puzzle app game.

  

We've seen this type of game numerous times.
What's different:
1. The power source - it can rotate. Usually, it's fixed in place.
2. There's a time limit and move limit.  For example, you have to solve the puzzle within 60 moves and within 2 minutes.
3. If you lose, a new level is generated randomly so you can't memorize anything.
4. Supposedly, something cool happens on levels 56 & 57.  But I didn't get that far.

My advice for this game - as well as many others - let players jump around. Puzzle Gamers don't have time to play everything, nor every level of every individual game.

The graphics are good.  And, there is a free version. If you've never played a pipe rotating game, give this a try.

https://www.45rpmsoftware.com/innecto.php
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/innecto/id1081381133?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/innecto-free/id1176669051?mt=8

Zquare by Nick Kotowski $1.99

  

I downloaded Zquare when it was free. But there is a lite version to try. I was immediately intrigued by the visuals. So what's going on?  All of the colored L's, T's and Plus signs: consider them just dots.

  

Look at the first image.  See the circles? Tap on them and the dots around it will rotate 90 degrees. The objective is to get each row to be one color.

We've seen puzzles like this in the past.

What's cool:
1. The higher levels have rectangular shapes, which obviously makes it harder.
2. I did the first dozen levels pretty quickly, but I've tackled this genre before so I knew how to approach it.
3. I skipped to 100 and really liked the strange shapes. But still solved it fairly quickly.
4. Then I jumped to 150: very tough!
5. Love the graphics.

http://www.zquare-game.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zquare/id1190127738?mt=8

Jelly Doods Puzzle by Ankit Kanjariya Free!

Jelly Doods Puzzle comes from Ankit Kanjariya. It's a 'slide the pieces until they stick' type puzzle app game.

There is a limit to the number of moves in order to get 3, 2 or 1 stars.

There are 50 levels and the difficulty is perfect. I've gotten stuck numerous times
The graphics are charming.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jelly-doods-puzzle/id1191333220?mt=8

Other Very Good Puzzles that have a sticky element (not quite the same though):

Denki Blocks I believe this was the original puzzle app that introduced this concept.
Tile'M All This version is crazy hard.
Jelly Slide
Blockoban - a must have
Impossibru'sBlockoban
Move on Green

Blocky Xmas

Jelbreak

Crosses Puzzles: Unlimited Domino Free!

  

Crosses Puzzles: Unlimited Domino comes from Yufeng Long. The object is to get all the crosses to become white. Each cross can be in 1 of 4 positions: Red (right), Green (down), Yellow (left) and White (up).

When a green cross becomes yellow, if it points to another cross on its left, then that cross will rotate too. Solving 1 cross can lead to the un-solving of its neighbors because there is often a chain reaction.

There's a lot to like about Crosses Puzzles: Unlimited Domino. The graphics are nice. The puzzles start out easy and gradually, I was able to come up with a system.  But then the harder questions made me rethink that. 

I especially like that there are only 60 levels.  Of those, I've done 29 and am stuck on 30.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crosses-puzzles-unlimited/id1094198433?mt=8

1 Minute Egg - Brutally Difficult! by Ken Watanabe Free

1 Minute Egg - Brutally Difficult! by Ken Watanabe is a dexterity puzzle.

The object is to keep your egg from falling off the edge.  I played this game twice for total of about 55 seconds.  That was enough for me.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1-minute-egg-brutally-difficult!/id1144809776?mt=8

Ken made another game called Solokus which I liked.

Boat Elimination by Shang Shi

 

Boat Elilmination from Shag Shi looks very similar to Levels - Addictive Puzzle Game.  

  

It's essentially a clone.  Here's the link: please click on it and write a review stating - 'this is a clone!'
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boat-elimination-fantastic/id1193118349?mt=8

New Cockroach Smasher by Nitin Chauhan Free

I've killed many cockroaches in my life.  But now I can say, virtually, that I've killed hundreds of them within 2 minutes.

Just out of curiosity, I later searched the App Store for cockroach and found at least 2 dozen other puzzles dealing with manual extermination. Some have images of individual fingers squishing all sorts of Blattodea.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/new-cockroach-smasher/id1195796063?mt=8

Asymmetric by Klemens Strasser $1.99

  

Asymmetric by Klemens Strasse is double maze puzzle. (There was once a puzzle app called Double Maze.)

  

The object is to get both Men to their respective destinations.

1. The black squares represent death, it sends that Man back to its starting point, but not the other Man.  Sometimes, you just have to let that happen.

2. Moving right or up on the Right Grid, does the opposite to the Left Grid.

Asymmetric is a seriously good maze puzzle app. Worth the money. I'm stuck on level 50 or so.


https://itunes.apple.com/at/app/asymmetric/id1020657631?mt=8

Spray Ball by Abel Galvan Clone!!

  

Spray Ball by Abel Galvan is an obvious clone of Factory Balls by Bart Bonte. Click here for that. Which is far superior.

Abel's individual puzzles may be different. But the entire overall theme is just too similar. At the very least, Abel should have acknowledged that this game is inspired by Bart's.

Alternatively Abel could have added new features. For example: a stencil that adds polka dots.

Below is the link to the clone.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spray-ball-train-your-brain!/id1191472850?mt=8

Solokus by Ken Watanabe Free

  

Solokus is a packing puzzle from Ken Watanabe.  The object is to fit all the blocks into the grid, obviously.

  

1. Some pieces can be rotated.
2. Some pieces can be rotated and flipped.
3. The most interesting rule is that when pieces are the same color, they must be connected at a corner. See 2nd image - reds and greens.

There are 120 free levels and I've done 109.  The 'advanced' puzzles are not free, but I haven't gotten to them yet. I honestly didn't think I'd like this game, but I do. I've spent 2-3 hours on this.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/solokus/id1180479583?mt=8

Word Sudoku by Charles Reinke Free

  

Word Sudoku comes from Charles Reinke. The game combines anagrams with sokoban.

  

The most interesting part of the game: where is the word going to be spelled in the grid?
500 levels - just too many for me to tackle.  I solved about 10 levels.

Charles also made the game Flip's Challenge.  I know that I played it, but never blogged about it. It's good too.
http://www.axialfrontier.com/wordsokoban
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/word-sokoban/id1193759708?mt=8

Galaxy Numbers Pro by Yoav Slimobich FREE

  

Yoav Slimobich recently contacted me about his puzzle app game Galaxy Numbers Pro. The object is to get groups of similar numbers together.

Each of the 129 levels has different objectives.  One might need to score three 3's or four 4's etc.

There are numerous features. Here's a few
1. Adjacent tiles can merge: 1 + 3 = 4
2. A minus tile can merge with another and subtract 1.
3. Periodically, a set of new tiles will emerge at the bottom. If the board fills up, you lose.
4. At the top, you will see some symbols.  Tapping on one of them will make that the next item to fall to the grid.
5. Like Candy Crush, there's a limited number of moves to solve each level, which makes it addictive because on those levels that you failed, you just needed 3 more moves!

Galaxy Numbers has a lot going for it: every level seems do-able, but will take some doing.  Nice graphics and the right amount of difficulty and strategy makes this game worth checking out.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/galaxy-numbers-pro/id1073469926?mt=8

New York Puzzle Party

The annual New York Puzzle Party will be Saturday February 18, 2017.

If you are interested in attending, please send me an email & I'll send more information.

Tiltspace by Logicnap Oy Free

  

Timo Jokitalo and Vesa Timonen are puzzle from Finland. I've known them over 10 years via the International Puzzle Party.  I am still going to be objective about their new game Tiltspace.

   

Tiltspace is a tilt maze puzzle app game. We've seen a bunch of these over the years (see links below). Balls travel all the way, until they hit a wall. The object is to get the colored balls to their respective holes.

Features include:
1. Gray balls. If they fall in the holes - you lose.
2. Worm holes. Some have as many as 3 wormholes at once.
3. Fences that can be unlocked if another ball lands at another key square. I've never seen this in a tilt maze game before.
4. Getting 3 stars for a level - use the minimum number of moves in the shortest time.

There are 100 levels and they get pretty hard. At the moment, I've done about 55 levels and am stuck because I didn't get 3 stars in all my levels. What I don't know is whether my solutions were done without using minimal moves or without minimal time.

Graphics are cool.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tiltspace/id1045464131?mt=8
http://tiltspacegame.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.logicnap.tiltspace_game&referrer=utm_source%3Dtiltspacegame%26utm_campaign%3Dbb

Other Tilt Maze Puzzle Apps
Monster Swipe
Exodus Free
Zuki's Quest
Squarescape - very polished
Woodhead - love the humor
Block Obox
Tip & Tumble
Clickmazes - not an app. Online puzzles.

Zenge by Michal Pawlowski Free

Zenge comes from Michal Pawlowski who came out with a very cool fun game last year called Blue Box X. (See link below.)

Zenge is a very charming little puzzle. The object is to slide the pieces - along the lines-  into the target area.

The pieces must go in a certain order to avoid collisions.  Some pieces must be flipped, rotated, shrunk, expanded and sent through portals.  The reward for each puzzle: a charming vision of another peaceful world.

There are 70 levels and I've completed about 60.  This is a good game, but not as good as Michal's other one.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zenge/id1068416637?mt=8

Blue Box X

Buckets: A Puzzle Journey by Jeffrey Quach Free!

  

Buckets: A Puzzle Journey by Jeffrey Quach is yet another in a series of very good point-scoring-puzzle apps.
The object is to slide the tiles row by row or column by column to line up the tiles to go into the buckets. After every move, a new tile is placed randomly. However, if you score points, no new tile is added.
There's no rush. Patience is critical. A single game could last a very long time.  My high score is 851, but it didn't make it onto the Leaderboard. But that's okay. I really like the graphics.

Definitely download this and get on the Leaderboard. There's a definite addictive feel to it.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/buckets-a-puzzle-journey/id1180455700?ls=1&mt=8
http://beanpolelabs.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AHqTGh4vaA

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
Merged!
Enso

Politaire

Treple

numDance

Black Boxes

o:anquan
Levels

Miscellaneous

Micron was missing in action from the App Store, but now it's back.  The hard levels are excellent. I posted a review in 2012.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apparitiongames.micron&hl=en
http://microngame.com/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/micron/id532916819

The making of Snakebird

The Never Ending Jigsaw Puzzle

Twin Beams will soon be delisted on the App Store. I played this game a lot back in 2012.
https://itunes.apple.com/app/twin-beams/id534199524?mt=8

Tower Locked by Miroslaw Zielinski Free

  

Tower Locked comes from Miroslaw Zielinski.  It's a math puzzle. The objective: delete some of the red circles so that numbers left in each row add up to the number matched on the sides.  Same with the columns.

I have no idea how many levels there are. But the grids go from 4x4 to at least 8x8. That's at level 8, which I did not solve.

The small grids are too easy. The perfect grids are 6x6 and 7x7.  But there's no way to select just those.
https://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/tower-locked/id1173339247?mt=8

The Lost City by Fire Maple Games $1.99

Are you a fan of Myst?  There's been a slew of similar games in recent years published on the App Store.  The Lost City is yet another one.  It's fine.

The most interesting feature in The Lost City, is that there are 4 seasons that must be activated. Which means that if you want to open the treasure chest, it will have to be done in the correct season.

Fortunately, like Blackthorn Castle (link below) there's a map that will speed up your travels if you forget where the cave is. Hints are available too.

Where the game loses its appeal is that there's no plot.  After solving 1 puzzle, something slid open and revealed.....a hammer.  Of course the hammer is needed to smash open something else.  But seriously, I would have used a big rock.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-lost-city/id414835676?mt=8

Similar Games
Blackthorn Castle
Spooky Manor
Mystery Lighthouse short and fun. Play this game first.
Mystery Lighthouse 2
Dreams of Spirit: Fire Gate
Lost Souls: Enchanted Paintings