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Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Folding Blocks by Popcore GmbH FREE

Folding Blocks comes from Popcore GmbH. The object is to unfold individual squares to form rectangles to eventually completely cover the grid.  It's not hard.  I've done about 30 levels out of 200. 
This game is reminiscent of Rect Pushers from 2015. If you find this game too easy, try Rect Pushers. Similar concept but more sophisticated game mechanics.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/folding-blocks/id1459650728?mt=8

Monday, April 29, 2019

Flow Fit - Word Puzzle by Big Duck Games LLC FREE

Flow Fit - Word Puzzle comes from Big Duck Games LLC, the makers of the famous Flow series.
Their new game is fitting word fragments together.

The graphics are great.  The puzzle sets have themes.  I've solved about 50 levels in the easy, medium & hard modes.

A lot of puzzles are free. But the ones to purchase: too pricey.  There should be just one price, say $5.

Many of the puzzles have been created by various accomplished wordsmiths.  I like that the individuals are named.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flow-fit-word-puzzle/id1411086150?mt=8

Friday, April 26, 2019

Ten Buttons by Gamezaur Free

 Ten Buttons comes from Gamezaur.  It's a point-scoring puzzle app game.  Do you know the game Othello? White pieces are flipped to black if a new white piece is placed and it sandwiches those white pieces with a pre-existing white piece along another row/column/diagonal.
That's the idea here. However, your task is to move a pre-existing piece to an empty space and create 10 of 1 color.  When that happens, scissors appear to remove them.

The game ends when you've run out of room.

I've played this game just once. Took a while. My score was somewhere around 500.
https://itunes.apple.com/pl/app/id1439778900

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Sync Maze by Hangzhou Qingguang Network Co., Ltd. FREE

Sync Maze comes from Hangzhou Qingguang Network Co., Ltd. The object is to get Your Man/Men to their targets.  All tiles slide together as far as possible. 
I cruised through the first 30 levels very rapidly.  The next 30 too more effort and I did not get 3 stars for each level.

Altogether there are 240 levels. Which is 140 more than ideal.

Sync Maze has very good graphics and is a pure puzzle.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sync-maze/id1459596658?mt=8

Monday, April 22, 2019

Math | Riddles and Puzzles by Saltuk Emre Gul

Math | Riddles and Puzzles comes from Saltuk Emre Gul. There are 60 levels of finding math patterns and sequences.  

At the moment, I'm stuck on level 30 which reads as follows:
126 = 76
132 = 32
208 = 58
261 = ?

Never mind, I just got it.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/math-riddles-and-puzzles/id1455734504?mt=8

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Pinball Color by Spaceloom Studios AB FREE

Pinball Color comes from Spaceloom Studios AB.  There are some 50 levels with all sorts of objectives.
I spent forever on level 23 and watched in disbelief that my solutions were not working.  Until, it magically worked. 

At the moment, I'm stuck on level 34, which is the second image.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pinball-color/id1457824267?mt=8

Other Pinball Apps
Pinball Sniper
Pinout!
Pinball Star
Pinball Breaker

Monday, April 15, 2019

Orixo by Logisk Studio Inc. FREE

Orixo comes from Logisk Studio Inc.  The object is to cover the entire grid by swiping the numbered tiles in any direction.
Do you remember Zhed from 2 years ago? It's similar, but not quite the same thing.

There are 160 levels and at the moment, I've solved about 110.  This game is highly polished, fun and not too hard.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/orixo/id1449230416?mt=8

Friday, April 12, 2019

Topsoil by Nico Prins FREE

 Topsoil comes from Nico Prins. Technically, it's another 'match-3' puzzle.  But it's far more sophisticated.  Your task is to place 3 plants on the grid, and then do some harvesting (scoring points).
Harvesting
1. A single square can be harvested.
2. Better to harvest a group of plants - provided their base is the same: either blue, green or yellow.
3. Suppose you have 4 fuzzy balls connected, but only 2 have a green base and the other 2 have a blue base.  You only can collect 2.
4. After harvesting, a green base will become blue, blue becomes yellow and yellow becomes green.
5. There's an important multiplier factor.  Which essentially gives this game a gambling element. Should I collect my 5 wheat now, or hope for more?
6. The Big T's (not shown in the images) will whither and blow away after 3 rounds. Of course, there are times when they must be harvested.

My thoughts
1. The key to getting a high score is to not gamble! 
2. When the T's start coming, that's when it's safe to gamble.
3. If you play the game a lot, birds will be added to your crops and those birds will increase your harvest points.  Theoretically, this is a great.  However, I've played this game a lot!  And I still have not earned the right to get birds in my pine trees. I'll need another month to earn birds for my oaks.

This game cannot be played quickly. Reminds me a bit of Bee Cells.

There's a $3.99 fee to remove ads. 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/topsoil/id1104709870?mt=8

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Knight's Tour Puzzle by Carlos Magan FREE

Knight's Tour Puzzle comes from Carlos Magan.  The object is to place your knight on the board and move to all the squares exactly once.  Carlos has done a great job of introducing interesting shapes.
A true story: 30 years ago I was sitting in a pointless grad school class. The fellow next to me introduced this puzzle to me. The 5x5 grid.  Loved it.  The class seats were arranged in an open rectangle.  I always waited for the professor to sit first. Then I would sit on the same side, as far away as possible.  The class was stupid and pointless! But required. (Like a lot of education courses unfortunately)  I attended every class for 14 weeks. And did these Knight's Tour puzzles.  I solved all the grids from 5x5 to 15x15.  And proved that all nxn where n>4 is possible.

I wrote 2 papers and got a B+.

There's more to the story of how bad that professor was. You'll have to ask me in person for the rest. But don't we all have stories of boring/meaningless classes?
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/knights-tour-puzzle/id1454835958?mt=8

Friday, April 5, 2019

SudoCubed by Highway North Interactive Inc. FREE/$.99

SudoCubed comes from Highway North Interactive Inc.

Edges are matched from adjacent faces.

I only did the 1 free level.  What I like: there's a button that will highlight all the mistakes.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sudocubed/id1450212225?mt=8

Other Innovative Sudoku Puzzle Apps
Kropk'i Sudoku  This is really a Latin Square with a couple of innovative ideas. It plays fast.
Quindoku Same as Logi5Puzz
Logi5Puzz  Same as NumDom. But NumDom has larger grid sizes.
Spindoku is totally different, but still very cool.
Hi-Lo Sudoku is one of my favorite variations.
Cryptdoku I played it so long ago, but it's cool. Long gone from the App Store.
Stimko Gold - outstanding version of squiggly Sudoku.  Handcrafted puzzles.
Kakooma - interesting for about 3 levels
RollDoku - never even solved 1 level, so hard
Cohabit- played this on my ipod touch - before ipad was invented
FlowDoKu - one of my favorites. Will not delete this.
Sudoku Mine combines Sudoku with Minesweeper
Sudoku Killer  combines Sudoku with Kakuro. I've spent a lot of time on this one. I can do the easy levels in about 10 minutes.
3Doku - a cubic version of Sudoku
Pokergreen Puzzles - a poker version of Sudoku
Star Sudoku
Sudoku Maze
Sudoku Spin
Sudoku Sweeper

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Split Puzzle by Feng Gao FREE

Split Puzzle comes from Feng Gao. The object is to split the yellow shape into 2 or 3 pieces that will then fit perfectly onto the dark shape above.

Rules:
1. Shapes can never have less than 2 units.
2. What's never clear: is how many divisions are allowed for each puzzle. Sometimes it's 2 or 3.
3.  If the dark shape has 2 squares with 2 white lines: that means the shapes that fit over them must have the same # of units.
4.  If the dark shape has 2 squares with 3 white lines: the shapes that fit over them must be identical.

There are over 100 levels.  I stopped at level 43 because there was clearly a glitch in the program. I tried to contact the developer, but was unable. So I did the next best thing and reported this glitch in the review section on the App Store.

This game is quite good!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/split-puzzle/id1412730729?mt=8

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Across: Word Puzzle Game by Victor Grachev

 Across: Word Puzzle Game comes from Victor Grachev. The objective is to connect the fragments to form words that fit together.
 The words are tied together along a central theme.
At first I thought this was too easy. It does get tricky.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/across-word-puzzle-game/id1456390145?mt=8

Monday, April 1, 2019

Colour Chess by Mipmap FREE

Colour Chess comes from Mipmap.  From the App Store: A colourful reimagining of traditional Chess, this is the mobile version of the award-winning and Mensa-nominated tabletop game Colour Chess.

It focuses on skill and creativity rather than studying set openings, as you use the colours to force and trap your opponent with a game that is different every time.

Simple to learn for beginners, yet strategically deep enough for Masters. 
I have not play tested this game.  But I find this game intriguing.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colour-chess/id1390227327?mt=8