Thursday, July 25, 2019

Fit Maze by BIGFRAMES FREE

Fit Maze comes from BIGFRAMES. The object is to slide each tile to an exit in the correct order. 
This is an interesting game because each exit can only be used once.
The first thing to determine: which tile will use which exit.  This has to be done backwards because the last tile cannot move until all the other tiles have exited.  The penultimate tile cannot move until all the previous tiles have exited. You get the idea.

I've done 29 levels.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fit-maze/id1466923497

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Cham Blocks by Manolo Mazariegos FREE

Cham Blocks comes from Manolo Mazariegos. The object is for Cham to eat all the food. However, Cham can only eat food if he's wearing the same colored sock.
I'm surprised out how solid this game is.
1. There's a moves limit.
2. Blocks can be placed to hinder the bad guys.
3. Bombs cause havoc.
4. Teleports
5. Magnets stop your progress.
6. I haven't gotten to the slingshots yet

I've solved about 25 levels.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cham-blocks/id1469315385

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Logic Puzzle! by Artur Zhyvkovych FREE

Logic Puzzle! comes from Artur Zhyvkovych. The object is to get all the squares to be the same number.  

Your Man starts on the square that's outlined in black. Every time he steps on a block, it increases by 1.

This is not a hard game at all. But there's a time limit: how many can you solve without running out of time?  After each solve, a time bonus is awarded.

I've played this game once. I solved 47 grids.  There should be a leaderboard.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/logic-puzzle/id1469063440

Monday, July 22, 2019

Snake Hobble - Maze Way Out by Nguyen Kiem FREE

Snake Hobble - Maze Way Out by Nguyen Kiem. The object is to have your snake eat up all the white dots without crashing into its own tale. 
I did 11 levels. Lots of ads and strictly for kids.  Deleting it now.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/snake-hobble-maze-way-out/id1471775607

Friday, July 19, 2019

Chirp Books by Pubmark Inc. FREE

Chirp Books by Pubmark Inc. offers very good deals on popular audio books.  Much cheaper than Audible or Amazon.  Great for long car rides. But you must be able to connect your device to your car's radio via bluetooth.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/chirp-books/id1438652819

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Retro Island by Someshwara FREE

Retro Island comes from Someshwara. It's a dexterity game where the object is to move Your Man from the start to the end points without dying.
The World's Hardest Game is very similar, but better because the movement of Your Man could be done with the arrow keys on a keyboard.

I stopped at level 8.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retro-island/id1453961158

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Rotadoku by Harry Lyons FREE

Rotadoku comes from Harry Lyons. The object is to rotate the 4 rings to form a solved sudoku.

The easy levels are not so easy!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rotadoku/id1459439555

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Polygon Flips by Leonel R Robert


Leonel R Robert recently contacted me about his new puzzle app game: Polygon Flips. The object is to tap the space in between 2 polygons - make them flip and get the overall pattern to match the one in the upper right hand corner.
I wasn't able to download this on my ipad.  But did get it on my phone. (I generally don't play games on my phone because the screen is too small.

Polygon Flips has 33 levels and is actually a very cool little game.
Some thoughts:
1. Is it possible to get all the polygons correct except for 1?  Yes!  But what's the algorithm for fixing it? (I think I've got it.)
2. Level 9 has squares with triangles. How does that change the algorithm?

At the moment, I've only completed 10 levels!

Polygon Flips is quite a serious puzzle game.  The game that is most similar that comes to mind is turn, which came out last year.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/polygon-flips/id1465005140

Monday, July 15, 2019

100² Logic Games-More puzzles by Andrea Sabbatini

 If you only had time to download and play 1 game this year, 100² Logic Games-More puzzles  by Andrea Sabbatini  would probably be it. There are 50 new games and each one has 200 levels.
I really like the game called Planets (see first image.) Each row and column must have a sun and also a cloud to block the sun.  Of those 200 levels, I've solved about 75.

However: at least 10 levels of this game had multiple solutions. But the program only recognizes one.

This game is a nice variation on Akari from 2012.

Please read the comments section for a correction on my end.

Andrea: fantastic job!

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/100-logic-games-more-puzzles/id1460567629
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andreasabbatini.logicgames2tk
http://www.andreasabbatini.com/LogicGames.aspx

Also by Andrea:
Park Seasons
Hedgehog Gardens
Park Seasons

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

25 game by Bart Bonte FREE

25 game comes from Bart Bonte. I'm a big fan of his games.  This particular game is a point scoring game that is very similar to some other, more famous games.  Threes came out about 5 years ago. (It was immediately cloned and renamed as 2048 about a hundred times.)
Looking at the images if 25 game, I was prepared to hate it, for being another clone.  However, after playing it 6 or 7 times I love it.

The rules:
1. Combine two 1's to form a single 2.  Two 2's form a single 3. Etc.
2. You run out of room when the grid fills up.
3. After each swipe, in any direction, a new tile will emerge, either a 1 or a red tile.
4. Red tiles: this is what makes the game so unique because they're annoying, but also useful.
5. Red tiles will vanish when 3 are lined up.
6. Scoring: There is no significant reward for merging two 9's over two 5's.

Like the game Threes, there is an addictive quality.  My high score is 21,573. My highest tile was 11.  The game took just about an hour.

What could be better:
1. Threes has better graphics. The part I like most is the ability to swipe very slowly without making a commitment. This lets one see which tiles will merge.
2. There needs to be a leaderboard.  If my high score is not in the top 1%, then I'm going to continue to play. 

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/25-game/id847466186
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.air.A25

Other Bart Puzzles:
Factory Balls - excellent
Boo! - a mini sequel to Factory Balls
Blocky XMAS - fun and at times hard

Monday, July 1, 2019

Tap Low by Technossion FREE

Tap Low comes from Technossion. It's a 'think-fast' game.  The object is to tap on the lowest number within 3 seconds.  Keep doing it.

Obviously this game doesn't have much repeated fun value.  But it's worth playing a few times to keep the brain sharp.

The program is a bit clunky; a few times I had to repeatedly tap the lowest number for it to register.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tap-low/id1467855964