Laser Logic: puzzle app for ipad, iphone, ipod touch

We've seen laser puzzles before. Laser Logic has the usual mirrors etc. There are 35 puzzle levels. I have done the first 6. At the App Store, 24 people have rated the game altogether. 17 of them are 1 star. Mainly because the ads pop up in the middle of the screen and cannot be moved.

Edge Match: puzzle app for iphone, ipad, ipod touch

I have never been a big fan of Edge-matching puzzles. However, this one has a certain charm about it and is perfect for beginners.

Grid sizes start at 2x2 and go up. Look at the second image. The left column: for these puzzles, the pieces are in the correct location, but need to be rotated - super easy.

The middle column: these pieces need to be moved to the correct spot.

Right column: these pieces need to be moved and rotated.

This a great puzzle app for kids who are developing spatial reasoning. It's fun!

Sundowner by Jos Bergmans

This web page is an incredible source for puzzle designs. Here's one that looks really easy to make. However it takes 7 moves to assemble.

If you do not have a workshop and want to buy finished products of puzzle designs, click here. They have just about everything under the sun.

Cubing: new verb from the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal seems to be keeping up with puzzlers in the news. Recently it featured Mark Setteducatti. Here's the latest:

Read about another Rubik's Cube contest and phenom Rowe Hessler: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904006104576502561845250964.html

Deadlocked: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

Deadlocked is a puzzle app from Arseniy Banayev. It's fabulous! The rules and objectives are not listed; the player will quickly discover them. There are only 24 levels, but, that's perfect for $.99 So far, I've played it for about 1.5 hours and am up to level 20. Though I did skip level 15. And I thought that level 12 was impossible.

Deadlocked could best be described as a sequential movement/maze puzzle.

Enjoy!

Deadlocked could have been made even harder.....but that's not necessary.

Blockado Desert: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

Blockado Desert is very similar to Rush Hour. Like its brother app - Blockado Jungle - there are certain enhancements: ice blocks that slide all the way, spring blocks that expand when space becomes free, bridge blocks and blocks connected with a rope that acts like a snake. I have solved all of the levels.

If you like Blockado Jungle, then is app is a must.

Also, if you want to create your own set of puzzles - you can do that, and then post them for other puzzlers to solve.

Blockado Mountain is another version......but I have not sampled that yet.

Qvoid: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

In the past, I have tried to like Rolling Block Mazes. But, honestly, they're not my favorite.

However Qvoid is a winner! The object: pick up the blue onto your white cube. Then roll around to match it to another blue spot on the grid. You may have to pick up a red, then blue to match a purple.

The graphics are phenomenal. Rotate the board at will. Fortunately, if you mistakenly roll your man off the grid, it forbids it and does not make you restart - unlike another rolling cube puzzle that is otherwise also pretty darn good.

The 96 puzzles themselves range from easy, to very difficult. Lots of innovative elements: a wormhole, rotating squares and squares that act as boats to other grid islands.

I have solved all 96 puzzles. There were 4 or 5 that I swore, were impossible. So, I give Qvoid a hearty 2 thumbs up. This is unquestionably one of the best puzzle apps of 2011.

Puzzle blog hiatus

Puzzlers: I am taking a break for the next week. I know some of you will be devastated. Just so you know, a week from today I will post information about a fabulous puzzle app that one of you alerted me about. In the meantime keep a stiff upper lip and be brave! Keep the fan email coming. I do read them all and respond to each one.

Monorail: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review Updated

Good news and bad news.

The good news is that Monorail has added more levels with hexagonal grids.

The bad news is that I had previously completed all 240 square grids before a small child - 2 years old - was playing with my ipod touch and casually tapped on the reset button - whiping out all that hard work/play.

Bulby iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app.

Bulby is one of those puzzles that require aligning the battery to the light bulb. Click on individual square and they will rotate in place.

Doodle Quadro: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

Doodle Quadro is fun! Look for any sized rectangle within the grid that has each corner the same color. The bigger the rectangle, the more points. A timer keeps the pressure on.

Things I'd like to change: the colors are difficult to distinguish. Better contrast would help. Also, when time expires, a valid rectangle that does have each corner the same color should flash to indicate that yes, it was possible.

Globs: iPhone iPad puzzle app

Globs is almost identical to Floodit and several other versions. The graphics are much cooler.

The game starts with the image on the left. You are the orange dot in the upper left corner. Click on the red circle at the bottom and you turn red and absorb any red dots adjacent to you.


This concept has been utilized many times, but it's still fun! Since it's free, give it a shot.

Vanish 10: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

Vanish 10 is perfect for kids. Tap on the numbers that add up to 10 - quickly! The easy grids require paired numbers. Other challenges require groups of 3 and 4.

Hey, it's free, so try it!

Dr Pantazis Houlis: puzzle inventor and friend

At last year's International Puzzle Party, held in Osaka, my friend Pantazis Houlis showed me his hypercube puzzle made of antennae. Read this article. He's about to make millions!

Doodle Breaker: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

About 15 years ago I was addicted to Blocks. At least that's what I think it was called. I've seen numerous versions of this. Doodle Breaker is a very charming version developed by Susanne Hofer.

Clear the board by tapping on tiles that have the same color and are adjacent. 2 tiles will score 1 point. 3 tiles will score 4 points. Obviously, it pays to get a giant cluster rather than dividing it into smaller clusters. There's a free version, so definitely download it and get re-addicted.

Full House: puzzle app for iphone, ipad, ipod touch Review

I received some 20 emails last night wondering why I did not post yesterday. Sorry kiddos, I had Federal Jury Duty.

Longtime followers know that I've been on a mission to complete all 403 levels of Mortal Coil. Right now, I'm at 306. Why am I mentioning this? Because there's a new puzzle app that's very similar: Full House by Charles Chapman.

There are only 54 levels, however, that's a manageable number to complete and still maintain ties to the outside. 2 very interesting features: a puzzle level can be solved using a 5x5 grid or a 6x6, 7x7 or 8x8. The solving pattern will be very similar.

Also, there is an auto element. Select the starting square, then tap in 1 direction. It will make all the 'must' moves for you. Note to Mortal Coil developers: definitely add that.

If there's 1 shortcoming about Full House: it's not possible to keep track of the puzzles solved. This is a must, so Mr Chapman, please add this.

$.99 is a darn good price!

Museum of Math!

Finally! The Museum of Math will open soon. My puzzle friend George Hart is one of the driving forces behind this. Look for my article about him in Games Magazine September 2009.

In the meantime, read about the museum at the NY Times.

Align It! iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

When I saw the icon for this puzzle app I thought: Oh no, not another puzzle where you slide the horizontal and vertical axes to align the columns.

I was wrong!

The object is to align the columns, but the mechanism for changing the tiles is completely different. Pay attention kiddies.

Tap on 2 adjacent tiles - then tap on two other adjacent tiles and they will swap. Note: each pair of tiles must come together to form a square or a single row or column.

Imagine 16 tiles are ordered like this:
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16

You can swap 1 and 2 with 3 and 4. Or 1 and 5 with 2 and 6. Or 1 and 5 with 6 and 2. This last swap is different from the previous swap because the 1 will go to the 6 place.

Align It! was invented by R.B. McKenzie. There is a free version, so definitely give it a shot!

100! iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

100! is very similar to The Knight's Tour. The object is to fill the grid with the numbers 1-100 following 2 rules. Moving horizontally or vertically: skip 2 squares. Moving diagonally, skip 1 square.

It took me forever to realize that you must start in one of the center squares. And the rules I just typed weren't written either!

Give it a try! Rudi Pio Loco Boscariol is the game designer.

God's Algorithm for Rubik's Cube

The number of permutations for Rubik's Cube is something like 4 quadrillion. And yet, back in the 80's, somebody proved that any position could be solved in 27 moves. That number has come down over the years. Now, it's 20. Read this article about higher order cubes.

Flip Them All: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

We've seen so many versions of Lights Out. Tiger Electronics sold 3 versions - all of them superb.

Flip Them All is a terrific version. The object is to turn the tiles from blue to orange. The green icon points up and down. Tap on it and it will reverse the color of itself and the ones above and below. The yellow changes itself and the ones on the right and left. The orange changes itself and the ones up and down. The blue dot changes itself only. The red square (not in the image above) changes itself and all the surrounding tiles - including the diagonals.

Down load this for free to solve 3x3, 4x4 and 5x5 grids. Neville Attard and Sven Neuman authored this fine puzzle app.

Blockshift: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Blockshift is a puzzle game where you score points by lining up 4 tiles in a row or column. Tap on the arrows to shift individual rows. Michael Webb is the author. He's also created a game called Stick Man Vs Zombies which sounds very appealing.

Blockshift is not a pure puzzle app. Good for kids!

Blockado Jungle: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

We have seen sooooo many versions of Rush Hour by Nob Yoshigahara and Harry Nelson. Almost all of them are, frankly, rip-offs.

Blockado Jungle is similar to Rush Hour, but it is refreshingly innovative! The object is to get the treasure chest out of the grid.

What's different?
1. On some puzzles, there are multiple treasure chests to move.
2. The grid size is not always 6x6 and the exits for the treasure chest vary!
3. Some pieces have bridges. Therefore, another piece can pass under it.
4. Some pieces have springs - these puzzles can be very challenging.
5. Make your own puzzles. Look at the second image, above. Users can create their own levels and upload them on to the website for others to download.

I have solved almost all of the puzzles. One of them: I'm convinced is impossible. It's one of the spring puzzles.

Daniel Matzke and his team have done a terrific job creating a fun, intelligent set of brain teasers. Now: let's hope the puzzle community steps up and creates their own set of hundreds more puzzles.

Bravo!

Fantastic Jigsaw Puzzles!

2 years ago I wrote an article for Games Magazine about Artifact Puzzles. Maya Gupta is the proprietor. I get the feeling it's a 1-man operation. The wood puzzles are laser cut and some of the pieces are funky!

Yesterday the UPS man delivered an unexpected parcel: a special 'no-picture-on-the-box' jigsaw. It came at 2:30 & I dropped everything & did it in about 2.5 hours. I know what you're thinking: jigsaws are not cerebral. Normally I focus strictly on the brain puzzles. However, Maya's jigsaws are just so much fun!

Confession: I bought 3 of these jigsaws to give to my siblings' families for Christmas but solved them myself first!

http://www.artifactpuzzles.com/

Oskar van Deventer's Over The Top 17x17x17 Cube Puzzle

There is a 4-page article describing Oskar van Deventer's Over The Top 17x17x17 Cube Puzzle in the September 2011 issue of Games Magazine. It is on the newsstands right now - for the next 2 weeks or so.

Games Magazine can be found at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Target and other stores that carry a lot of magazine titles.

Because I am the Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent for Games Magazine, I was assigned the task of covering this story.

Games Magazine has a minimal presence on the web: they don't post articles or puzzles and they often don't update it in a timely manner. Buy your copy today! Bring it to the next International Puzzle Party or New York Puzzle Party Symposium and get Oskar and myself to autograph it.

Crazy Circles: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

About 25 years ago, I found Doug Engle's Circle puzzles - flat versions of Rubik's Cube. I thought I understood the puzzles completely. Then Doug came out with puzzles where the orientation of each piece mattered. Click here for some examples.

Vishnu Chaitanya Pedasingu has now come out with a nice set of versions of these puzzles. Good interface. Try the free version.

Pet Jump: iphone ipad ipod touch solitaire puzzle app

Pet Jump is a solitaire peg jumping puzzle app. There are 3 different game boards. Notice the second image above. I think that's a unique board for this genre. However, I got stuck on the 6th or 7th level. I think that level was made incorrectly!

This is free! So give it a shot. Leo Guo is the app designer.

Hierogrid: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

Hierogrid is an interesting game/puzzle. Your man will travel along the grid in all directions gobbling up tiles. Step on a 4 tile and travel in that direction 4 times. The game ends when your man falls off the grid. Hierogrid is fun and there is a free version. I have not downloaded the full version, but I'm guessing that the user can replay a specific game and challenge yourself to get a higher score.

Make It So Studios made this. Go ahead and give it a try!

Mark Setteducati in the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal on Saturday had a nice article on my magic/puzzle friend Mark Setteducati.

Mortal Coil: the competition

When I first started playing Mortal Coil, practically nobody had played it. I started my quest to solve all 400 levels. A daunting task. A couple of days ago, I was #10 on the Leaderboard. Then suddenly.....I was #11. Somebody named Addjoe raced past me. But I caught up. Yesterday, he & I were neck and neck for about 2 hours. I decided to let him take the lead again - after all, I had to eat dinner.

Oh, right behind us is somebody named Cookie. And Prof Tangram is about 40 puzzles ahead of us. If I were betting $, I'd say he'll get to 400 first.

I'm not sure if I have the patience to solve all 400 levels. There are other types of puzzles to solve of course.

Here's the Leaderboard. Feel free to bookmark it to see my progress.

Unlock It: iphone ipad puzzle app Review

Christophe Burckbuchler is one of many people who have taken the concept of Rush Hour by Nob Yoshigahara and Harry Nelson to make their own puzzles.

What's most disturbing is that the grid sized is always 6x6 with the car being in the third row from the top.

Puzzle imitators: there is a question of ethics regarding whether one should imitate puzzles so closely. Please make a variation! How about a 7x7 grid? How about using a forklift that can shift a car in a parallel direction?

Pipe Pressure: iphone puzzle app

The object of Pipe Pressure: rotate individual tiles so the light source reaches the target number. We've seen many of these types of puzzles before, but this one requires that the objective be met within a certain number of moves. Usually pipe puzzles require all the pipes to be connected - not this game. It's free to download!

Benjamin Tang created Pipe Pressure in his spare time.

Continuity 2: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Continuity 2 is the sequel to the original game published about 2 years ago. That original game could only be played online. Truly fabulous.

The object is to get your man to pick up a key and then to a door. Slide your man within each frame. Zoom out to rearrange the order of each frame.

Continuity 2 has all new levels. You absolutely must download this.

http://www.continuitygame.com/

Ragtime Games consists of Elias Holmlid, Dmitri Kurteanu, Guy Lima Jr., and Stefan Mikaelsson. They reside in Gothenburg, Sweden and study at Chalmers University of Technology and Gothenburg University. This team produced a fun, great, simple, puzzle app.

Read my blog entry for January 4, 2010 when I reviewed the original game.

Mazzle: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Mazzle is similar to other puzzle apps. The object is to arrange all the colors into squares. This is done by shifting rows & columns.

There are 3 levels. The image above shows the medium & hard levels. Notice that each square is unique, so this is harder than the other versions.

Question: is it possible to exchange to adjacent squares?

Pipe Push: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

The object is to shift rows and columns so that the lines have proper end points. 9 levels. Not too hard. I spent maybe 15 minutes on this. It's free.

Wang Yujin created this puzzle app. I reviewed another of his puzzle apps called Untangle.

Binary Sudoku Puzzle iphone puzzle app

Binary Sudoku: the concept has been around for a while. Each grid uses only 0's & 1's. Each row & column must have an equal # of 0's & 1's. No row can be exactly the same as another row. Ditto for columns.

The free version has 15 puzzles. The paid version has 100 puzzles. I did 1 easy, 1 medium & 1 hard levels. Definitely a nice change of pace from regular sudoku.

DropZap 2: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

A while ago I reviewed a game/puzzle app called Drop 7. Amir Michail contacted me recently about his 2 versions of that called DropZap and DropZap 2.

The object is to remove the balls before they rise to the top. Sort of like tetris, but there is no time factor. To get balls to disappear, they must shrink down one size at a time. Also, you'll see chain reactions happening with a laser-like effect & mirrors.

Give it a test run!

Monorail: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app Review

About 2 months ago Glenn Iba sent me a promo code to play-test Monorail. Terrific stuff. Then I forgot about it. Now the real version is available. So I downloaded it. My progress on the puzzles from the demo version - gone.

But it's okay, because I spent about 2 hours doing these puzzles. There are 220 puzzles: yesterday I did about 100. The easy ones are fun! The hard ones are hard!

Oh yeah: the objective to to form one enclosed loop. Each dot must be connect to exactly 2 other dots.

What I especially like is that some lines are given: they are gray. The lines you draw are blue.

Monorail is truly addictive and more importantly fun.

Right now Monorail is free. Monorail was designed by Glenn Iba and Aaron Iba. Bravo guys!

Mortal Coil: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Puzzle Friends: you may have noticed that I've slowed down on posting reviews of puzzle apps. The truth of the matter: I've become a little too obsessed with Mortal Coil. I've solved 161 levels and have risen to #14 on the Leaderboard. Usually, when I start a puzzle I disable that functionality: who cares? But now, I care. My goal is to rise to position #13 by the end of the week. It's a silly endeavor. But this could be inscribed on my tombstone!

Head Spin: puzzle app

Head Spin has come out in more than one version. Simple concept: align the heads to be right up by shifting rows & columns. Tricky!

Parking ManiaS: puzzle app plagarism?

Parking ManiaS looks very similar to ThinkFun's Leapin' Lizards. Very suspicious.

Synchrony: time travel puzzle app

About 2 weeks ago I got this email from Haran Shivanan:

"Synchrony is a puzzle game involving time-travel.


As the protagonist, you have to travel backwards in time and work with past (and future) versions of your self in order to solve each level.
In each level, your objective is to reach the red flag.
You're given a fixed number of time capsules that allow you to go back in time to the beginning of the level, where you can see all your past selves in action.


You will have to work together with your past selves and manipulate objects in the level like switches and platforms in order to reach your goal.
Each level is progressively more difficult and introduces new concepts to be used. The levels also have additional milestones to be achieved that require a greater degree of planning, thought and skill.
Your ability to achieve these milestones determines your rating in each level."


Without a doubt there is no puzzle game like this. I have played & solved about 10 levels. Very interesting and strange. Definitely give it a try. There is a lite version to sample. Give it a go!

Lab Mice Puzzles: Award Winner!

http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=29225

The very wise judges at Parents' Choice have awarded Lab Mice Puzzles from Mindware.com a Silver Honor.

This humble Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent for Games Magazine is the author of those Lab Mice Puzzles. The fan mail from mothers & kids have been pouring in.

Attention all Android users......

Two things:

1. Solitaire Chess is now available for Android users.

2. Which leads me wondering: are there any puzzle apps that is available for Android and not for the iphone & ipad? Let me know!

Duality: iphone ipad maze puzzle app

Ajit Rao has come up with a challenging, fun, brilliant, original set of puzzles. The object: move the blue orb to the big blue dot. Note; the blue & red dots are linked. If the blue dot moves up, so does the red. To change the distance between the blue & red dots: move one of the dots next to one of the force fields.

There are 50 levels. I have solved 38 of them. Highly recommended. There is a free version called Duality Prime with 8 levels.