Decoded: free iphone ipad puzzle app game

The object of Decoded is to convert the 4-digit number in the middle into binary. Convert each digit - one at a time. Strictly speaking, this is not a puzzle app, it's an exercise in thinking quickly. Take too much time and you lose!

Doodle Nums: free puzzle app for ipad, iphone, ipod touch

Doodle Nums is not really a puzzle, although there is a puzzle aspect to it. The object is to clear the board by tapping on pairs of numbers that are either identical or that add up to 10.

The tapped numbers must be adjacent with 2 exceptions. 1: if there is no number in between them, but they are spaced apart vertically or horizontally, that's okay. 2: The last number in a row matches the first number in the next row.

There is no scoring system. I believe that it is impossible to ever clear the board.

If you are able to clear the board, send me an image, and I'll send you a prize.

Boost 2 free iphone ipad game

Boost 2 Lite is the free version. The object is to tilt your device to stay on the white road. If your path turns blue, that's a warning that a blue obstacle is fast approaching.

Drag Bomb free puzzle app for iphone, ipad, ipod touch

Drag Bomb is another version of peg solitaire. It's a free puzzle app with lots of levels. However, the graphics are dark. And considering there is a 'bomb' element, perhaps the designer should have done something with the pegs that get jumped; they just disappear.

Jeff Scanlan New Impossible Bottle

I recently acquired this Impossible Bottle puzzle from Jeff Scanlan, who is also a magician who specializes in 'sports magic'. In fact, last month I was at the Magic Castle in Los Angeles and saw 2 of his other Impossible Bottle puzzles.

Impossible Bottles make you think: how was this done. The only way to retrieve the object inside is to break the bottle.

Visit Jeff Scanlan's magic webpage.

Visit Jeff Scanlan's Impossible Bottle webpage.

Primo Kakuro: puzzle app for iphone ipad ipod touch

In 1989, I discovered a puzzle called Cross Sums in the Dell Math and Logic Puzzles magazine. I was hooked! Since then, I've done thousands of them. Every couple of years, I'll get a batch of 50 to solve. When I'm done, I always say: that's the last one I'll ever do. I'm tired of them.

Last week I got an email from Kroyan Armen about his puzzle app called Primo Kakuro. (I should mention here, that Cross Sums got renamed as Kakuro about 8 years ago.) Primo Kakuro and Primo Kakuro HD contain a lot of these puzzles. The 'Evil' puzzles are definitely hard enough that I struggled.

Primo Kakuro has some interesting features. Suppose you tap on an empty cell. Outside the grid, if you want to look, is displayed the numeric possibilities for the empty cells on the row and column.

There are other bells and whistles. Discover them yourself. Download the free version of Primo Kakuro and take it out for a spin. The full version costs $3.99. That's cheaper than the Dell Magazine that I mentioned before. Also, you'll get more puzzles for your money.

I've always felt that Cross Sums/Kakuros should be done via paper and pencil. In my old age, I realize it's not a bad thing to do on a computer screen.

Shapzzle: free ipad ipod touch iphone puzzle app

Shapzzle is very similar to Flood It! The game starts with your man represented by the top leftmost corner tile. Absorb the surrounding tiles bit by bit by changing your color to match that.

What's different: try to make one specific color be the last one to be absorbed.

The graphics are definitely cool.

The Impossible Bottle Man: Jeff Scanlan

The November issue of Games Magazine is on the newsstands now. Read my 4-page article on magician Jeff Scanlan and his Impossible Bottles. Games Magazine cannot be viewed online. It can be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Target and miscellaneous magazine racks. Strangely, my local supermarket sells it. Unfortunately, they do not give me a discount.

Puzzle Brainiak: iphone ipad ipod touch free puzzle app

Puzzle Brainiak consists of 4 separate puzzles, none of them new.

Knight: switch all the blue pieces with all the orange pieces by only making knight-like moves. Grid sizes: 5x5, 7x7, 9x9

Slitherlink: Form 1 continuous path in the grid. Each number represents how many of the 4 sides - of that square - the link will pass through. I've never been a big fan of these, but the ones I solved previously had gigantic grid sizes. The starting grid size here is perfect: 4x4. They get bigger and change shapes to triangles and hexagons and honeycombs!

Untangle: lots of apps for this. The price is very nice here: free

Towers: I first saw this puzzle about 15 years ago. And I believe Popular Playthings has their own mechanical version of this called City Towers or something like that

NumDom: free iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

NumDom is a sudoku type puzzle app. You will notice colored numbers on the grid. The object is to have each number in each column and row. And each colored region must have each of the numbers.

Small grid sizes are 7x7. Large grid sizes are 9x9. This free puzzle app is very similar to Squiggly Sudoku. And I have to give a plug to websudoku.com For about $10 you can print or solve on your computer, about 1,000,000,000,000 other Squiggly Sudokus at all difficulty levels.

Tiny Invaders: iphone ipad puzzle app

Tiny Invaders is a puzzle app with a bizarre premise. You are an alien virus that must infect the world. There are many individual puzzles where the objective is to send your little viruses around twisted tracks to pick up key nutrients. To some extent, this is a shunting puzzle like having trains change directions by switching tracks. On some of the harder levels, your little viruses must avoid the white blood cells.

I've done about 3/4th of these puzzles. In terms of intellectual problem-solving, this is not very hard. In terms of play and fun, this is really kid stuff that is, frankly, amusing. The last person to be infected in this series of puzzles, is the president! Of course, all science fiction world calamities must be centered on the US - according to Hollywood. Isn't that what makes this country so great?

Amazing Tacoyaki: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Amazing Tacoyaki is a puzzle app very similar to Lights Out - a magnificent handheld electronic set of puzzles from Tiger Electronics.

We've seen many versions of Lights Out. Amazing Tacoyaki has grid sizes from 4x4 up to 8x8. Honestly, there's really nothing special about this puzzle app. Nevertheless, I thought I'd point out yet another version of Lights Out.

Geomelix: iphone ipad action puzzle

Geomelix is an action puzzle game. The object is to tap on the numbers in sequential order, starting with 1. Spin each Platonic solid to find the next number. Very slick graphics.

Geomelix can be played in 2 modes: play at your leisure or play with a time limit.

The first 3 platonic solids are free.

Keep the brain active, learn and play all types of puzzles all the time. Make it a lifetime habit and maybe, you'll ward off Alzheimer's.

Tripevo: great iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Tripevo is a great, fun, terrific puzzle app. It is hard to describe the objective. You are given tiles, one by one, to place anywhere on the board. As soon as the board if filled, you lose.

If 3 tiles in a row are the same, they turn into 1 tile of the next level. Altogether there are 14 level tiles, and I have gotten to the 14th level tile after a dozen attempts.

Also, there are 'negative' tiles, which I semi-understand. I've played the game about 20 times and did pay for the full version. Tripevo is a deep, complicated, fun puzzle app. You will not truly understand it unless you actually play it a few times. Do so! It is worth your time.

I have 1 minor problem with this puzzle.....too difficult to explain unless you've played it. This app is worthy of a fan club.

The CIA is looking for puzzlers!

Fellow Puzzlers,

believe it or not, the CIA is looking for puzzlers. That means you.

Click on the link to see 2 types of puzzles and then 10 reasons why you should join the CIA. I'm not telling you it's gonna 'be all that you can be.' (I think that's the army.)

Special thanks to our resident mole (puzzle spy chief and janitor) for the scoop.

Escape: The Room iphone ipad

Escape: The Room from Moco Games is very simple. Look at the 4 walls for clues to open the safe which contains the key to the door. Similar to Myst. The graphics are a bit primitive, but that's okay. The game-play and puzzles are clever and fun. Escape: The Room is a free app. You might be frustrated at first.....stick with it!

Quaz-X: iphone, ipad, ipod touch puzzle app

I looked at level 1 of Quaz-X and thought: Oh no, another one of these puzzle apps where I have to slide the vertical columns and horizontal rows to interchange the pieces to the correct positions. So I solved the first few levels easily.

Then things got more interesting. The gray circles with outer spokes are interesting. Look at the image above. If the top row slides to the right one notch, then gray circle will stay in place and the new configuration will be blue triangle, red triangle, green circle.

Notice the spokes on the corner circles: Suppose the left column moves up......the entire outer perimeter will shift in a clockwise direction.

I have solved 15 of the 16 levels. #16 is very difficult. It is similar to the mechanical puzzle Hungarian Rings.

Adrien Lefevre is the author of these puzzles. The Lite version of Quaz-x has levels: 1, 2, 3, 7. Try it, you'll like it!

Puzzle Master.......

The good people at .">Puzzle Master have reported a surge in sales for Lab Mice Puzzles. Must be the Christmas Rush.

Lab Mice Puzzles Volume 1


Lab Mice Puzzles Volume 2

Galaxy Express: puzzle app for ipad, iphone, ipod touch

Eli Cymet is the PR Director for Arctic Empire and he described Galaxy Express to me thusly: Galaxy Express, is a comedy-action-space-puzzler. Naturally I'm curious about the puzzler part.

Galaxy Express is a pure puzzle. Comedy-Action? After you solve a level, a short, juvenile dialog pops up. Cute, and appealing to teenage sci-fi nerds. Me, I'm a middle age nerd and skip to the puzzles.

The object: get your ship to the planet. Look at the grid: your ship will keep traveling until it hits a wall or asteroid. It will then turn starboard (to the right). Each puzzle comes with directional arrows for you to place on the board anywhere to change the trajectory of the ship.

Interesting elements: cannons that shoot at a constant rate; pirate ships that will turn port (to the left) when it hits a wall. Your ship will be destroyed if it collides with a pirate ship. There are 120 levels. Right now I'm on level 75. I've skipped about 10 of the levels.

Other elements: getting multiple ships to multiple planets (or a single planet), black holes which destroy your ship, and wormholes which magically transport your ship to a new location.

Galaxy Express is a fun, challenging, hard, great puzzle app. When you're done playing it, do try Witty Bump - another fabulous, under-appreciated puzzle app. Galaxy Express has a handy feature that allows the user to speed things up or slow things down. Witty Bump has 1 speed: super fast, which makes things hard.

Cubilus: iphone, ipad, ipod touch puzzle app

Cubilus is a tilt maze puzzle where the object is to get the moving pieces to all land on their targets. 15 levels are free. The graphics are neat. The challenges are good.

Users of Cubilus will certainly like Blockoban too.

7 Little Words: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

The folks at Blue Ox Technologies have created a great little word puzzle. Very similar to a crossword puzzle because of the clues. Tap on the 2 or 3 letter bites to form the correct answer.

7 Little Words comes with 30 sample puzzles. I've already paid and downloaded 2 of the level packs for .99 each. Each level pack comes with 50 puzzles.

7 Little Words is not what I normally play or review....but it's loads of fun and easily one of the best word puzzle apps around.

Note: if you know of other word puzzle apps that are great, let me know.

Ace Unblock: iphone ipad ipod touch puzzle app

Ace Unblock is another puzzle super similar to the magnificent puzzle app known as Rush Hour.

Ace Unblock was developed by Liying Liu. It has 4900 levels!

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.