Update of Snake Slider: puzzle app for iphone, ipad

Bas de Reuver recently contacted me about an update to his puzzle app: Snake Slider. He's got 25 more levels.

I've solved 23 of them. Those last 2 are killing me.

7/14/12 Update: I solved the last 2 levels. Oh yeah!

Number Zone: free puzzle app for iphone, ipad

The object of Number Zone is to fill the grid completely with groups of colored circles. Look at the 2: that group will consist of 2 circles, while the 8 will yield in a group of 8 different colored circles.

Number Zone is not terribly hard. Grid sizes are 4x4, 5x5 and 6x6.  I noticed that my standing on the Leader Board was low. So I kept playing the easy levels to advance and that's when I discovered that the game keeps repeating the same puzzle levels. Ugh.

Still, it's free and it's fun. But it won't make the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

Rubricks: free iphone ipad puzzle app

The title alone makes this puzzle app worthy of my attention. Worthy of your attention? That's another story.

Blocks come down in rows all at once - actually quite slowly - and you have to line up same colored blocks with opposite arrows to eliminate them.

I could describe 5 reasons why this game is awful. But I'd rather not spend any more time on this.

Micron: puzzle app for iphone, ipad Review

Micron is a mirror-maze puzzle app which requires an element of timing. Bullets are shot from the starting point. In the case above that starting point is the blue mark on the extreme left. The target is the grey target on the extreme right.

To open the blue gate on the right, one of the bullets must hit the blue mark at the bottom right corner first.

 Notice the colored lines? A red bullet can go through a red line and continue onward. The red bullet will cease to exist if it hits the orange line.

Look at Level 24. 1 mirror is tilted, the other is vertical. I don't think I've seen that element in mirror mazes before.

 Wormholes are also used.

Micron has 51 levels. I have solved them all! They start easy, and get, seemingly, impossible. I found an alternate solution to level 40 that does not utilize all of the mirrors. Tom Voros, the author, has since fixed that in the latest upgrade.


Micron has old-school 1980's graphics. But that's okay. It's the challenge and fun of the puzzles that propels it into the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

Bravo Tom Voros!

World's Hardest Sudoku?

Arto Inkala has spent months making this puzzle. 11 stars. Nobody has solved it.

Cast Key: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the Week Review

Click here for the solution.

This is not the hardest puzzle in the world. But it's one of the most charming.

The object is to separate the two keys. If you like the Cast Bike puzzle, you'll like this too.

Perfect Tiling: puzzle app for iphone, ipad

Eric Paquet recently contacted me about his new puzzle app: Perfect Tiling. It's his first puzzle app.

The diagram above pretty much sums up what this puzzle is all about. Fit the pieces into the blue square above.

There are 10 different grid layouts.  One is a cross.  Within each of those 10 grids there is an infinite number of puzzles.

The puzzles are not easy to solve. Fortunately, you can get a hint in the form of 1 puzzle piece being placed in the correct position. I have solved 1 puzzle in each category.

 It's a bit like the recently reviewed Fish Crackers. If you like that, then definitely give Perfect Tiling a try.

PushPop

Pushpop is a solitaire version which is similar to Crazy Eights and Uno.

Tap on any card at the top of a column. The next card must match the number or color. Try to get all the cards off the grid. Not terribly hard. Also, I'm pretty sure there are multiple solutions.

This is good fun for kids. 

I would like the graphics to move faster. T

Twin Beams: iphone ipad puzzle app Review

The object of Twin Beams: plant 2 trees in every park so that each row and column has exactly two trees.  Also, two trees cannot be adjacent to each other – vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

I've seen this type of puzzle before.  Most recently in '63 Logic Games' which is another puzzle app. They call that game Parks.

Nicola Salmoria contacted me recently about his new app Twin Beams with a really long explanation of everything: how much time he put into it, how he borrowed the concept etc.

Bottom Line: there are 10,000 levels: 2500 at each level.  The easy levels are easy. However, I couldn't stop playing them. My objective was to solve each in less than a minute. The addiction has set in, it's real.  My newest goal is to solve each medium puzzle under 2 minutes - but I'm not quite there yet.

The one qualm I have with Twin Beams is that the user can skip a puzzle, but not return to it very easily. I think you have to cycle through the remaining 2500 at that difficulty level.

 Look at the Statistics! This is the first puzzle I've seen that records how much time the user has actually played the puzzle.  Myself: I've played the puzzle for 9 hours and 41 minutes - so far. I expect to get at least another 50 hours of entertainment. Not bad for a couple of bucks.

Twin Beams absolutely joins the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

Great job Nicola!

Cast Bike: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the Week Review

Click here for the solution. 

Cast Bike is part of the Hanayama collection. The object is to get the ring off the bike.

In terms of difficulty, this one is pretty easy. But there is a certain element that is so appealing. I won't give it away.

Also, the metal itself is really nice to have in the hands.

If you don't have this, add it to your collection.

BlockUnBlock: another ripoff of Rush Hour

I've lost count of the number of total ripoffs of Rush Hour. This is the worst. Why? Because it comes with just 27 levels.

Skip this crap and look for Blockado. It's a set of 4 puzzle apps that have some clever innovations to the Rush Hour theme.

NineOut: an update

I've written before about NineOut which is a point scoring puzzle app. I am now the all-time high scorer at 97,000 points. Oh yeah! I'll be famous.

Here's the note I got from the developer:

Incredible… here, take the gold medal. But be prepared, i want to get her back :-D

Congratulations and best wishes from switzerland

Sandro

Kaleido 10: free puzzle app for iphone, ipad

The object of Kaleido 10 is to score points by finding 3 or more tiles whose sum is 10. When that happens, the tiles above fall down. Also, the surrounding odd tiles will decrease by 1

Some tiles are greater than 10 though! Double tap on them if they're even and they are divided by 2. 

Kaleido 10 has the potential to be a really fun puzzle. However, there are too many tiles greater than 10.

A better game is NineOut.

Clickmazes Boxup: puzzle app for iphone, ipad

The object of Clickmazes Boxup is to push the red C into the blue C. Think of it as a kind of sokoban.

Years ago I became a huge fan of Andrea Gilbert's website clickmazes.com.

One of my favorite puzzles was Boxup. It only had 12 levels. But I'm sure I solved them several times each.

Now, finally, Boxup is available with 110 levels. They are classified as: Trainee, Speedy, Quirky, Sneaky, Nasty and Beastly. I have solved all of the Trainee to Nasty levels.  Of the 20 Beastly levels, I've done 3 of them.

This is excellent fun. Well worth the money. Clickmazes Boxup easily makes its way onto the List of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

Fish Crackers: puzzle app for iphone, ipad

Fish Crackers is another puzzle app from the prolific Grabarchuk Family.  The object is to assemble the tiles into each frame.  There are 100 puzzle levels.  I have to admit: I'm not a big fan of these types of puzzles. Nevertheless, this is a fine set of puzzles. I know that my 7th & 8th grade students would like this.

Without a doubt, you should also try their other puzzle  Sliding Tiles.

Strimko is another terrific puzzle app of theirs.

Cast Elk: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the Week Review

Cast Elk was one of many puzzles designed by Nob Yoshigahara.   The object is to take the 2 antlers apart.



When you solve it, it seems quite simple.  Then try again a week later and it's not easy any more!  Very inexpensive at $13.  Click here for the solution. 

 I knew Nob casually via the International Puzzle Party. He was quite a character. He performed a magic trick at one of our banquets. The trick involved giant cards placed in envelopes. He never touched anything. In the middle of the trick, he told me how simple the trick was. I don't think anybody figured it out.
 

Moskeez: free puzzle app for iphone, ipad

The object of Moskeez is to match numbered tiles. Two 1's will form one two.  Then two 2's will form one 3. The tiles must be aligned horizontally or vertically. The number of spaces between the tiles is irrelevant.

Keep doing this until only one tile remains.

The Lite version comes with 60 puzzles. I solved them all in about 1 hour. Moskeez reminds me of Lunar Lockout, Fling, and Monster Joe with a numerical element.

You should definitely download Moskeez. It's fun! I will certainly buy the level packs.

Cargo-Bot: puzzle app for iphone, ipad Review

Cargo-Bot is a programming puzzle. Your task is to pick up the colored crates and re-stack them. More than one of my 'followers' has pointed this out to me. I've solved 18 of the levels. My solutions were not efficient and I got mostly 1 star each time. I like Cargo-Bot, but I'm not feeling the addiction.

Lab Mice Puzzles: Award winner!

So many people have sent me emails saying how much they & their kids enjoyed Lab Mice Puzzles. Thank you!

 Click here to read about the Silver Award from Parents Choice.

Tripevo: Awesome puzzle app

I have posted 2 or 3 entries about Tripevo. Today I set a new record for the highest score in Tripevo history at 3.3 million.  If you break my record, I will send you a prize.

2Fuse

2Fuse is a point scoring app. You are given 60 seconds total.  Tap on two red 1's and they turn into a single red 2.  Then tap on two red 2's and turn them into a single red star. Then tap on two red stars. The blues are the same.


 Think fast, tap faster. Not a great puzzle app, but it's free and fun.

Biggest Number: truly dumb puzzle app

I don't know why, but Biggest Number is listed as a free 'puzzle' app. This app is beyond stupid. The object: click start and watch your score increase by 4 every two seconds.  Just watch the number rise. And when you're totally bored (after 10 seconds or 3 days) post your number on Facebook.

Oh yeah, you can buy the upgrade where your number will rise at 10 times the rate, or 100 times the rate or even 1000 times the rate. This could be the stupidest 'puzzle' app of all time.

Bounzzle: free puzzle app for iphone and ipad Review

Bounzzle is a jigsaw puzzle where a ball is constantly bouncing/moving and you have to figure out where the pieces go. The grid size is always 4x4. I've done all 16 levels. It's good. And it's free.

For my money, I'd also go with Jigglesaw which has different themes and bigger grid sizes.

Cast Key II: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the Week Review

Click here for the solution. The original Cast Key is quite nice. This version is completely different. It's not hard, but it's good for guests, and non-puzzle friends. Reminder: these Hanayama puzzles are all inexpensive and very good quality. Buy multiple copies and give them as gifts.

Mind Game: free puzzle app for iphone ipad

Mind Game is an edge matching game with hexagons. We've seen this type of puzzle many times in the past. This particular version is a bit skimpy on the graphics. If you're looking for a sleek mechanical version, check out Zoki. Not sure if they're still in business though. Also, check out Hexchange: a much better, very similar puzzle app.

Numbercross: free ipone ipad puzzle app

Numbercross is a free puzzle app fro the iphone, ipad. The goal is to get the correct number to the top of the grid. 1 can swap with 2. 2 can swap with 1 or 3. 3 can swap with 2 or 4. Get the idea?

There are 38 levels. I've done them all. It's fun!

Swtich Candy: free puzzle app for iphone, ipad Review

Switch Candy is a Lights-Out type game. Try to get the whole board to be one color. Tapping on 1 cell switches that tile and the surrounding cells. We've seen this type of puzzle many times before. The graphics are okay. But I'm not feeling the addiction.

Touch To Push: puzzle app for iphone & ipad

Ivan Vassilev recently contacted me about his new puzzle app Touch To Push. The object is to get the red circle to the red ring. How: touch on an empty cell, and all the colored tiles will slide away as far as possible. There are 400 levels. I did the first 50 and the last 50. Touch To Push is a very respectable puzzle app, but I'm not feeling the addiction. I prefer Ivan's other puzzle app: tJam, which is almost a masterpiece.

Cast Medal: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the week: Review

Click here for the solution. I first got this puzzle 7 or 8 years ago at the International Puzzle Party. It was designed by James Dalgety. The title was something different. Something like St. Mungo's Fish. At the time, I think I paid $30 or $35. This version is cast by the great Hanayama puzzle company and costs about $13. Why did I pay so much!?

Magic Bricks: update of this puzzle app for iphone and ipad

Scroll down a couple of weeks to see my review of Magic Bricks. I had gotten up to level 80 and then suddenly - all my progress was lost. Most of it anyway. The program indicated that I had only solved 40 levels. Needless to say, I was shocked and outraged. I thought about writing to the developer to complain. Then I realized how sad and pathetic that would sound. Right now, everything seems to be okay. My progress has been mysteriously restored and I completed levels 96 & 97.

Relix 2: puzzle app for iphone ipad Review

Relix 2 is the sequel to Relix. The object is the same: slide the tiles to get 3 in a row and make them disappear. Relix 2 has 40 levels. And they're quite challenging. Right now I've solved 29 of the levels. There is a bonus round of puzzle levels from Glenn Iba. He created Monorail, which is another puzzle app that I really like. There is no way that anybody is going to solve both level packs in less than 5 hours. Very challenging, lots of fun.

PathLink: free puzzle app for iphone ipad

PathLink is a topology maze type puzzle. Start at the star, and then cover all the squares moving horizontally and vertically. Look at the yellow area: do you see the two 2's? That means that those squares will be traversed twice each. There are 35 free levels. I've done them all - they're fun. After that, there are 80 paid levels. I'd like to remind you that an excellent version of this type of puzzle is Numeric Paranoia.

Square Time: free puzzle app for iphone ipad Review

Square Time is another topology puzzle. The object is to tap on the squares so that they all form one continuous string. You must start on one of the yellow squares. A red cube means that you're not going to include that space. There are 61 levels. I've solved them all. I'm not crazy about the graphics on this. I'd recommend Numeric Paranoia first.

Jigglesaw: puzzle app for iphone, ipad

Matthew Hille recently contacted me about his new jigsaw puzzle app: Jigglesaw. The picture is constantly moving. Matthew says that they start to get hard at level 30 and that after level 60 they get really hard! So far I've done just about 60 levels. Yes, they're getting hard. Definitely fun.

Update (June 19, 2012): I've solved all 70 puzzles.  Never did I think that I would have so much fun with a jigsaw puzzle app.

There 4 basic themes in the puzzles: moving footprints; bouncing balls, squares and ladybugs; and seeds that sprout into flowers. The grid sizes get larger, which makes it harder. Now I think I'd like to see more themes.

Now I want more puzzle levels!

Cast Dolce: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the Week Review

Click here for the solution. Cast Dolce is this week's Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the week. The object is to take apart the male & female symbols. I have no idea about the origins of these symbols. But I can tell you that the solution involves 4 or 5 steps. This type of disentanglement puzzle is more pleasant than the string and ring puzzles. Great price!

NineOut: point-scoring puzzle app for iphone ipad

Sandro Baggattini from Zurich, Switzerland recently contacted me about his point-scoring puzzle app: NineOut. 1. The object is to place tiles from the bottom of the board so that: the surrounding 8 squares will add up to that #. Look at the diagram and place a 7 next to the 5 & 2. The 5 & 2 will disappear and the 7 will stay on the board. In order to really clear the board, you will need to get a whole lot of 9's to pop up. A 9 next to a 7 & 2 and they ALL disappear. I was stuck on level 1 because I did not see this explained in the rules: The gray squares have to be flipped over with a 9 next to them. Then they have to be vanished with another 9. When I first saw the video of this puzzle app, I was skeptical. Big deal, I thought. Then I played it & realized there was a time element. NineOut is a terrific little puzzle app that's a keeper! So far my top score is 62,200 which places me 3rd in the World Leaderboard. My mother is very proud. View this video of how to play.

Lab Mice Puzzles: huge best seller for Mindware.com

Major thanks to everybody who is buying Lab Mice Puzzles from Mindware.com. If you decide to buy more copies to give as gifts to nieces/nephews/grandchildren, please do it at night. I like the idea of making money while I sleep. CLICK HERE.

Puzzle Bonsai: puzzle app for iphone, ipad Review

Kimmo Lahtinen recently contacted me about his new puzzle app Puzzle Bonsai. There are 3 versions of games here. The Numbers version: place the plus, minus, multiplication and division signs onto the orange circles to create an 'Order of Operations' equation that will equal the number at the trunk. The Word version is basically the same. Operations for this: 'swap left with right' and 'un-anagram'. While you're thinking, the tree sways gently back and forth and in the background are some Chinese characters midst a village scene. Quite nice artwork. It's a very serene atmosphere that contrasts radically from another puzzle app I'm playing now that has a frantic time element.

iBall 38: puzzle app for iphone, ipad Review

iBall 38 is the virtual model for a puzzle that was known as Mozaika invented by Rudolf Destics. I bought Mozaika from Mr. Destics about 15 years ago. He sold it in various color schemes. You could get it half red, half blue. Or you could get it in 4 colors or 8 colors. This virtual edition comes in 4 colors. It's hard! The graphics and user interface are quite good. Scroll down to find 2 more puzzles by Dumitru Ban - posted in the last 3 weeks: iGlobe 38 and iDomino 18.

Cast Square: Hanayama Mechanical Puzzle of the Week

Cast Square is a terrific little puzzle at a terrific little price. The object is to take it apart, then reassemble. What's great about this puzzle is that it's virtually indestructible. Your non-puzzle friends and nieces & nephews won't be able to break it. Full disclosure: Vesa Timonen is my puzzle friend from Finland and he designed it. Here's the link.

Skyline Shadow: free iphone ipad puzzle app Review

Look at the icon to the right - cool and elegant. So I downloaded it. There are 15 puzzle levels. The object is to swap the gray bars with each other so they match the green bars above the reflecting line.

I've solved all 15 levels in about 15 minutes. Strictly for kids. Still, love that art work.