Words N-Puzzle: puzzle game for iphone, ipad

Rogelia Garcia recently contacted me about his new puzzle game app: Words N-Puzzle.

You are given a grid of lettered tiles with 1 blank space.  Arrange the tiles to form words horizontally.

The game can be played in English, Spanish, German and French.

You can play by yourself, or you can play against a friend.

Jelly Blocks: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Jelly Blocks comes from Michael Le.  It's a bit like sokoban: move the objects so that all the blue squares connect. Then do the same for the other colors.

All the shapes move simultaneously, one step at a time.  The black shapes never move. The purple shapes have to be pushed by another piece.

There are 96 levels and most of them have multiple solutions.  That's okay. Some of them will get you thinking.  I've solved all of them.  I'm hoping that Michael or another puzzle app designer will produce more levels.

Bottom Line: Jelly Blocks is a free fun puzzle game app - absolutely worthy of your time.

Jelly Blocks came out in 2008, however, since I only just discovered it, it qualifies for the List of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013.

Reball: free puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Michael Barlow and Konstantin Kolobov recently contacted me about their puzzle app game Reball.  The object is to slide balls to form a line of 3 or more to make them disappear.  The final object is to remove all the balls from the screen where each move leads to a line that eliminates some balls.

The first 10 levels are free.  After that, there are 5 packages of 25 puzzles each and each package costs .99.

I solved all the 10 free levels in about 5 minutes.  I like the concept. There's a lot of potential here.

I would recommend to puzzle app designers: give everybody 50 free puzzles - to really whet the appetites of puzzlers, then sell level packs after that.

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Puzzling Cubes: free puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Puzzling Cubes is a series of 72 sokoban type puzzles by Gordon Roberts.

Slide the columns around so that certain square will be covered. When that happens, a corresponding column will shrink, allowing your man to travel over that square.

Some wheels must be rolled - until they hit an object.  The wheels can only go in 1 direction.

Some columns must be pushed off the playing surface.

There are holes that must be filled - either with columns or with wheels.

Right now, I have solved 52 of the 72 levels. I like this set of puzzles.

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Roadblock by SmartGames: puzzle game for iphone, ipad

RoadBlock by SmartGames is the official title of this puzzle game app.

The brains behind all of SmartGames puzzles is Raf Peeters. He has designed so many intersting puzzle concepts.

In Roadblock, the object is to fill the board with the given tiles so that the red car can not escape.  When that happens, the police simultaneously get out of their cars to surround the villain.

(I should mention: I was in Los Angeles in the summer of 2000, and I saw a police car chase. I was in a car going one way near the airport and a caravan of police were speeding the other way with a helicopter spotlight on the bad guy. It made the news, but at the time, I thought it just happened everyday in L.A.)

As puzzle apps go, this is very well done and could make the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013.

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Blink Blox: free puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Blink Blox comes from Swoobie.  The object is to slide the tiles around so that the blue tiles will form a line and disappear.  Then do the same for the red tiles.

Some tiles are neutral.  Other tiles cannot move.

Best feature: some tiles can alternate colors.

The free version of Blink Blox has 24 puzzle levels. Each puzzle must be solved within a given time.

I like Blink Blox. Give it a try.

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Knight Moves: free puzzle app game

Knight Moves comes from Ken Wessen.  If you're familiar with the famous Knight's Tour problem, you'll like this - it's different.

In the Knight's Tour, your objective is to move the knight onto each square exactly once.

In this puzzle game app, your objective is to move onto the light squares only!

Hey, this is free!

Snake Slider: puzzle game app for Android

Bas de Reuver recently contacted me to announce that Snake Slider is available for Android devices.

Snake Slider (Android)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bdrgames.snakeslider

Snake Slider Lite (Android)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bdrgames.snakesliderlite

Blockwick 101: free puzzle app game for iphone ipad

Blockwick 101 is another version of Blockwick, which I reviewed about 6 months ago.

The object is to slide the tiles around so that the colored tiles will touch each other.

Look at the image on the right. 1 red piece is glowing - that means it can be moved. The other red pieces will need to be touched by the glowing red piece before they can move.

This version of Blockwick has 60 levels. Some of them are easy, some challenging.  They're fun!

I downloaded the original Blockwick and have kept buying the level packs.

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Guide the Light: puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Guide the Light comes from appy nation.  It's a laser with mirrors type puzzle.

The puzzles are well designed.  The user interface is slick. There's even a theme of exploring a pyramid.

There's one problem that I have with Guide the Light: there is a time-element. If you don't solve it quickly, you can get eaten by a scorpion. Ouch.

Nevertheless, Guide the Light is intelligent & fun.

Sidenote: this blog is off to a roaring start with over 700 visitors/day.  Feel free to sign up as a follower.

The Angel's Cube: puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

The Angel's Cube comes from Ken Tylman who also made Rynglets. More about Rynglets at a future date; it's more complicated.

Your task is to rearrange the circles so that the lines will match the shape at the right.

Gameplay: the fire circle trades places with an adjacent circle.

There are 40 levels. I've done about 10 of them. A few easy, medium & hard levels.  I think The Angel's Cube is well done and is fun.


Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Gravox: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Gravox is a free puzzle game app.  The object is to manuever the white square to the red square,  which stays in place.

This is NOT a tilt maze.  Look at the image.  Notice that right edge is yellow? That's where the gravity force is. Tap once and the bottom edge turns yellow and everything falls down.  Tap again and everything falls to the left.  And yes, tap again, and everything falls up.

Gravox has a lite version.  It consists of 5 puzzles - but you can play each of them with difference speeds or G Forces.

I have solved all of the free levels at all the G Forces. Except for #5 at the highest G Force.

Bottom Line: Gravox is a fun puzzle game app.

http://fnet-apps.blogspot.com/

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

Dodge Ball: Simple Fun Free Puzzle Game: for iphone & ipad

The title of this free puzzle game is Dodge Ball: Simple Fun Free Puzzle Game.  The object is to stay alive by avoiding the spiked twirling stars that come from the right  side of the screen.

This is NOT a tilt puzzle. You must drag the red circle around the screen.

You score points by staying alive. Right now I'm the high scorer with 2800 points.

The graphics are a bit boring. At the start of each game, while the spiked stars are hurtling toward you, and ad appears! Click to get rid of it before your man is impaled!

Getting past the first 500 points is tough. It seems to get easier after that.  Around 2500 points: things speed up very fast.

If you like this puzzle game, you will love Lookout Blizzard which I reviewed about 3 months ago.

Definitely give Dodge Ball: Simple Fun Free Puzzle Game a chance.

Side note: on December 31, I will publish the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2013. Stay tuned.

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Hexagon Puzzle: free puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Hexagon Puzzle from smartarium.com is a point scoring puzzle app.  The object is to get matching hexagons in a row.  By tapping on 1 hexagon, the surrounding 6 hexagons willy rotate clockwise.

I've played the game for about 45 minutes. It's fun.



The Very Best Puzzle Apps of 2012

Announcing The Best of The Best Puzzle Apps of 2012. Also check out the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012 which I published Dec 30.  They are also worthy of your time.

In no particular order:

JiggleSaw
Twin Beams
Snake Slider
Arrow Command
Fuusio
Woodhead
Arrow Point
BeeCells Lite
PuzzleJanken
SEQ
Super Numbers
ComboFlame
LiquidSketch
Swisch
Starcoaster
Connect!
Akari 3D
Guide the Light
Luma Link
Vaccine Case
Magic Bricks
Blockwick
Chocolate Fix
Vubu
NineOut
Click Mazes BoxUp
Moskeez
63 Logic Games
Combination
Spin Mix
Sunk!
Sliding Tiles
Fuzzy Logic

The Best Puzzle Apps of 2012

These puzzle apps are actually the runner-ups to the Very Best Puzzle apps - published 12/31/12. The tuxedo image represents the formality and seriousness of this significant event.

Chain Solitaire
Frankenword
Runeline
BanzaiDice
Dedale
Gone Buggy
TYL
Quares
Color Pop Pro
ManyMoves
SudoFeud
Crazy Marbles
Woollyman Block Buster
Netbound
Senkai
Reball
Hexagon Puzzle
Puzzling Cubes
Blink Blox
Oball
Six Stax
Karyo
Line's Life
DJ Mole
Eye Rollers
iCube
Stoked
Number Zone
Cargo-Bot
Relix 2
Moovin Up
Addidoku
Fourbar
Find A Way, Jose
Bloxie
Inakube
Colorinth
Frozen Equilibrium
Sun Stones
Red Mix
Quartzic
Triple Town

Senkai: puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Recently Paul Lapstun, from Australia, contacted me about his new puzzle app Senkai.

Senkai is a very challenging puzzle.  The object is to roll/shift pairs of cubes - either the top set, bottom set, right set or left set - until the white pieces form a circle.  Or the red pieces form a circle.  Yowsa, this is tough!

According to Paul Lapstun, the brain behind Senkai, there are 165,888 possible configurations.

I have not solved this.  Paul tells me that they're working on an easier version as in introduction.

http://grifia.com/senkai

Six Stax: free puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Six Stax is a game that is similar to Tower of Hanoi.  The object is to move the discs, one at a time, so that only a smaller disc can go on a larger disc of the same color and get all the towers organized properly.

We've seen this exact same puzzle app from another developer. Or maybe it's the same developer just using a different name. 

Besides solving the puzzles, can you solve them using fewer moves than other people?

Karyo: free puzzle game app for iphone and ipad

Karyo is a surprisingly fun logical puzzle.  The object is to clear the board of the tiles by tapping in the space between 2 very close, but not touching, tiles.  When that happens, one tile will disappear and the other will move to the space tapped.

There are 50 free levels. I've solved them all.

I like this puzzle game app.

Look for my list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012 at the end of the month.

Vaccine Case: puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Vaccine Case is a brilliant, original, FUN, puzzle by Wataru Nakano.

The object is to kill the viruses with the matching gases by opening and closing doors. When the virus is killed, the gas will disappear from that room Therefore, you may need to save some gas for down the road.

Previously, I reviewed the Lite version which has 12 levels.  The paid version is $2.99 with 100 levels.  Well worth the money.

Right now I've solved about 85 of the levels. Brilliant and fun.  Easily one of the Best Puzzle App Games of 2012.

Kings Can Fly: puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Kings Can Fly is a puzzle game app where the object is to place fans on the grid so that when the ships leave the red barn, they will turn in the correct directions to get to their destination.

We've seen numerous games like this. Instead of windmills, the user must place arrows on the grid. 

Kings Can Fly has a nice 3D touch that kids would like.

The graphics are very 3D and will appeal to kids.

A more sophisticated version of this is called Arrow Command, which I reviewed in January, I think.

Oball: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Oball is a point scoring puzzle app from Vlifect. Their webpage is down or defunct. However, the puzzle game is quite good.

The object is to get 4 balls of the same color into a cluster of 4 or more. When that happens, they disappear and you score points. 

Gameplay: tap on 2 balls and if they can trade places via an open path (no diagonals), they will swap.

You score more points by getting a cluster of 5 or 6. But that's not necessarily an optimal strategy. 

Right now, my score is about 16,000. That's from playing 30 minutes a day for about two weeks.

Oball is a darn good puzzle app game. However, it's a bit too easy. I've made mistakes that I thought spelled my doom. But I keep getting out of the jams and am afraid this one game of mine might go on for weeks or months.

A similar game that's much harder: BeeCells Lite.

Luma Link: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Luma Link is a series of 300 puzzles where the object is to slide the tiles around until the silver ball can go into the red hole. The silver ball can travel to an adjacent tile.

Tiles can move horizontally/vertically ONLY IF the selected tile has a matching colored tab with another tile on that same row/column. You'll notice that some tiles have tabs only at 12 o'clock & 6 o'clock: they can only move up and down, never side to side.

I have done all the medium & hard levels.  The presentation is slick. This is a free puzzle game app. It comes with video ads that take over the screen after solving 4 or 5 levels. Pay a buck to remove them and get an additional 300 levels.

There are also free daily puzzles. I'd like to see Luma Link as a puzzle that would allow players to create their own levels. Because I'm curious as to how hard they could be.

Bottom Line: Luma Link is mildly challenging, fun and definitely worth your time.

Housekeeping:
On December 30th, I will publish a list of the Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.
On December 31st, I will publish a list of the Very Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

What's the difference? The Very Best Puzzle Apps: I played them a lot more than the others.

Also, this blog is just about to get its 250,000th hit. If you're it, take a screen shot, send it to me and get a prize.

One more thing: this blog currently gets about 600 hits/day. But there are only 116 followers. If you sign up as a follower, you'll make my day.

Netbound: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

The first image describes the rules, maybe a bit awkwardly.

We've seen many topology type puzzles like this before. Start at A, end at B. Go over each of the other circles - some of the circles must be landed on 3 or 4 times.

Look closely at the white dots around the A. They indicate where you may land next.

Netbound is smart, fun and well done. I have not solved all the levels yet.


Housekeeping:
On December 30th, I will publish a list of the Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.
On December 31st, I will publish a list of the Very Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

What's the difference? The Very Best Puzzle Apps: I played them a lot more than the others.

Also, this blog is just about to get its 250,000th hit. If you're it, take a screen shot, send it to me and get a prize.

One more thing: this blog currently gets about 600 hits/day. But there are only 116 followers. If you sign up as a follower, you'll make my day.

Line's Life: puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Line's Life Pro is a concept similar to Lunar Lockout, Pike's Peak and Fling.

The object is to align the circles in pairs of matching colors - vertically or horizontally - then make them disappear by having 1 of them crash into the other.

There are 162 levels, and I was originally stuck on level 7! 

You're wondering: Tom, does Line's Life make it onto the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012? Probably. Check back at the end of December.

Click here.

Vaccine Case Lite: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Wataru Nakano from Japan has created a brilliant new puzzle concept called Vaccine Case.

The program does not offer written directions, so pay attention.

It is not easy to explain: the object is to kill the blue virus with the blue gas by opening and closing gates. If a room holds blue gas and you  open the door, that gas will fill up the remaining area and will disappear with the dead virus.

You will need to save some blue gas in another room.

Vaccine Case Lite has 12 levels - the last few are hard. I have solved them all.

Vaccine Case Lite easily moves onto the list of Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

Next week I will report on the full version which has 100 levels.

 

Are you designing a puzzle game app?

Click here if you're in the process of developing a puzzle game app. It is a quick reference guide.

Puzzle App Developers: what worked for you when trying to promote your puzzle game?

DJ Mole: free puzzle app game for iphone, ipad

DJ Mole is a sokoban type puzzle.  The object is to get the DJ Mole to traverse the grid and pick up old albums.  If DJ Mole picks up a blue album, then his headphones turn blue and that allows him to push blue obstacles out of his way.

Other featueres: rainbow albums, teleporters,

One drawback is that you can't see the entire grid all at once. But that adds another element of complexity.

There are 15 free levels, and I've done them all.

Without a doubt, this concept is not entirely original. But the implementation of a Mole who is a DJ - brilliant!

Puzzles in the News: Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal has an article about an exhibit at the MET in NYC that displays puzzle desks.  I have not seen the exhibit - yet. 

Turnabout: free puzzle game app for iphone ipad

Turnabout is a point scoring puzzle app. The object is to tap on one of the gears to turn it. It will then turn other gears until it no longer connects with another gear.

There's not much here in terms of play/thinking. It's very similar, if not identical, to another puzzle game called Fun, which I reviewed ages ago.

Eye Rollers: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Eye Rollers comes from http://puzzlesocial.com/ It is similar to a tilt maze puzzle. (A true tilt maze: all the balls would roll simultaneously in the same direction.) Roll the balls one at a time until they hit an obstacle or go into the side pockets.

There are 20 free levels. I have solved them all, but not by using the minimum number of moves. Therefore, I will have to pay to play the other levels.

Of the 20 free levels: some of them are tough and clevely designed.  They don't include the Red Eyes that destroy walls. I have not play-tested those levels yet.

Akari 3D: puzzle game for iphone, ipad

Guillaume Ortega contacted me recently from France about his new puzzle app: Akari 3D.

Akari is one of my favorite pencil puzzles from Nikoli press in Japan. Describing the puzzle game is not easy. I would recommend that you first download and play Akari Free.

Black squares have numbers, or dots. That number indicates how many light beams to place on each of the adjacent faces. Not the diagonal squares. Those light beams will illuminate all the squares in the horizontal & vertical rows.

The object is to light up all the squares.

Once you've played Akari Free, you'll be ready for Akari 3D. I happen to love it! There are 54 levels: 18 with a small cube, 18 with a medium cube and 18 with a gigantic cube.  I've solved all of them and now feel a bit sad that there are no other levels to play.

Some of the puzzles have multiple solutions which makes solving a bit trickier sometimes. Sometimes easier.

Look for the end of year Best Puzzle Apps of 2012.

Click here.

Red Nova: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

The object of Red Nova is to tilt the screen so that the red square will travel until it hits a wall and then eventually go into the black hole.

There are 40 levels. I did the first 20, which were free, in about 20 minutes. 

This Puzzle App Correspondent has seen this type of puzzle at least 25 times.

Ma3e: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Ma3e is a free tilt-maze puzzle game app. The shapes are not necessarily cubic.  I played 2 of these levels, it's not quite my thing. But there is a a definite element of fun.

Bored: puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

Bored comes from Patrick Q. Kelly. Fans of Lunar Lockout and Pike's Peak need no explanation.

The object is to send your man to the center without falling off the board. A man can travel vertically or horizontally, until it hits another object.

Solution for the Nickel: move nickel to the left. Move the top left penny to the right, then down. Then move the nickel to the right.

There are 5 or 6 different backgrounds to choose from. I like the coin one.

There are 520 levels. Seemingly, they are all unique. But that's not exactly the case. #75 & #90 are virtually the same.

 I did the first 100 levels in about 20 minutes. Then I did the last 20 levels.  All of the levels are kind of easy.

I was looking for a serious, fun challenge. Unfortunately, this is really for casual puzzlers.

TetragonoS: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

TetragonoS is a free puzzle game app that's similar to sudoku and Latin Squares.  You are given a Latin Square: each row and each column has different numbers. You must color 4 tiles blue making sure that each blue tile gets all 4 numbers.  Basically, you can't have two blue tiles using the number 3.

I think kids will like this.

Maestrosities: Coolest Band Ever

Click here to see the Maestrosities pilot tv show.  About 6 weeks ago I saw the premiere which was about 24 minutes and quite funny.

Rod Kimball, who is a juggler and puzzler friend is in the band. He is also a member of The Flying Karamazov Brothers.

iCube: free puzzle game app for iphone, ipad

iCube is a set of 3D cube mazes from UNNYHOG. They also made Lookout Blizzard, which I happened to love.

There are a series of 3x3, 4x4 and 5x5 cubic mazes. Roll the ball to the end.

Over the years, there have been numerous cubic mazes made in physical form. iCube does an admiral job of showing the ins and outs. In the past,  I decided not to purchase some cubic 3D mazes because it was too difficult to see through so much plexiglass. iCube incorporates a very good shading system for the walls that makes the puzzles quite doable and not frustrating.

The free version has 9 easy puzzles. I've solved them all. The paid version has 81 levels.

Pavel Ignatov is the puzzle designer. No idea if he's related to the famous juggler who first juggled 11 balls.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody. See you on Monday. Also, if you're a regular reader of this blog, please sign up as a follower.