Rupiko by Niels Jansson FREE

  

Ruipiku comes from Niels Jansson. It's very much like his other game Shifty Bits, which I reviewed last year. The object is to slide the rows and columns so that the colors and shapes align correctly.

The concept is not new. I remember getting very tired of the concept about 4 years ago. But I like this. The graphics are nice.

The overall shape is rarely a rectangle.  I also like the black dots. When they appear, above a column, after your move you make, it pushes the column down one notch.

I did 31 levels. It's a fast game.  There are 100 levels.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rupiku/id1170015153?mt=8
Not available on google play yet.

Loopine by Pyrosphere, Lda FREE

  

Loopine is a sweet little game that tests your timing/dexterity.  Each level has multiple shapes that intersect.  The bright line segments are constantly rotating around the perimeters.

    

Your task is to suspend the movement, then restart it so that there are no collisions with the segments from the other shapes.

There are 150 levels spread out over 3 levels of difficulty.  This is a very relaxing game.  Some of the shapes have a kind of Celtic knot look.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/loopine/id1205980465?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.pyrosphere.loopine

Push it, Puzzle edition by Ruslan Goncharenko FREE

  

Ruslan Goncharenko has produced a lot of interesting puzzle apps. The first image shows the directions.

  

Each grid size has 1000 levels.  Really.  I've done 11 altogether.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/push-it-puzzle-edition/id1214908750?mt=8
http://gruv-apps.com/index.php/en/

Some of Ruslan's other puzzles:
Roll the Labyrinth ball
Puzzle 4 colors

Train Mix a challenging railway puzzle game by Serghei Pelin

Train Mix a challenging railway puzzle game comes from Serghei Pelin. The object is to shift/shunt the individual cars so that each chain matches identical cars.

Look at the first image. The top left has a track that's completely unoccupied. That's key.  Some levels have 2 empty tracks, which of course makes things easier.

Look at the second image: there are no empty tracks. Much harder.

There's a lot to like about Train Mix. The graphics are good and the puzzles are challenging.

Helpful: suppose you make a move that leads to an impossible situation, a red light flashes in the upper right corner warning you of this fact and offering the undoing of that last move. Great programming. Fun icon.

There are 234 levels. I did 34.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/train-mix-a-challenging-railway-puzzle-game/id1215846580?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.KwezitGames.TrainMix

Similar Games
Book Tower
Six Stax
Six Towers Plus
Panex

Norinori by Yuki Fujimoto FREE

  

Norinori comes from Yuki Fujimoto. The object is to place 2 black squares in each area.  At the same time, all black squares must be part of a 2x1 rectangle which can cross the yellow boundaries.

  

At first I didn't understand why my solution was wrong.  Then the aha moment: the other squares have to be turned white by double tapping them. Oh well.

I solved all the 25 5x5 grids pretty quickly.  They're fun!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to access the higher grids. According to the Leaderboard, everybody else can! Another oh well.

The most similar game I can think of is Nicola Salmoria's Twin Beams.  Unfortunately, it is no longer available.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/norinori/id1200281949?mt=8

Squares - Puzzle by Murillo Frias Free

  

Murillo Frias contacted me months ago about his puzzle app game Squares - Puzzle. At first, it seemed like another 'move Your Man over every square and get to the destination' puzzle.  In fact, it is, but there are some new elements.

  

The round dot is Your Man and must traverse across all the gray squares and then enter the yellow square.

The Light Gray squares: must be crossed over twice.
The Purple squares: landing on them is like sliding on ice. Your Man will land on the next square.
The White squares: can be landed on as many times as you like.
The Black squares: must be pushed to its destination at the same time Your Man must cover every square.
The Red squares: either move places or shrink. Landing on 1 red square may affect the other red squares.

Squares - Puzzle is highly polished.  My only criticism is that the gray squares could be more contrasted with the black background. The levels start out easy but they get very challenging.

Great job Murillo.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/squares-puzzle/id1045830662?ls=1&mt=8

Similar Games
Mortal Coil - in the Puzzle App Hall of Fame
Stroke! - largely overlooked,  adds a color matching scheme that makes it devilishly hard.
Full House Touch
Full Monster Puzzle 
Berry Puzzle 
Eat A Way
Filling 
Block Path
Snake Walk
Mr. Square
Rookfall

atapgame by Kyle Gorlick FREE

  

Kyle Gorlick is the author of atapgame. It's a dexterity/timing game.  The objective is to tap on the circle to launch it into space - to ultimately land at its destination. Without colliding into moving line segments.

  

It's not very hard game. But it's well designed and fun.  Options include changing the circle to some other images - including your face.

The first 20 levels or so are free. After that, I think the rest costs $1.99. I paid it.

Altogether there are 51 levels and I'm stuck on 45, which I think is too hard!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/atapgame/id1189851352?mt=8

Combilock by 1860636 Alberta Inc. FREE

  

The goal of Combilock is to get the 2 circles to align their holes directly against the locks.

Tap on the inner circle, then move left or right. The inner circle will rotate faster than the outer circle.

The opposite occurs when you tap on the outer circle and move left/right.

Combilock is tough! The concept is unique. I've only solved it twice.

Go the company's homepage, bottom link below. Watch the video - short, but fabulous.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/combilock/id1096654722?mt=8
http://combi-lock.com/

Logistricks by Galliker Transport AG FREE

  

Christian Schnellmann has made Logistricks for Galliker Transport AG, which is a Swiss Trucking company. I have never been to Switzerland, but I can tell you this: if I need a trucking service, anywhere in Europe, I'd contact Galliker, just because of the fact that they commissioned a puzzle to be made.

So what's the game about? The object is to transfer the boxes from the ramp to the correct truck.
Elements: 
1. Swipe in any direction and all boxes move until they hit an obstacle.
2. Pallets are obstacles and they can be tapped out at any time.
3. Some boxes must be moved within a certain number of moves.
4. Some levels must be completely solved within 5 seconds.

Not sure how many levels there are. I'm stuck on #50. I'm guessing there are 125 levels.

The graphics are clean and crisp.  Logistricks is FREE.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logistricks/id1182304603?mt=8
https://www.galliker.com/

HIT n RUN by Greenery FREE

  

The other day I was looking for an old puzzle app. I don't remember the title, but it's no longer available.  HIT n RUN was similar in title, and it popped up.  I love this game!

  

HIT n RUN is a point scoring game.  The object is to stay alive as long as possible and score as many points. Every time you move Your Man, the orange square,  you get 1 point for the move.  If you crash into a blue square that has 3 on it, you get 3 additional points.

Your Man will die if he lands next to a piece that he's not crashing into. No image above to show you an example.

There are other things that you have to figure out for yourself. Like how the blue squares merge. And how they will try to box you in.

I still can't figure out why the orange square turns red temporarily and what the significance is.  The folks at Greenery have a web page - all in Korean - but not contact info.

I can't stop playing it. I make my moves too quickly. This game is a winner.

My high score is 1074. Sagar is #1 with 5555 and John Paurillo is #2 with 4996. #3 has 2596.

Update 5/23/17:  Two things.  First, I can't stop playing this game.  I'm going to have to delete it.  Second, one of my students found a glitch in the program and is now the top scorer with 5614.  I'm tempted to do the same, but I just can't.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hit-n-run/id1010108856?mt=8

Article

https://www.dailysabah.com/life/2017/03/10/how-one-turkish-man-discovered-his-lifes-calling-in-puzzle-making

ZeGame by Jesper van den Ende $2.99

ZeGame comes from Jesper van den Ende.  It's a 3-D maze puzzle app game.

The object is to get the green cube to the target, which is the light blue cube.

When you slide the green cube - in any direction - it must hit an obstacle. Same concept as Lunar Lockout, except the green cube is the only one that can travel.

The purple cubes are wormholes.  They require a lot of trial and error in order to determine which are the matching pairs.

Very cool: at any time, you can zoom in/out and rotate the perspective.

There are 140 levels. I've done 57.

After playing the Free version, I decided to buy the full one.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/zegame/id991958457?mt=8

Laser Glow by Kenneth Isaacson Free

  

Kenneth Isaacson is the author of Laser Glow. It's a laser puzzle that uses only a 4x4 grid.

What's interesting:
1. Some of the levels are tricky.  I tweeted that level 19 was impossible. Actually, it was just fine.
2. The yellow squares are fixed and no mirrors can be placed on them.
3. The white dots on the grid: the beam must pass through it.
4. The black dots are on some of the mirrors and those mirrors must be used.

The menu indicates there are 49 levels. But there are 47 and I solved them all.

Laser Glow is fast and fun.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/laser-glow/id1212149668?mt=8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2PoPh2B9qo  Funny video

Other Laser Puzzles (Not a complete list!)
Laser Maze 2015
MatrixLines
HackBeam
Shoot & Reflect 3x3
LaserBox
Photon Lab
Amid Worlds
RouteOut - not a laser game, but uses mirrors
RouteOut 2
Neon Connect
Mirrors & Reflections
Guide the Light
Lasers Free
Laser Logic
Lazors
ReflecTs DS

Friday's math problem

I mis-stated Friday's math puzzle.  Find 2 consecutive numbers such that, when you add the digits of the first number, the sum is divisible by 7 and the sum of the digits of the second number is also divisible by 7. Sorry about that!



https://qz.com/935952/it-took-the-inventor-of-the-rubiks-cube-a-month-to-solve-his-own-puzzle/

New article about Erno Rubik.

http://www.puzzlesolver.com/puzzle.php?id=29;page=15  Very old article about Rubik.

Fun Math puzzle

Find 2 consecutive integers such that, the sum of the digits of the first number is divisible by 7.  And so is the second number.

Pinball Star by Adam Rogan Free

  

Pinball Star comes from Adam Rogan. The object is to hit the white dot (see 2nd image). The black dots are bumpers.

I played the first mode: solving 49 levels.  The second mode: shooting hoops is harder. I have not played the Endless mode.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pinball-star/id1211198338?mt=8

Other Pinball Apps
Pinball Sniper
Pinout!

Smart Cookies from Foxmind $24.95

About 10 years ago I reviewed Fox Mind's Meta-Forms puzzle for Games Magazine. There is a similar game from ThinkFun known as Chocolate Fix. They are both logic games where the object is to place the colored shapes onto a 3x3 board with some clues thrown in.

Smart Cookies is the sequel to Meta-Forms.  The objectives are the same. However, the clues have become more sophisticated.

There are 64 levels.  I cruised through the first 32 in about 1 hour.  The next 18 were troublesome.  At times I thought: something's wrong or I need more clues.

The last 14 levels were even more difficult. Seems like 6 clues is just not enough! I was placing coins on the clues that I thought I was done with. Unfortunately, I had to start from scratch. But I persevered with every last one. Except for #64. I'm still working on that.

The very last level has many clues....but they're all about the color blue. Having completed 1-63, I was suddenly overwhelmed on 64.

Did I mention that the playing pieces are thick and bring on a certain food craving? They feel more like rubber than plastic.

Michel & Robert Lyons created the original Meta-Forms. Polina Sabinin Ed.D. has taken Smart Cookies to a more sophisticated level. Great job Polina!


http://foxmind.com/games/1496-smart-cookies
http://foxmind.com/games/1257-meta-forms

Cubicks Free by Marcelo Pars Free

  

Cubicks Free comes from Marcelo Pars. The object is get tap on the gray cubes and create a Latin Square on each fact.  That is: each row and column must have 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green and 1 blue.

There are 1000 levels split into Easy, Medium, Hard and Evil.

The graphics are outstanding. There are little cracks between each square and if you maneuver the cube just right, you'll see the colors on the opposite fact.

The Easy levels aren't so easy.  Took me a few tries to get the hang of them.

Things to change.
1. Instead of 1000 levels, there should be 100.  At the most: 200.
2. Instead of the program randomly choosing a level, the user should see a map of which puzzles have already been done and choose accordingly.

Those are minor complaints.  Cubicks Free is great.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubicks-free/id1212435415?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marcelopars.cubicks

Akari 3D is not the same as Cubicks Free. But it also has an outstanding cube interface.