Campfire Cooking by Layton Hawkes $3.99

2017 has been somewhat disappointing in terms of puzzle app games.  There seems to have been a drop off in the number of innovative & high quality games. In short, I've been a little bummed.

Campfire Cooking from Layton Hawkes has lifted my spirits mightily.

The object is to toast your marshmallows evenly on both sides.  Your fork can slide forward and back. It can also roll the marshmallows when rolling side to side.

Very Interesting:
1. The wooden forks can rotate 90 degrees.
2. The metal forks cannot rotate.
3. The tin cans must rest on the fire at the end.
4. The magnets can pull the tin cans.
5. Sometimes you have to light the campfires.

Campfire Cooking tends to fall in the sokoban category of puzzles. But not exactly.

The graphics are so charming. I love the fact that there's no move-counter that awards any stars.

The puzzles are challenging at a perfect level. I cruised through the first 50 levels in about 90 minutes. Then my battery died out! And I had to go to sleep.   I've done about 25 more levels. I'm saving the rest for a rainy day.

This game is a gem.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/campfire-cooking/id1226277306?mt=8

Layton made Puzzlepops last year, which I really liked. But not as much as Campfire Cooking.

New web page to explore new puzzles

My old friend Rod Kimball has a new web page: https://www.enigami.fun/

Rod is definitely one of the coolest people I know. Check out this photo of him: he's the one on the extreme right.

Joints Puzzle Game by EggShellGames FREE

  

Joints Puzzle Game comes from EggShellGames.  It's a lot like Lights Out.  The object is to get all the nodes green.  Tap on any node and it will change. It's neighbors will also change color.

  

The graphics are very good.
These are hard!  Of the 144 levels, I've done about 25.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/joints-puzzle-game/id1296723568?mt=8

Nodulus by Dan Kondratyuk FREE

Have you ever played ThinkFun's River Crossing Puzzles? It started a new genre of puzzles known as Plank Puzzles. The object is to pick up logs and use them over the stumps to create a new path to the other side of the river.  Read more here.

Dan Kondratyuk's Nodulus is essentially the same thing, but with cool graphics.

There are 20 levels and they get pretty tough.  I solved the first 13 levels. More levels are coming as other players create their own.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nodulus/id1294238868?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hyperparticle.nodulus&pcampaignid=MKT-Other-global-all-co-prtnr-py-PartBadge-Mar2515-1

hyperparticle.com

Spin Mix is an old game from 2012 that's related. It's no longer available, which means that you should download good games when I tell you to.
How it's different:
1. The object is to get the specific plank to the double circle target.
2. All planks can be swiveled at any time.

it's red by Jakub Szolomicki FREE

  

it's red comes from Jakub Szolomicki.  His description:
Try your best in the hardest game ever released.
Solve 45 unique riddles and prove your genius.
Download for free for mobile devices.

It's a logic puzzle game filled with 45 unique, mind-blowing, extremely hard riddles. If you like puzzle games, IQ tests and stuff like that, red is for you.

  

The objective is to get the whole screen to be red.  There are 45 levels and each one has a unique solution.

My thoughts
1. It's not the hardest game ever released.
2. Bart Bonte's Yellow (Game) came out in May of this year.  it's red borrows the idea but seems to have unique puzzles. Bart's game is more polished.
3. Hints are available for each level and the price is to watch an ad.
4. I've solved a few levels without really understanding what I did.

I'm stuck on level 26. I've tried to access the hints, but that's not working for me.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/its-red/id1303242644?mt=8

The Gold Coin Puzzle

My grandfather's hobby was collecting clocks and repairing them.  He was completely self taught. Other clock repairmen would bring their problems to him.

Many years ago, he bought this Gold Coin puzzle which is now a treasured family heirloom.  Recently I saw it for the first time in at least 20 years.  I made this little video. The objective: What time is it?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QB7wAKacsSA



Cedric Grolet was recently awarded the honor of being the best pastry baker in the world. Check out his Rubik's Cube cakes. Scroll down a bit.
https://www.instagram.com/cedricgrolet/?hl=en

Typeshift by Zach Gage FREE

  

Typeshift is a word puzze from Zach Gage.  The idea is to slide each column up and down and utilize every single letter.  It's been a while since I played a word puzzle. This game is okay.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/typeshift/id1084762137?mt=8

Octopuz by gary gogis FREE

  

Octopuz come from Gary Gogis. It's a game that tests your memory & your quickness.

  

The object is to memorize the image, then rebuild it with the correct blocks.

This is one of hundreds of games that promote brain training.  This game is okay for a spell.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/octopuz/id1135510959?mt=8

Cube Escape: Theater by Rusty Lake B.V. FREE

It's been a while since I played a Rusty Lake game. I've been saving Cube Escape: Theater for a miserable rainy day. Sunday was it.

The premise: you are in a bar/cabaret room with a bartender, another patron, and various performers behind the curtain.

All Rusty Lake games have a certain creepy theme that implies a past murder with some kind of present ghoul.

I'm not a huge fan of Room Escapes: there are too many of them and the whole concept of finding clues to mysterious locking mechanisms - they all come from that CD-ROM dinosaur game Myst. The novelty wears off after a while.

Cube Escape: Theater is solid, but not great.

My qualms:
1. Using a Rush Hour puzzle.
2. A very cool element from the game Arles was used in Theater. It was great the first time.

This game plays quickly. About 90 minutes.

(It's okay to consult a walkthrough! For example: if a key piece is obscured in a tree, do you really need to wander the entire island, tapping on every object?)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cube-escape-theatre/id1092261317?mt=8

Other Rusty Lake Games I've played/reviewed:

Cube Escape: Birthday
Cube Escape: Case 23
Cube Escape: The Mill
Cube Escape: Harvey's Room
Cube Escape: The Lake
Cube Escape: Arles
Cube Escape: Seasons

Announcement: this week is International Games Week. http://games.ala.org/international-games-week/

Boo! (factory balls halloween) by Bart Bonte FREE

Loyal Blog Followers know how much I liked Bart Bonte's Factory Balls.   Boo! is Bart's latest and it's a stencil puzzle, just like Factory Balls.

There are only 16 levels. They get pretty hard. But, I've done them all. 

Get in the spirit of the holiday and play this.

https://itunes.apple.com/app/boo-factory-balls-halloween/id1299443361
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.bartbonte.boo

Cubesc by Cagri Gecin $.99

 

Cubesc comes from Cagri Gecin. It's been on my mind for a few weeks. That first image! It's haunting. Look at the Teddy Bear!

 

The object is to get Your Man/Men to traverse over all the squares and end up on the final square.

We've seen this genre numerous times.

Features:
1. Wormholes
2. Bridges have to be formed
3. Some squares need to be crossed twice.
4. 2 characters have to solve their respective fields at the same time. This is when things get most interesting.

There are approximately 70 levels and I've done about 25.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubesc/id1257397785?mt=8
http://redelsoft.net/

CraCol by Nguyen Truong FREE

  

CraCol comes from Nguyen Truong. The object is to score points by creating rows, columns & diagonals of the same color.

There have been some other games very similar. This starts very easy with just a few colors. As more are added, things get harder.

I like the graphics. I also like that some of the pieces are doubled.

Once was enough though. My score was 281.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cracol/id1296554736?ls=1&mt=8

Number Array by an zhuona FREE

  

Number Array comes from an zhuona.

His description: The goal of number array is to arrange the numbers into four rows ordered from top to bottom, 1 through maximum, each row having a different color.

At the beginning of game, you have 4 blank spaces to place the numbers. A blank space can be filled by the next value of the same color as the number to its top. For example, the 4 of red can be placed in a blank space to the right of the 3 of red. No numbers can be placed to the right of a maximum. If there are multiple blanks to the right of a maximum, none can be used without moving the maximum.

My thoughts: this is an interesting game that involves interesting strategy.  Multiple times I ran into trouble and had to restart.

My only complaint is that the shades of blue are a touch too similar.

3 questions:
1. How are these puzzles generated?
2. Are there multiple solution paths?
3. Is every situation possible to solve?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/number-array/id1281540869?mt=8
https://azhuona.tumblr.com/post/165259999821/number-array

Divisor by G vector FREE

  

Divisor by G vector is a reverse-point scoring puzzle game. The object is to place the numbered tiles at the bottom onto the grid so that 2 or more adjacent tiles will a factor of each other. The game ends when there are no more tiles. Doing this with the least # of moves is the objective.

Look at image #1.  Place the 9 at the top right corner. See the two 18's? They will turn into 2's. Then both 2's will divide into the 42, making it 21. Chain reactions like that are key.

At first I didn't like this game, but I do now.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/divisor/id1295655498?mt=8

Late Announcement: there's an annual Celebration of Mind dinner to honor Martin Gardner. Various people are hosting dinners around the country/world. It was this past Sunday. Sorry for forgetting to post this.

If there's not a dinner where you live, you can plan to host one.
http://www.celebrationofmind.org/ 

Cubiques 2 by Dilmer Valecillos $.99

  

Not long ago I reviewed Dilmer Valecillos's game Cubiques.  Cubiques 2 is even better.  The object is to get Your Men - the white cubes - to roll over to their target squares.

  

There's a lot to like about this game. For example, the gray squares can only be rolled over once. This is sometimes advantageous and disadvantageous.

The cubes are sometimes on the same grid, but often are offset.

The graphics are mostly good. But my criticism of Cubiques holds true for Cubiques 2. Namely: I want more color variety and I want the ability to rotate the whole grid so I can more easily see the rectangular holes within the grid.

There are 70 levels and I've done about 60.  According to the Leader Board, not many people have tried this game. That's a pity.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubiques-2/id1256691607?mt=8

Announcement: -Pila- is temporarily free.

Color 6 by Tigrido FREE

  

This past weekend I saw the image of Color 6 and just passed it by. Seemed like another 'packing puzzle' and I didn't scrutinize this properly. Big thanks to Loyal Blog Follower David Cole for alerting me about this game. It's seriously good.

  

Color 6 is a point scoring puzzle app. The object is to make perfect hexagons of a single color. Each one made is 1 point, then it disappears. I played this game 3 times last night. This morning I played it once and almost got to work late.

One feature I really like is the color-blind mode. I wish other games would adopt this idea.

My high score is 169. This places me in the middle of 55,000 people. The game came out last week. How did it get so popular? Maybe it was featured by the App Store.

It is possible to form 2 hexagons at the same time. If they overlap, only 1 point will be given.  If the 2 hexagons do not overlap, only 2 points are given.  I'm a bit mystified as to how so many people have scores in the thousands.

Warning: this game is very addictive.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-6/id1134511982?mt=8

Other Point Scoring Games Worthy of Your Time (Some are no longer available.)
NumberMania
Four Straight Lines
Pushopolous
Stickets
Folt
Nineout
Nineout II
BeeCells Lite
Kindly Colors
HexAgony
Domino Drop
Put Number
Tripevo
Triple Town
Kindly  Colors
COLORswipe
SubaraCity
Virus Pop Smash
+1 Number
4 Way Puzzle
Merged!
Enso

Politaire

Treple

numDance

Black Boxes

o:anquan
Levels

Buckets

Hit N Run

Puppo!

Omino!

Super Swipes

Make Square

Colorzam
Color 6

Cube Loop by Marcelo Pars

  

Cube Loop comes from Marcelo Pars. The object is to form paths that connect the start and end points of each color.  I played a game almost identical to this about 7 or 8 years ago. Unfortunately, I don't remember the title.

Cube Loop seems too easy at first because the the size of the cube never gets above 4x4x4. However, I jumped to the last 3 levels, and struggled mightily.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cube-loop/id1291759086?mt=8
http://www.cubicks.com/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marcelopars.cubeloop&hl=en

Mind Cache by IGOR POSTNIKOV FREE

 

Mind Cache comes from IGOR POSTNIKOV. It's a memory game. An image appears with a Star, a Square, and a Circle.  Then they disappear. Your task is to place them on the board in the general area of where they were.

This is the type of game to play a few times and then forget about.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mind-cache/id1220925991?mt=8