LVL by Ertan Unver $1.99

 LVL comes from Ertan Unver.  The App Store Gods highlighted it as a great puzzle.  Essentially, LVL is a packing puzzle.

Each cube has 6 faces that contain some rectangular-odd shapes.  The yellow shapes on one face must pack into the square perfectly with the yellow shapes on the OPPOSITE FACE.  So there's lots of spinning the cube around and around to synchronize the top/bottom as one puzzle, the left/right faces as another puzzle, and the front/back as still another puzzle.

The graphics are outstanding.  There are 50 levels, which really means that there are 150 puzzles.

At the moment I've done about 25 levels. But I do not love this game mainly because I've never been a big fan of packing puzzles.

Very Interesting: Some individual faces are a puzzle within a puzzle. You might know exactly how to position the pieces to match the opposite side. However, shunting those pieces just on that one side can be quite challenging.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lvl/id1164492728?mt=8

Mislead by Anthony Hilkmann $1.99

 Anthony Hilkmann contacted me a couple of months ago about his new game Mislead.  It's essentially a maze game. But it's deceptively so.

The object is to get Your Man, Bu, the Green Blob, to the big blue dot.

Look at the 4th image.  See the arrows? Bu will need to take 10 moves to reach the goal.  His first step will be down, then left, etc.  Before each move, you must eliminate one element from the board.
1. The yellow squares are simply walls.
2. The red spikes will kill Bu.
3.The purple circles are wormholes.

Very Interesting New Concepts:
4. The purple things have re-bounders. Hitting one of them will send Bu back 1 space away from itself.
5. The tilted yellow squares have tiny red arrows along its perimeters.  When Bu crashes into them, he's directed to the next column or row.

There are 84 levels and at the moment I've done about 60. (Update: I've done all 84 levels.) I like puzzles where I can solve all the levels in a couple of days.  83 & 84 were obviously the most cleverly designed.

The graphics are good.

What could be better.
1. Bu moves too slowly. Maybe I'm impatient.
2. There should be a leaderboard.
3. The price is too high. People don't think twice about spending $5 for a cup of coffee that takes 10 minutes to drink. But they balk at paying more than $1 for a game that's fun and will take 2 - 3 hours to play.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mislead/id1357455332?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Snake VS Block by Voodoo FREE

 Snake VS Block comes from Voodoo. The object is to get your string of circles to increase while minimizing how many circles you lose as your snake crashes through the blocks.

 I saw somebody playing this game on the subway recently.  Looked fun, but hard. Fast reflexes and quick assessing are constant.

Voodoo has come out with a lot of similar games.  I like this one, but it's not the only dexterity game out there.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snake-vs-block/id1233739175?mt=8


Other good dexterity games that I've reviewed over the years.

Doublo
Brain Rush
Make Them Fall
Line Rush
Square Lines
Dozen!
Cubical
Swipe the Arrows
Oddity
Swipe Dash
Stop Crows
Don't Click Me
One, Two, Three
1 to 25 Number Challenge
Acuity Games
Geomelix
Slide to Unlock
Pinball Sniper
Pop the Lock
2 Cars
aa
Stack

Favo! by Shumpei Hayashi FREE

  

Shumpei Hayashi recently contacted me about his new game Favo!  I liked his two previous games. See links below.  The object is Favo! is to score points by merging colored tiles.

 

This concept is not exactly new. Merged! immediately came to mind.

Things are very different with Favo!
1. Merging a tile that combines 3 colors gets 4 times as many points.
2.  Very Important: when you've scored enough blue tiles, you will be issued a 'blue unification merger tile' (my phrase) that will enable you to consolidate all your blues and make room for more tiles.  The same goes for red and green.
3.  When your board has no room for new pieces, you are entitled to 3 sweeps that will consolidate all the colors at once.  However, these sweeps will cost you stars.

How do you earn stars?
1. By scoring high on previous games.
2. Watching ads.
3. By buying them.

Seriously, this game is great.  My high score is 35,000 which places me in the top 10 players.

Note to Shumpmei:

1. Great job.
2. You have listed 5 or 6 ways for players to spend money. Maybe this is very successful.  If it is not, I would change this to one small price of $.99  to eliminate the ads and to always allow the player to get 3 sweeps.

Note to everybody else:
1. There has been a significant decrease in the number of puzzle apps being published.  It's because players are not spending money.  Really: $1 or $2 is reasonable. Don't be cheap.

2. This blog has been on vacation most of the summer.  Back in full swing right after Labor Day.

https://flowgdd.com/favo/
https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/id1409011944
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.flow.favo

Other games by Shumpei Hayashi

Puppo!
Levels Addictive Puzzle Game

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
Sticks.

21 Black

Chessumo
Fues5

9 Maker

Balls Love Puzzles by QinYuan Tian FREE

Balls Love Puzzles comes from QinYuan Tian. Balls bounce around the grid and the object is to rearrange the squares in order to restore order.


JiggleSaw came out 6 years ago and is very similar. It has more features and is a fun little gem. Unfortunately, it is no longer available.


Balls Love Puzzles has 48 levels and is fun. I solved them all.  The most I spent on any 1 level was about 7 minutes. On some levels the balls move pretty fast.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/balls-love-puzzles/id1408600187?mt=8

King Rabbit by RareSloth LLC FREE

 King Rabbit comes from RareSloth LLC. It came out in 2016 and I found it by searching for another game. The object is to push boxes around like in Sokoban to discover gold bars and then eventually rescue the queen.

 There are many interesting elements.
1. The buzz saw which, when activated, will chop down trees, and maybe Your Man.
2. Moving platforms to get Your Man across the water.

I've only solved about 25 levels which barely scratches the surface of this game. I'm running away.


If the game had better graphics, I might stay a while longer.


The puzzles themselves, are good.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/king-rabbit/id1073389796?mt=8

ROBOGOYO by Csharks Games & Solutions Pvt Ltd FREE

 ROBOGOYO  comes from Csharks Games & Solutions Pvt Ltd. It's a very colorful version of the class Chinese Rings puzzle.

The number of moves to free the shuttle is a geometric sequence dependent on the number of moves. As a puzzle, it's not hard. The blacksmith at Tucker-Jones Tavern Puzzles told me that he could imagine sailors on very long journeys wanting this puzzle to have many rings.


Overall, ROBOGOYO is a good representation of this puzzle. But this puzzle begs to be handled.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/robogoyo/id1404239743?mt=8

Cool Circuits: Electronic Puzzle $29.95

Cool Circuits is an electronic puzzle developed by Harry Nelson and Hiroshi Yamamoto.  The object is to place the 8 squiggly pieces onto the board to form a closed loop.  When you are successful, the board lights up and some classical music is your reward.

Games Magazine awarded it as the Puzzle of the Year in 2013.  This game's been on my mind for 5 years! But I've finally gotten around to it.

I've tackled 27 of the 40 levels. Multiple times I peeked at the solutions to get a hint.

There is a sequel called Cool Circuits Over the top. Which mysteriously is not on the company website.  I have the game but have not played it yet.  It won't take another 5 years.

http://www.sciencewiz.com/Games/science_thinking_Games_Cool_Circuits.php

Reigns by Devolver Digital $2.99

 Reigns comes from Devolver Digital. The App Store Editors have had it listed in their 'Games We Love' section for a while. Unquestionably, this is a weird game/puzzle.  The object is to stay alive as long as possible by balancing the 4 powers at the top of each screen: the church, the people, your power, and your money.  If any of these gets to zero or gets completely filled, your Reign is over.

Cards are revealed one at a time. For each card, you have 2 choices. Sometimes they will affect 1, 2, 3, or even all 4 powers. Not always predictable. For example: is borrowing money at 5% good or bad for the kingdom's finances?


On the leaderboard, there are over 900,000 players, which means the producers have made a boatload of money!  Also, the top scorer has lived 666 years.  My guess: that player has played this game a hundred times and recorded the outcome of each card TWICE (because there are 2 options for each card). Then played it to perfection.


This is one game that may have actually consulted a History Major to incorporate all the weirdest scenarios that monarchs have faced over the centuries.


Graphics: not very good.  Consider the fact that there are so many artists who create their own Tarot Card decks with fantastic art.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/reigns/id1114127463?mt=8

Kubos. by Abel Galvan FREE

Kubos. comes from Abel Galvan.  It's a 3D maze game.  The orange block will travel until it hits a wall. The puzzle is solved when the red button is hit.

 There are 40 free levels and 40 paid ones.  I solved the free levels pretty quickly.  I struggled on level 34 (4th image).

I particularly like the puzzles that have 2 orange blocks and 2 red buttons.

Good job Abel!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kubos/id1404372764?mt=8

supertype by Philipp Stollenmayer $1.99

 supertype comes from Philipp Stollenmayer. All of Philipp's games are clever physics puzzles with wondrous charm. The object in this game is to type specific letters so that when they fall, they crash into the correct targets.

There are 111 levels. At the moment, I've done about 50 levels.  Some of the solutions made me laugh. This game is to be savored.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/supertype/id1349292121?mt=8




Some of Philipp's other games
okay?
Zip-Zap
Squaredance

Puzzler in the News

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-29-syrian-refugee-games-developer-denied-uk-visa-ahead-of-awards-ceremony

Slide Puzzle. NikSan Tech FREE

Slide Puzzle. comes from NikSan Tech. The object is to slide the numbers to their correct spot.


Green tiles are good. Red tiles: need to be shunted around.

There are 500 levels, which is way too many.  I've done about 75 levels.


If you're the type of puzzler who is looking to solve while making the fewest moves, this game is for you.


Relaxing game. If you want more of a challenge, look for Subway Shuffle.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/slide-puzzle/id1410193506?mt=8

Solve - Decrypt Logic Kyung-Hun Kim FREE

Solve - Decrypt Logic comes from Kyung-Hun Kim. It's one of those games where each level is a completely different puzzle. Can you figure it out. Hints are available.

I don't know how many levels there are.  The concept has been done before. Still, it's interesting.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/solve-decrypt-logic/id1395411687?mt=8

logi. by ÇİZGİOFİSİ $.99

 logi. comes from ÇİZGİOFİSİ. At first, it seems like another laser/rolling ball, with mirrors/bumpers, maze puzzle. But it's much more and very cool.

The blue bumpers can be rotated.
The red bumpers can be rotated, but once the ball taps that bumper, it disappears.
The orange squares are basic walls. Unless there's an X inside. If that's the case, it will act as a red bumper after being hit.
The gear bumper rotates 90 degrees after it's hit.
The green bumpers are dotted on one side, solid on the other.  If the ball approaches on the dotted side, it will pass through as if there is no bumper.
The orange square with the double arrow: when it's hit, will advance 1 space in the direction of the arrow.


There are 70 levels, at the moment.  I've done all 70.  Not impossibly hard. But definitely tricky clever.


Great graphics. Great job.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/logi/id1397173114?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.logi.game&hl=en_US
http://cizgiofisi.com/

Rolling Bolts - Logic Puzzles by LÖVLUND INNOVATION AB FREE

 Rolling Bolts - Logic Puzzles  comes from LÖVLUND INNOVATION AB. It's a gear puzzle where the object is to rotate the sections to match the rims.

1. All the gears are connected.
2. Each gear can rotate in either direction. A key element to solve is changing the direction in between moves.
3. The fewer moves, the more stars to accumulate.
4. The big gears move once per move.  The smaller gears move two steps for each move.
5. The smallest gears move 5 spaces. In essence, they're really just moving 1 space, but in the opposite direction.


I like this game.  However, there are ads. Also, I had accumulated a certain number of stars to open the next section.....and mysteriously, my stars were gone and I had to start over again. Another problem: you have to swipe across a gear to make it change direction. Unfortunately, when doing so, you might actually tap it and make a move. This happens more on the tiny gears.


I like the concept. The graphics are okay.  But it's not clicking with me.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rolling-bolts-logic-puzzles/id1376024301?mt=8

Hexa Knot by Michal Gorny FREE

Hexa Knot comes from Michal Gorny.  The object is to swap tiles so that all the edges match and various loops are formed.

There are 500 levels broken into grid sizes of Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, and Huge.


I've been cruising through the Tiny levels. Fast and fun.  The Small levels are not that small!
I've also done a few of the 'Huge'.
Hexa Knot is very relaxing.


Well done Michal.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hexa-knot/id1406776241?mt=8

turn, by Adem KAYIRCI FREE

 turn, comes from Adem KAYIRCI. I like this puzzle developer.  See links to his other games below.  The object in this game is to get the arrows to match the image above.

The puzzle is similar to Rubik's Clock where turning one arrow will turn its neighbors in the opposite direction.


There are 3 modes, each with 60 levels. In the first mode: all the elements are straight lines. As a result, there are only 4 positions for each space. I've done 52 levels.


The second mode: each element is an angle that opens and closes. Each element has 8 distinct positions.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/turn/id1168647642?mt=8

Flow Water Fountain 3D Puzzle by Maria Vegas Gallego FREE

 Flow Water Fountain 3D Puzzle comes from Maria Vegas Gallego. The object is to transport the different colored water faucets to the matching fountains.

 What makes this game particularly interesting is that the elements can be stacked.

 There are 250 levels, of which 150 are free.  On the 50 Easy levels, I definitely struggled on the last 5. I'm stuck on #50.

 Right above this text is level 6 from the Mix set. Right below is the solution.

The graphics are great. The hidden pipes in the blocks definitely add a good 'aha' piece. The puzzles are challenging but not overly so. I'm doing the Mix levels now. A few a day. Give it a try.




https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flow-water-fountain-3d-puzzle/id1391824875?mt=8
http://frasingo.wixsite.com/flowwaterfountain
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Frasinapp.waterfountain

Real Life Escape Room

We've been traveling in the Lone Star State and pulled out of a Walmart to find a storefront called The Great Escape of Corpus Christie.  We were lucky that one of their 3 rooms 'The Heist' was available.

The Heist 

Pierre De La Vie, considered to be “The Stone of Life,” is the most coveted stone in the whole word. The Pierre De La Vie was thought to have been lost for centuries.  The precious stone has finally been found and is now on display in a private collector’s museum. The first team has already gone in and disabled the security system for sixty minutes.  Now it is up to you and your team to go in and finish the job! Will you succeed?

We stole the gem within 60 minutes. Actually, they gave us some bonus minutes because we were so close.


The proprietors have explicitly asked that we not reveal anything.  But, we can say this: it cost $85 for 3 people, which included the promo codes. The puzzles incorporated a wide variety of genres. 


The set was decorated superbly.  It felt like being in a movie. The Hot Rock from 1972 comes to mind.
During the game, we were in walkie-talkie mode with the game facilitator who offered us hints if we needed them.  We did!  Afterwards we debriefed and they were a little surprised that we didn't ask for a specific hint. Reason: there was a mechanical puzzle that I knew very well. I think it's in my collection.


The ending had us laughing and we left with big smiles. These folks have 2 more escape rooms and hopefully, we'll do another.






http://thegreatescapeofcc.com/