The Birdcage by Kaarel Kirsipuu Partly FREE

 The Birdcage comes from Kaarel Kirsipuu. If you're a fan of The Room, then you'll like this game. 

This game is much the same.  I downloaded the free version and played through the first 10 levels.  Took about an hour. There are 25 levels altogether.

The artwork is stunning. The puzzles are okay. There is a vague story going on via letters that you pick up.  My guess is that they're irrelevant until level 25.

This game is great for non-puzzlers. Serious puzzlers  will laugh out how predictable some of the puzzles are: solve edge-matching puzzle, open box and find a gear.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-birdcage/id1187858976?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobigrow.thebirdcage
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJ829Z9/ref=sr_1_28?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1539002286&sr=1-28

ReMaze by Bolton Winpenny FREE

 Bolton Winpenny recently contacted me about his puzzle app ReMaze.  It's not a traditional maze game.  The object is to move the balls to their colored squares. 

 How do the balls move? This is the essence of the game.  Tap your finger on any cell within the gray grid. Balls along that spot's x and y axes, will travel to that spot and merge.  More often than not, you do not want merges to happen.

Look at the first image. The sequence to solve:
1. In the bottom section, combine the red & yellow to make orange. Then bring it to the orange square.
2. The bottom red ball can pass through the red bars. But watch out for the green ball. So move the green ball to the left once, and then up once.
3. Now move the red ball to its home.
4.  Since red is home, the red bars disappear. Next up is blue and green.
5. Blue and green must get home simultaneously. In this scenario, this can only happen if they are on different axes. Green is nicely lined up already.  Move blue one space to the left. Tap on the blue/green home and both will arrive at the same time.
6. This releases the green bar and the yellow ball can go home.

Remaze gets very complicated when targets require 4 balls. No hints from me.

There are 50 levels and I solved them all! Which is high praise from me.  Level 48 took the longest. It's the third image.

What could be better:
1. There  is no undo button! I played this on my phone and so many times tapped the wrong space. Arrrrr!
2.  How about adding a wormhole?
3.  How about adding a spike on the grid: if a white ball hits it, 3 balls emerge: yellow, blue & red.

50 levels is an ideal # to have.  Since the game is free and has no ads, I would welcome purchasing 50 more levels.

Note to Bolton: add a screen of confetti when all the levels are solved.  After that: add a note that asks for a donation. Great job!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/remaze/id1449530215?mt=8

Quantum 3 by Michigan State University GEL Lab

   Quantum 3  by Michigan State University GEL Lab. Description from the App Store:

Quantum 3 is an educational match-3 game for all ages where fun meets quantum physics! Build subatomic particles, learn about the mysteries of fundamental physics and deploy antimatter to clear the way! You'll match and swap quarks to make (and learn about) the baryons you need for each objective. Puzzle out the quantum properties of color, flavor and spin. So get in there and start your quantum-venture! Quantum 3 is puzzle-matching at its finest and a great intro to the world of particle physics!

The game is free-to-play with no in-app purchases.

The game is developed at Michigan State University by the Games for Entertainment and Learning Lab and is funded under grant PHY 1653405 by the National Science Foundation.

Some thoughts:
1. It's not a 'match-3' game where you must join 3 reds.  Rather, you might have to join 2 reds and a blue while also matching 2 greens and a red.
2. See the black hexagons? They move to the bottom and disappear by using the hexagons below them. This is essential to getting more hexagons into the picture.
3. By coincidence, I'm reading A Hole in Texas by Herman Wouk, which is about the Chinese finding Higgs Boson and developing a 'Boson Bomb'.

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/quantum-3/id1406630529
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gellab.quantum3&hl=en

Best Fiends by Seriously FREE

 I saw Best Fiends via a tv commercial.  I love the fact that a puzzle app game can make so much money and become popular.

Best Fiends starts out as a 'match-3'game. Certain goals must be achieved.  It morphs into more complicated tasks.

This game is highly polished. Things get difficult and you are encouraged often to upgrade and buy stuff.  It's following in the footsteps of Candy Crush.

According to Seriously, this game has been downloaded 80,000,000 times.  Not bad.  But this is not a game for true puzzlers.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/best-fiends-puzzle-adventure/id868013618

Cage It by Marcelo Pars FREE

Marcelo Pars recently contacted me about his newest puzzle game Cage It.  It's a pipe game where the object is to swivel each pipe within its location to make one big connection.

We've seen numerous pipe games before. But I believe this is the first time it's been done in 3D.

There are 200 levels and I've done about 25 of the them, including the last few which took about 25 minutes per level.

Last year I blogged about Marcelo's game Save Planet Cube, which I really liked.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cage-it/id1439556953
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.marcelopars.cageit

Marcelo's other games
Save Planet Cube
Cube Loop
Cubicks Free

Isoland by COTTONGAME Network Technology Co., Ltd. $.99

Isoland comes from COTTONGAME Network Technology Co., Ltd. It's an adventure/puzzle game. The premise: you're on an island and must solve random puzzles to figure things out.

The artwork is great.  The puzzles are not too hard.

The artwork is great.
Two puzzles are solved by simply asking the stray people on the island. Totally lame. I've never seen a more ridiculous solution on any puzzle in any game.

Ridiculous: once you've solved everything, you must restart the game to experience a few new puzzles and the true ending.

From the App Store:

My Game Was Different

I really love the game, the graphics, the story... all of it. But my adventure was different. The 6 golden triangles were not available to me neither was the red little disc thing and other little things. I don't know if that is intentional or if it's the model of my iPhone. At the ending I had, I realized there were still several puzzles that I didn't complete which will probably give me a different ending if I can figure them out. Regardless- LOVED IT! And will for sure get the next one.

Developer Response,07/16/2018

actually，you can get 6 triangles and the red disc，but，you must had finished this game once first，and restart it again 。you are going to get a new game experience，moreover，you can find the ture ending

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/isoland/id1134805859?mt=8
http://www.cottongame.com/

Look over the Edge by Yury Koshechkin FREE

Yury Koshechkin recently contacted me about his game Look over the Edge. The object is to get Your Man, the little cube, to the house.

Tap on Your Man once, and he turns left. Tap again, he turns right. Then left, then right.  Your Man can never make 2 consecutive right or left turns.

Your Man can go over the edge and around the block.
Some features:
1. The purple sections act as ice: no turns allowed.
2.  The blue sections will shatter - Your Man will fall straight through.
3. At any time, the game can be paused and the scene can be zoomed out - in order to better see the whole picture.
4. The brown sections act as a bridge to another section. I recall one clever puzzle which required using the bridge, then turning around to take the bridge back.
5. Some sections (not sure what color), reaching the edge makes Your Man reverse course.
6. Look at the 2nd image. That's level 36, which I've been stuck on for about 2 weeks.

Look over the Edge has 3 great elements going for it. First, the levels are cleverly designed. Second, the graphics are very good. Third, and most importantly, the levels progress at a gentle pace so that anybody can quickly get into this. This game is a winner.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/look-over-the-edge/id1441652446
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qaibo.EDGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgYa3moxT1I  Watch a preview
http://www.qaibo.com/

1234 Number logic puzzle game by MagicAnt,Inc

 1234 Number logic puzzle game comes from MagicAnt,Inc. The object is to connect all the numbers, while figuring out where the missing numbers go.

This type of puzzle has been done using hexagonal grids. I have a booklet of those and they're called Rikudo.

Regarding this particular puzzle: there are 100 levels (more coming soon). I solved them all very fast. They're too easy.  Definitely good for youngster puzzlers.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/1234-number-logic-puzzle-game/id1449671026?mt=8

Spectre Mind: Rotating Cube by Spectre Limited FREE

Spectre Mind: Rotating Cube by Spectre Limited. It's a game that tests your memory and your spatial reasoning.  The game flashes 2 or more ghost tiles. Memorize their location. Take as much time as you need for that. Then tap the screen and the ghosts will disappear and the board will either rotate or flip over. Can you find the ghosts?

I have not played this game very much. But it does seem fun. 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectre-mind-rotating-cube/id1442175647?mt=8

Smack - The Puzzle Game by Ai Ayatsuji FREE

Smack - The Puzzle Game comes from Ai Ayatsuji. The object is to slide the balls along the grid to knock out other balls. If you can end up with only 1 ball, you've won.

This game is extremely similar to Fling!  Long term Loyal Blog Followers will remember this from 2010 when I first reviewed it.

I even posted an update.

So I just redownloaded Fling!  Smack is okay, but the graphics are just nowhere near as good as Fling!  Both games are free.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smack-the-puzzle-game/id1447871235?mt=8

Color Rings! by Sphere Game Studios

 Color Rings! comes from Sphere Game Studios. We've seen this type of game in the past several times, but not in a while.  The object is to tap on any ring, which will fire 1 missile in each direction, setting off a chain reaction.

The red rings need to be hit once.
The orange rings need to be hit twice.
Yellow 3 times
Green 4 times.
Purple 5 times.

The essential point in this puzzle is which rings to tap. Then do trial and error. 

There are 100 levels.  I did the first 25 in about 10 minutes. I'm around level 40 now.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/color-rings/id1448795214?mt=8

Tangled Networks by Timothy Dayman FREE

Tangled Networks comes from Timothy Dayman. When I saw the images, I thought it might be similar to Subway Shuffle. It's not.  Tangled Networks is actually a speed/reflex game where the object is to untangle the colored cords one by one before time runs out.

This is definitely an interesting game.  I like the graphics too.
Odd: I've done level 23 5 times, but the program is not giving me any stars and is not letting me go on to level 24.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tangled-networks/id1370268236?mt=8

Algemy 2: All Gemmy by Kenny Young

 Algemy 2: All Gemmy comes from Kenny Young. He produced another version of this early last year and I liked it. See my review.

The new game is much the same. Except it now has 140,000 levels.  I like this game.  But 100 levels is probably enough.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/algemy-2-all-gemmy/id1438821105?mt=8

Glowing Balls - a ripoff

Do you remember the game Leapin' Lizards from Binary Arts (now known as ThinkFun)?

Glowing Balls by Saud Ahmed is an exact copy of this game.  Not surprisingly, it has exactly 40 levels.

Issues:

1. Leapin' Lizards is no longer available. But you can play a free version of this via Glowing Balls.
2. Is Saud Ahmed going to pay Larry Nichols royalties?

Poor Larry Nichols invented a 2x2x2 version of a twisty puzzle. Erno Rubik later invented a 3x3x3 version.  Nichols sued and lost. 

There's no way Nichols will sue Saud Ahmed. Primarily because Saud Ahmed is not going to make any money off his game.  He's only making money from ads.  Which won't amount to much.

See for yourself:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/glowing-balls/id1448455524?mt=8

Block Slide - Puzzle Game by Hubert Jolly FREE

Block Slide - Puzzle Game comes from Hubert Jolly. It's a point scoring puzzle app game. 

His description: Slide the red box and push the other blocks to form a line and clear them up. The more blocks you clear, the more points you get! Challenge and compete against your friends to become #1!

It’s harder than it sounds! Be the first to reach 200!

My thoughts: it took me a while to understand the rules and score any points.  After I scored 30 points, I thought: that was great. But according to the Leaderboard, not so good.  My high score is 150.  This game can definitely become addictive.  Unfortunately, it has ads
.https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/block-slide-puzzle-game/id1440422342?mt=8

Kakuro++ Cross Sums by Chaviro Software FREE

 Kakuro++ Cross Sums comes from Chaviro Software.  I've been a fan of Kakuro since 1989 when it was called Cross Sums.

This particular game has 1430 levels in 11 categories of difficulty.

It's free and there are no ads.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kakuro-cross-sums/id1445001139?mt=8

Bits & Pieces - Word Puzzle by Matthew Wood FREE

Bits & Pieces - Word Puzzle comes from Matthew Wood. The idea is to find 2 letters that slot into the 2 partial words.  Do that 5 times and discover a 10 letter new word.

I like this game. It's free!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bits-pieces-word-puzzle/id1426612726?mt=8

Untangle • by Aman Kapoor FREE

Untangle comes from Aman Kapoor.  It's a 'minimalist' game of puzzles where the object is to send diamonds along paths to their final destinations and hopefully not make them crash.

1. The sequence is vital.
2. Some diamonds move in pairs.
3. Some diamonds can only travel on an odd or even move counter.

I completed all the levels a few days ago. Not sure how many: maybe 40.

Unfortunately, I cannot open the program anymore!  Nor can I access the itunes link! So I cannot post any pictures.

If this game becomes available again, give it a a shot.  It's free.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/untangle/id1445131520?mt=8

artist of the year

Never Ending Square Dissection puzzle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo68uOyJRpo&fbclid=IwAR1sY3QeXFdWIGCQnGDRLjjlC91SXbMKRSvM3cqTMlAZ4p9binT5LLVnPAo&app=desktop

This is quite remarkable

2018 PAGY Award Winners

The PAGY Awards were established in 2011 to honor the best Puzzle Apps Games of the Year.

The 2018 Award Winners: 

Must Solve All the Levels

* Humbug

* Dissembler

* Mindom

Golf Peaks

ELOH

ColorFold

Bring Me Cakes

Charge It Cute Puzzle

* Push Blox

logi

Up Left Out

Scalak

* Puzzlement

* Cohex

* red (game)

Quaddro 2

Math Puzzles

* Pluszle: Brain Logic

If, Then

* Cotrio

Golden Sum

* PuzzleNum

Strange Story Puzzles

Reigns

Rusty Lake Paradise

Rusty Lake Roots

Rusty Lake Hotel

Able Black

Word Puzzles

Antitype

Subwords

Five 20

* supertype

Only 3 Words

Hard!

Top Logic

Block Dock!

Falling Moods

Color Link!

* The Sequence [2]

LVL

turn,

Bloki

* Huetopia

Burn Mind

Cosmic Express

Not too hard, but fun

-look-

Blockuku

Cube Puzzler

Number Link - Link Number dots

Mislead

Hexa Knot

Maze Cube Gravity

Hexologic

unblock lights

Qroon

Stack & Crack

Lotus Romance

Algemy

Colorzzle

Unpuzzle

Pop Color Puzzle Smash

PixelMaze

Tents and Trees

Artistic

* Save Planet Cube

vovu

* Logic Path!

Kubos

Flow Water Fountain

SiNKR

Levity

Test Your Reflexes

Smallest <

Exiled Digits

A Hollow Doorway

Point Scoring

* Favo!

9 Maker

Fuse5

It's a Trap!

* Chessumo

2017 PAGY Awards

2016 PAGY Awards

2015 PAGY Awards

2014 PAGY Awards

2013 PAGY Awards

2012 PAGY Awards

2011 PAGY Awards

Mindom by Peng Wan FREE

 Mindom comes from Peng Wan. It's a gem. The object is to move the yellow square in the bottom grid to control the blue square in the grid above and get to its destination.

More advanced levels include a sokoban element with wormhole for either the yellow or blue squares. 

What's particularly interesting is that sometimes the grid below is smaller than the one above. It leads to some very interesting puzzles.

There are some 400 levels.  At the moment I've done about 120.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mindom/id1256841183?mt=8

Golf Peaks by Lukasz Spierewka $2.99

 Loyal Blog Follower Robert point this interesting game out to me: Golf Peaks by Lukasz Spierewka. It's a very solid game where the object is pretty obvious.

Look at the 2nd image.  On the bottom are 5 cards. Your task is to figure out which card to use, and in which order, and in which direction to aim the ball, to reach the goal. A  number that's underlined with a 3 means that the ball will travel 3 spaces.  If a 1 has a loop around and above it, that means that the ball will jump.  Used for sandtraps and the like.

Golf Peaks is essentially a maze game. There are 72 levels (4 rounds of golf).  I've done 36.

There's a lot to like about this game: the graphics are good. The puzzles are challenging. But all the levels can be solved almost blindly with trial and error. I'm not feeling compelled to complete them all.  This is a very very solid game.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/golf-peaks/id1419542293?mt=8  $2.99

https://store.steampowered.com/app/923260/Golf_Peaks/ $4.99

https://afterburn.itch.io/golf-peaks  $4.99

Flow Free: Warps! Update

Check out my progress in Flow Free: Warps!

Unquestionably, some of these were tough and took a while.

I started playing this game a little more than a year ago. Now it's become a habit to solve the daily puzzles first thing in the morning.

https://gottasolveit.blogspot.com/2017/11/flow-free-warps-by-big-duck-games-llc.html