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PuzzleNation App Review: Spy Mouse

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Welcome to the fifth edition of PuzzleNation App Reviews! Today we continue our quest to explore the world of puzzly games and apps for your tablet or smartphone!

Our resident App player and puzzle fiend Sherri has another intriguing game for us today, so without further ado, let’s dive into her review of Spy Mouse for iPad, iPhone, and Android devices!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to assume the role of Agent Squeak and to gather as much cheese as you can, all the while evading stealthy cats…

Spy Mouse is an action-packed strategy game for iOS that is great for the logical mind.

This is a great game. I am a huge James Bond fan, so playing as a mouse spy was right up my ally. The game is divided into several worlds, and each world is divided into 12 levels, one of which is a secret level. In order to open up later worlds, you need to collect a certain number of blue ribbons.

Each level consists of a building in which you must gather all of the cheese while eluding cats that don’t want you to escape. To earn the three ribbons per level, you really need to think logically. You have to plot just the right path around the cats to get the cheese and attain those coveted ribbons. Luckily, you don’t have to earn all those ribbons in one shot, as earning some of those ribbons can be quite tricky! You need patience, and you need to think very strategically.

All of that cheese is gathered for a very good reason. You can buy power-ups with your earned cheese that will help you in your quest to earn those ribbons and get more cheese! You buy the power-ups from Digger the Dog, who is quite the salesdog.

This game also has one element that sets it apart from many other strategic level games. Each world ends with a boss battle! These boss battles touched the RPG bone in me, and I quite enjoyed playing them.

Spy Mouse has so much to offer to the puzzle game lover. You have hidden areas to explore in each level and dossiers to collect. If you connect to Facebook, you have a secret level to open in each world, too. There are many achievements to earn and just a lot of fun to be had, so go get your secret agent on and go be a spy!

Ratings for Spy Mouse:

  • Enjoyability: 4/5 — This is a very cute game. I enjoyed playing Agent Squeak and outsmarting the cats.
  • How well puzzles are incorporated: 4/5 — This game requires a lot of strategy. In order to earn all of the blue ribbons, you need to logically plot your route around the cats.
  • Graphics: 4/5 — The graphics are great. Agent Squeak is adorable, and the cats are suitably menacing, but still cute. The rooms are rendered beautifully, if a bit simply. This is not a flat game.
  • Gameplay: 4/5 — There are three different ribbons to earn for each level, and there are several worlds to play. This is a game that will keep you on your toes for quite a while.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!

PuzzleNation App Review: Puppy Sanctuary

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Welcome to our fourth edition of PuzzleNation App Reviews! Today we continue our quest to explore the world of puzzly games and apps for your tablet or smartphone!

Our resident App player and puzzle fiend Sherri has another intriguing game for us today, so without further ado, let’s dive into her review of Puppy Sanctuary for the iPad and iPhone!

If you enjoy cute and adorable puppies, then Puppy Sanctuary is the game for you. It is a match-3 iOS game (in the vein of Candy Crush) that is much more than a simple match-3 game.

Puppy Island has been invaded! Your mission, should you accept it, is to rescue the trapped puppies and keep them safe and happy in your sanctuary. This is an incredible game, seeming so simple yet surprisingly complex. It starts off as a match-3 game and morphs into something much more interactive.

You can play the game in a relaxed or timed mode. To rescue the puppies, you have to remove all of the red tiles from the game board by making matches of 3 or more tiles.

You can swap tiles in any direction, and you create power-ups when you make matches of 4 or more. The longer the match, the stronger the power-up. In these levels, your matches fill an energy meter that, once full, you use to blast a large chunk of tiles. Once the red tiles are gone, the puppy is rescued and placed in your sanctuary.

There is more to do in this game than just rescuing puppies. You have gem levels where you earn gems to spend in the sanctuary store and you earn special gifts. In these levels, you match the gems in groups of 3 or more in order to drop the gifts to the bottom of the board.

This game also has hidden object levels, where you earn food, water, and other stores for your puppies. You can also find hidden gems in these levels. Yet another level type is the bubble shooter. In these levels, you must stop an alien from creating a puppy trap. If you have a ball you can’t use, you can shoot the alien!

The levels get progressively more complex as you progress in the game, so the game boards don’t get stale. Also, once you have saved puppies, your saved puppies keep the trapped puppy company at the bottom of the board. You can even interact with the pups, and they will do tricks!

All that makes for a great game and I haven’t even gotten to the sanctuary part of the yet!

Once you have saved some puppies, they get placed in a sanctuary where it’s your goal to keep them happy. With the gems you accumulate, you can buy toys and decorations for them. The decorations get placed in the sanctuary, and you use the toys to interact with the pups. Tapping on each puppy will bring up its profile and heart meter. A full heart meter makes for a very happy puppy.

There is just so much to do in this game that I cannot see how one can get bored playing. The game map is awesome. Each variety of level has an icon, so you can see what level is coming, and each level provides a preview. There is just so much more to see and do with this game. I just cannot recommend this game more.

Ratings for Puppy Sanctuary:

  • Enjoyability: 5/5 — I loved this game. The puppies are absolutely adorable, and there are a good variety of game types.
  • How well puzzles are incorporated: 4/5 — With the variety of game styles and challenges, this is much more than a match-3 game.
  • Graphics: 4/5 — The puppies are distinctive and have their own personalities, and the game boards are eye-catching and interactive.
  • Gameplay: 5/5 — There is so much to do in this game and one shouldn’t get bored.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!

PuzzleNation App Reviews: Point 2 Point

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Welcome to our third edition of PuzzleNation App Reviews! Today we continue our quest to explore the world of puzzly games and apps for your tablet or smartphone!

Our resident App player and puzzle fiend Sherri has another intriguing game for us today, so without further ado, let’s dive into her review of Point 2 Point!

If you enjoy pure puzzle games, then Point 2 Point is the game for you. This iOS game is essentially one puzzle with varying levels of difficulty.

Normally, I prefer games with more graphics than this one, but the simplicity of it lured me in. The “point” of the game is to connect all the points in each level without crossing the lines. Each point has a numerical value that represents the number of connections you must make. Each collection of levels is called a pack.

I played the introductory pack, and it kept me engaged. The game started off very simply, but as the levels progressed — some with movable dark blue points — they grew more and more difficult. For each completed level, you earned 1, 2, or 3 stars based on your proficiency.

While I prefer games with more puzzle variety and a greater emphasis on striking graphics, I was drawn into this game. I wanted to match the points and earn 3 stars for each level, and I nearly did that! Some of the levels, even in the introductory pack, were really tricky! This game really works your brain and makes you think. You really have to puzzle out the best way to connect the points.

Ratings for Point 2 Point:

  • Enjoyability: 3/5 – it isn’t a spectacular game but it is interesting and really makes you think; its joy lies in its simplicity
  • How well puzzles are incorporated: 5/5 – it is all about puzzles. You have to puzzle out how to connect the number of points to get to the maximum number of stars in each level.
  • Graphics: 1/5 – the graphics are simply lines and points, but the simplicity doesn’t distract at all from the game
  • Gameplay: 3/5 – it’s a deceptively simple game that really challenges your mind, but it really is just one puzzle repeated several times. There isn’t much variety, but the increasing difficulty keeps the game fresh.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!

PuzzleNation Product Reviews: Collide-O-Cube and Rudenko’s Disk

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The folks at Brainwright specialize in puzzles intended for younger solvers, but with enough challenge and style to keep older solvers busy as well. From curiously cut jigsaws to color-based deduction puzzles, they take classic puzzle concepts and add their own curious spin to create new puzzle experiences.

They offered us the chance to try out two of their puzzles for the younger puzzling set, and we put them to the full PuzzleNation Blog test.

Collide-O-Cube looks simple — after all, it’s just eight identical multicolored blocks — but plenty of great puzzles appear simple, yet offer seemingly endless variation and challenges the more you tinker with them.

You see, the eight Collide-O-Cube blocks aren’t quite identical. Each one contains a unique pattern of magnets inside that offers another level to the solving process as you try to recreate the several dozen cube patterns in the challenge booklet included. This makes for a curious solving experience that combines pattern recognition, deduction, and patience as you play around with blocks until the solution snaps into place.

Although designed for kids ages 8 and up, adults will certainly enjoy fiddling with Collide-O-Cube, and I suspect kids will spend as much time creating their own puzzly patterns and shapes with the blocks as they will solving the various cube puzzles.

Rudenko’s Disk, on the other hand, is more in the vein of a sliding tile game; a marvelous, colorful, self-contained version of the classic Tower of Hanoi puzzle, Rudenko’s Disk challenges the solver to move various colored posts along the track in order to recreate the color pattern along the side of the disk.

Again, this seems simple enough, but Rudenko’s Disk includes a crafty wrinkle to the solving process: each colored post clicks into place when in a spot with a matching color.

So, for instance, the orange post can only go as far to the left, right, or center as the orange circle, and no further. You can’t place the orange post on the yellow, the green, the blues, or the purple. But you can place the dark blue post on any circle between dark blue and red. (Only the purple is off-limits for the dark blue post.) A strategic chain-solving puzzle lurks within the simple sliding mechanic.

Rudenko’s Disk could be a little off-putting or frustrating for the youngest solvers among us — similar to another color-based puzzle of some renown, Rubik’s Cube, but not nearly as daunting.

These are two intriguing examples of color-based puzzles, but they’re very different solving experiences. Collide-O-Cube’s hidden magnets add a delightful bit of unexpected randomness and chaos to what would otherwise be a simple pattern-matching game — making for a puzzle that encourages fiddling around the blocks in open play — while Rudenko’s Disk’s rigid mechanics require solvers to be a bit more tactical.

But both puzzles are immensely satisfying when the solution clicks into place.

I think Brainwright‘s formula of familiar puzzles with new touches and complications is a recipe for continued success and puzzly fun.

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!

PuzzleNation Reviews: Cirkusu (by Baffledazzle)

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In our most recent edition of 5 Questions, I introduced you to Rachel Happen, the puzzler behind Baffledazzle, a Kickstarter to create high-end jigsaw puzzles that are aesthetically pleasing and more challenging than the average puzzle.

She sent us a review copy of one of the five initial Baffledazzle puzzles she’s created, so let’s give Cirkusu the full PuzzleNation review treatment!

[Note: This is intended as a spoiler-light review, so while I do discuss the completed puzzles in vague terms, I won’t include any pictures of completed puzzles.]

Cirkusu is a series of jigsaw puzzles centered around the history of games. It’s up to the solver to complete each puzzle, and once they’re assembled, to unravel the identities of each game.

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[A fleet of puzzle pieces awaits the solver upon opening the box.]

First off, these pieces are beautiful. The wooden pieces are well cut, visually interesting, and simply fun to play with. Despite the curious shapes and inscribed patterns, it’s still a very challenging jigsaw-style puzzle. And since there’s no picture on the cover to bias the solver, it becomes a matter of matching words, patterns, and different fonts in order to solve the seven puzzles included.

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[Just a small sample of the variety of Cirkusu puzzle pieces.]

Each puzzle is inscribed with text, presenting historical context for the game’s creation or rules on how to play, enriching the solving experience and offering clues for the second part of the solve: determining each game’s identity.

Also included are numerous miscellaneous bits and bobs, made from wood, plastic, acrylic, and other materials. These allow some of the puzzles to become full playable games, encouraging the solver to experiment further with different play styles, perhaps even inventing your own game along the way toward figuring out the actual game. (Other puzzles explain how to create a given game on your own, even providing blueprints for how to do so.)

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[A close-up of a few individual pieces.]

What separates a Baffledazzle puzzle from the average jigsaw is not only the fine craftsmanship and attention to detail, but also the exploration each puzzle encourages. You can hit the library or take to the Internet in order to find out more about the puzzles, or you can play with the games and make it your own. You dictate when the puzzling experience ends (particularly when there are hint and solution envelopes included).

Solving the puzzle becomes one part of a greater journey. And that makes for a truly memorable solving experience.

[You can check out all of Rachel’s Baffledazzle puzzles, including Cirkusu, on her Kickstarter page.]

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!

PuzzleNation Product Reviews: Loonacy

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loonacy

Looney Labs is a game company with a creative model everyone can get behind: high replay value through wildly interactive, adaptable game play. Perhaps best known for their card game Fluxx, Looney Labs games are designed for portability, packing a lot of punch into smaller, more efficient packaging.

Their latest release is Loonacy, a pattern-matching card game that requires quick reflexes, a quicker eye, and no small amount of strategy.

In Loonacy, players compete to drop all of the cards in their hand by dropping them one-at-a-time into various piles by matching one of two symbols on the card. For instance, if you’ve got a card with a cookie and a brain on it, you can drop that card onto a pile with a cookie on top or a brain on top.

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You can try to strategize by arranging cards into your hand by symbol or possible chains — brain/cookie, cookie/ship, ship/puppy — but you have to play each card individually before you can drop the next card. And since everyone is racing to empty their hands at the same time, it can rapidly become a very chaotic playing experience.

(And in your enthusiasm, you’ll probably end up bending a few cards. Hey, it happens.)

But there is an element of strategy to the gameplay. If you have multiple cards with a cookie, you’ll want to play the card where the other symbol doesn’t help your opponents. (For instance, if there’s already a brain symbol showing and no one can play on it, play the cookie/brain card.)

That way, you can play your second (and hopefully, your third) cookie cards in a row and decrease the number of cards in your hand in a hurry. Of course, if someone drops their card on top of that cookie card, your strategy might go right out the window.

But that’s part of the fun. Loonacy tests observation, reflexes, and decision-making skill, all in the matter of a few minutes per game.

While it’s light on the puzzling, it’s high in charm, replay factor, and style. The sheer number of potential images to match makes this far more interesting than the average card game or pattern-matching challenge.

Looney Labs has a winner on their hands with Loonacy. I suspect it’ll be a big hit on Saturday during our International TableTop Day celebrations at home.

[Click here to check out our reviews of several other Looney Labs products!]

Thanks for visiting PuzzleNation Blog today! You can share your pictures with us on Instagram, friend us on Facebook, check us out on Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, and be sure to check out the growing library of PuzzleNation apps and games!