Mirror Maze: iPhone Game Review (Assyria Studio)

Mirror Maze is a deceptively simple looking game that requires nerves of steel and a steady hand.

The objective of the game is to guide the red ball from the green "start" box to the red "end" box without touching any of the walls. The immediate challenge is that the green ball mirrors your movements and you also lose if the green ball touches a wall. While the first few levels are fairly easy, there are 36 levels in total which progressively increase in difficulty. The difficulties start with asymmetrical mazes and move from there into moving walls and warp gates.

As puzzle games go, Mirror Maze offers more variation than most which keeps it interesting. For those who are into competitive playing, the game also contains a (now expected) leader board.

Mirror Maze is available for $1.99 in the AppStore and there is a free lite version which contains twelve levels.

Links:
Assyria Studio

Pinch: iPhone Game Review (a puzzle game by Coatsink Software)

Pinch is a 72-level puzzle game that is easy to learn but challenging enough to hold the attention of all levels of gamers.

Pinch contains six difficulty levels; each of which contain twelve levels. The first twelve levels are a tutorial level and are fairly quick plays. The next twelve levels make up the easy level and aren't a significant challenge. The medium, hard, harder and flux levels contain enough challenges to hold even the most experienced gamer's attention. The objective of the game is to get all of the "buttons" (called norbs) to the goal within the quickest period of time. The game uses OpenFeint to track scores on the leader board and manage game forums and chats.

There are a variety of challenges within the game which range from color-coded gates where your norb must match the gate's color to pass through, one-way walls, switches which open gates when depressed (which lead to the challenge of how to depress the switch and move your norb through the open gates; all at the same time), and chasms where your norb must be sufficiently sized to pass over.

The way to navigate through these top-level challenges is to "pinch" your nord apart and recombine it with other norbs to create either a different color or a different sized norb. You can also separate a norb into two or more smaller norbs to allow for a switch to be continually depressed while the other norb passes through an open gate.



Pinch is available for $.99 in the AppStore.

Links:
Coatsink Software

Hurry Up Hedgehog! - Nintendo DS Game Review (Oxygen Games)

"Hurry Up Hedgehog!" is a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS that came out earlier this year from Oxygen Games. This game is based on a German board game called Igel Ärgern and the object is to get three of your four hedgehogs from the left to the right side of the board before your opponent(s) can do the same.

This game is easy to get started with as all of the action is right in front of you on the 6x9 board on the bottom screen. When it is your turn, you can move one hedgehog vertically (it has to be your own) and one hedgehog horizontally (your own or another player's). The turns are not timed so you have plenty of time to chose your moves with care. The challenge comes in making sure that the computer opponent or another human player doesn't shunt your hedgehog into one of the many holes that are scattered around the game board. If your hedgehog falls into one of these holes, it won't be able to get out until all of the other hedgehogs catch up to it.

As you can see from the picture, the top screen doesn't do much outside of keep score and provide you with some visual cues (via the hedgehog) on how you are doing in the game.

As a one-player game, "Hurry Up Hedgehog!" isn't that dissimilar from the iPhone games that I play on the subway on my way to work. Like many of the iPhone game, "Hurry Up Hedgehog!" warrants repeat play but there isn't enough depth to the game to warrant playing past the 15-20 minute train ride. What looks interesting though is that you can play against up to 5 opponents using the DS wireless feature but...I don't know anyone else with a copy of this game so I wasn't able to explore this feature.

Magnificent Gizmos & Gadgets - New Physics Based Puzzle Game for the iPhone/iPod Touch (Publisher X)

Earlier this week, Publisher X announced that the physics-based puzzle game Magnificent Gizmos & Gadgets is now available in the iTunes App Store.

The concept behind Magnificent Gizmos & Gadgets is straight-forward as players have to move an object from one part of the screen to another. The challenge though is getting this done - you can build catapults, automated vehicles, and even create battering rams as you navigate through the different terrains and obstacles. There are multiple solutions to each level so the game should hold up to repeated play.

Magnificent Gizmos & Gadgets features:
• 44 challenging levels, each with an infinite number of possible solutions
• A variety of environmental objects, including explosive cannons, powerful fans, rumbling conveyors, and more
• A helpful tutorial and hint system that teaches you how to be a physics whiz
• A "Share" feature that allows you to save and email your favorite Gizmos to your friends
• Beautifully stylized visuals
• Groovy, foot-tappin' soundtrack

Magnificent Gizmos & Gadgets is available through the App Store for $4.99. You can visit the official Magnificent Gizmos & Gadgets website to learn more and try out a demo of the game.

Antimatter - iPhone/iPod Touch Game Review (Pangea Software)

Antimatter is the latest game from Pangea Software, the creators of Enigmo. It is extremely simple to get started with this game but it is (thus far) difficult to master, which keeps the game play fairly addictive.

The game's premise is that "you control a stream of antimatter particles and use it to affect the Cosmic Strings while collecting powerups and bonus points." How this works is that you control direction of the antimatter particle with your finger and you have to bounce the particle into each of the blue Cosmic Strings, which then turns the Strings red. Once all the Strings are turned red, you clear the level. Antimatter's graphics are stunning.

The game has a number of challenging aspects. The first is that you have a limited amount of energy and you have to clear each level before your energy runs out. You can collect more energy by hitting the Strings or "power-ups" that appear on the screen. As time progresses, the Strings break into smaller pieces (which makes then infinitely harder to hit) and you can accidently turn a String back to blue by hitting it a second time. The first few levels are fairly simple to clear but it gets complex quickly as more strings are added at each level.

Antimatter is only $1.99 from the iTunes App Store.