So, you have all played that game where your friend says to you, “trace this picture without picking up your pencil or going back over any lines.” And like me, you sat at your desk for some time trying to conquer the “house-with-an-X-through-it” picture. Glow Puzzle by Nexx Studio (free in the App store) is 25 variations on that little brain teaser.
Tap the app, and you’ll be on your way to anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour of mind-stimulating puzzlery. The app begins with a Nexx Studio splash screen followed by a Glow Puzzle splash screen before landing you on the start interface of the game. It should be noted that this app requires no reload, which allows it to fully utilize the multi-tasking capabilities of iOS 4. Where you leave off is where you start back up.
Now for the details: In the upper right of the home screen, you can toggle the volume of the game on and off. Next to it, tap the little Facebook icon to connect with your friends. Below the Glow Puzzle title, you have the ability to play, watch a tutorial, examine the credits, tell a friend, or check out more games from Nexx Studios. I skipped the tutorial portion of the game, and with my description of the puzzle interface, you won’t have any trouble doing the same.
Tap Play, and let’s get this thing started. You can choose either level 1 or level 2 to begin. The design of the game allows you to have all the enjoyment of the “don’t-lift-your-pencil” brain teaser without paper or pencil. There are nodes connected by lines on the screen. As you tap the nodes, the lines between them will light up, showing that they are connected. Simply connect all the nodes without going back over any of the lines twice.
The only thing about this game I found distasteful was the “sneakery” employed to get your money. In order to go beyond 25 simple puzzles, you must purchase the in-app puzzle pack. Then in order to go beyond 75 “pretty hard” (according to them) puzzles, you must purchase another puzzle pack. I completed the first 25 puzzles in about 15 minutes. That should tell you something about the first 25 levels.
Either way, I truly enjoyed it. This is a great puzzle game, and I haven’t found one in the app store that is quite like it. I’ll probably download the extensions to see if it can stump me. Give it a try for yourself!
