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Daily iPad App: The Lost Shapes builds a puzzle connection
The Lost Shapes is a recently released puzzle game that's not a bad title. You have a queue of tiles with lines and corners on them on the side of the screen, and you're meant to tap them out in order to make certain shapes. It's like Tetris, sort of: You have to manage both the queue of pieces coming down, as well as try to switch around shapes on the board to try and line things up in as few moves as possible. There's both a survival mode and a shape mode. The first just asks you to put together as many shapes as you can for as long as possible, and the second gives you some target shapes to make. The game is well-polished, and the little in-game character ends up being relatively charming, even if at first, I just wanted him to get out of the way and let me play around with the game. The Lost Shapes is a quality title from dreamfab. The gameplay is definitely nice and deep, as you learn more and more about how to build shapes, both from your queue and from the tiles you've placed on the board, and with both the shape and survival mode "campaigns," there's plenty of content to explore and play with. If you're looking for a fun puzzle title to play around with, you can grab it in the store for $2.99.
Daily iPhone App: Happy Hills
Happy Hills is an interesting title -- it's similar to the awesome iBlast Moki 2, though it's not quite as good or as well-produced as that one. The way it works is that you need to use a series of bombs to blow a set of obstacles off of "hills" (which are actually columns with eyes, in an art style very similar to a Mario Bros. background), thus putting them in the titular mood. The puzzles eventually break down to physics, as you've got to clear off the hills in as few bombs as possible. You can also blow certain blocks up into specific places to earn stars, and there are a few different types of bombs and blocks to play with as well, each with their own traits and strengths. As I said, the game isn't quite as fun or complicated as iBlast Moki, but it's colorful and has its own sense of puzzle-y enjoyment, as you can blast blocks across the screen with abandon. There are 48 levels included in the initial purchase, and other level packs you can pick up with 48 levels each, so there's plenty of content to go around. There's full Game Center integration for leaderboards, and the title rounds out well, with some nice musical tracks and fun, simple graphics. Happy Hills isn't bad -- if you're looking for something a little more simple and carefree than iBlast Moki's sometimes extremely complex levels, give this one a look. It's 99 cents on the App Store right now.
