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Treasures of Montezuma: Arena to match up PS Vitas in Europe
Match-three puzzlers are a comfort food of sorts - the rules change a bit with each game, sure, but the core concept is the same: match up colors and shapes for glory. You can use that mindset to approach Montezuma: Arena, a downloadable title announced for the Vita in Europe, but its RPG Story mode involves a more tactical strategy to reclaim your homeland. And really, anything that asks us to battle trident-wielding lizards has our attention. The story follows Aztec emperor Montezuma's retreat to an otherwordly dimension due to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. And seriously, when you choose to fight a realm of beasts like "Salamander XVI" in a game of wits instead of facing the conquistadors, you know they're a bunch of jerks. Montezuma's trip is temporary though, and each victory restores power that he'll eventually use to return home. Aside from the story mode, there are tournament options for competitive multiplayer matches as well as an unlockable Endless mode. Bonuses and items can be purchased with Crystals, a currency that Montezuma: Arena awards for each battle, although there's also a store to buy Crystal with cash. Uh ... the legal kind of crystal, of course. [Image: Alawar]
Reprogram your surroundings in Glitchspace, now on Early Access
First-person puzzler Glitchspace is now available through Steam's Early Access service for PC, Mac and Linux. The alpha version of the game from developer Space Budgie is available for $6.99 on Early Access and $6.49 through the game's official site. Described as a "first-person programming" game, Glitchspace has players navigating a cyberspace-style world to locate a place that is a "by-product of cyberspace and its various glitches" known, appropriately enough, as Glitchspace. Space Budgie focused on emergent mechanics for the game, as players can identify glitches in the game and "exploit them in various different ways." Objects in the game are both programmable and non-programmable thanks to the "Null" programming system in the game created by the developer. Programmable objects include a "canvas" in which players can add functions to affect them, such as forces to move them, scale them, duplicate them and a myriad of other possibilities. The game includes a sandbox mode for players to toy around with as well as Oculus Rift support for those that want to immerse themselves in the matrix-like world. Space Budgie expects to launch the full version of Glitchspace in Q2 2014. [Image: Space Budgie]
Just rolling with the apocalypse in Mushroom 11
In the aftermath of global annihilation, Mushroom 11 gives rise to a bioluminescent blob that looks like someone made radioactive jello in a murky swimming pool. It expands, contracts, squeezes and climbs through dilapidated nooks and crannies, never losing its total mass while the player prods it into motion. It's easy to play and hard to look away. The quirky growth must use its weight and mass in clever ways to advance, be it creeping through the windows of a skyscraper about to crumble, splitting itself to trigger simultaneous mechanisms, or to roll past the attacking arms of a mutated plant. The trick is to realize that your touch (or mouse-click) removes adjacent pieces of the blob, which then immediately regrow, attached elsewhere. Closer observation shows it to be a living lattice of gelatinous material, moving and shifting its weight as it grows in response to your prodding. This makes Mushroom 11 a slower, methodical game, and different from fluid manipulation games like Pixeljunk Shooter. The other trick to Mushroom 11, according to designer Itay Keren, is to teach players how to handle their blobs without resorting to text and obvious tutorials. The game is striving for subtlety, both in its story of how the earth came to ruin, and in its teaching phase.
Double Fine's Hack 'n' Slash gearing up for Early Access soon
Double Fine's Hack 'n' Slash, the developer's code-breaking puzzler, is "just weeks away" from its release on Steam Early Access, the Broken Age and Psychonauts developer announced. The game is in development for PC, Mac and Linux and will cost $14.99. The developer also issued a funky new trailer that shows some of the game's hacking options. First announced in December, Hack 'n' Slash has players guiding a young elf and modifying the game by toggling options in its menus, affecting the environment to their benefit to advance the story. The game came about during one of Double Fine's internal game jams, Amnesia Fortnight, and was funded thanks to a collaborative effort between a slew of parties, including Indie Fund and Humble Bundle. [Image: Double Fine]
Portal to find a companion in Android-based handheld, Nvidia Shield [Update]
Popular first-person puzzle-shooter Portal is coming to Nvidia's Android-based handheld system, Shield. Nvidia is handling the adaptation, said to be a full port of the PC version of the game, with the blessing of Valve. The Nvidia Shield launched in late July 2013 and our review of the system deemed it an "expensive novelty." Nvidia upped the system's PC streaming functions to 1080p and added button-mapping options in December. While it is unclear whether Portal will make its way to the Google Play store for use on more Android devices, all signs point to its exclusivity on the Nvidia Shield. We've contacted Nvidia to clarify that point, and will update as we learn more. Update: Nvidia informed Joystiq that Portal is a "native Android game," and will be sold on the Google Play store for use on other Android devices. [Image: Valve]
Klei re-imagines its first iOS puzzler, Eets Munchies
Don't Starve and Mark of the Ninja developer Klei Entertainment launched its first iOS game this week, Eets Munchies, for $2.99. The puzzler is considered a re-imagining of Klei's previous PC game Eets, and challenges players with guiding a hungry armless rabbit-like creature through levels filled with obstacles, eating cake and sweets along the way. Eets' iOS version was revealed in March 2012. Eets first launched on PC in March 2006 before arriving on XBLA in the form of Eets: Chowdown in April 2007. Eets Munchies contains five worlds and dozens of preset puzzles, and also includes a built-in level editor, so players can create their own puzzles to share with friends. [Image: Klei Entertainment]
Limbo investor funds indie sleepwalker Back to Bed
Sleepwalking puzzler Back to Bed is back on track thanks to assistance from Danish investment firm Capnova. The investment prompted the team of students from the Danish National Academy of Digital Interactive Entertainment (DADIU) to form an official studio now known as Bedtime Digital Games. Capnova's history of video game investments include Playdead's Limbo, PressPlay's Max and the Magic Marker and Full Control's digital adaptation of Space Hulk for iPad. Bedtime Digital Games Project Manager Klaus Pederson told Polygon that the funding from Capnova will make a second game from the developer possible. Back to Bed was scheduled to arrive in late December 2013 before being pushed back during the developer's restructuring. Players guide a sleepwalker through dreamlike, 3D puzzle-platforming environments in the game, which will come to PC, Mac, Linux , iOS, Android and Ouya. The developer earned $13,312 on Kickstarter in March 2013 to initially fund the game. [Image: Bedtime Digital Games]
Daily App: Numerity is a twist on the paint by numbers game
Numerity from Zedarus Entertainment takes a paint by numbers game and turns it into an entertaining puzzle game that challenges you to find the object hidden in a cluster of numbers. The gameplay is easy, which may be a turn off for folks looking for more than a hidden numbers game. In each round, you are presented with numerals in a series. You must find each numeral and tap on it to highlight it on your screen. It's not easy as it sounds as the numbers are clustered together in a jumbled mess. You must scan and zoom to find the correct numeral hidden on the screen. When you have located all the numerals in the series, the app zooms out on your canvas and reveals the character you have outlined on the screen. You are scored based upon the amount of time it takes you to solve each puzzle. If you do well, you are rewarded with stars and coins, which can be used to purchase hints if needed. Playing Numerity is an interesting experience as you have relaxing music in the background and a timer on the screen that tracks how long you take to solve a puzzle. You want to relax while scanning for numbers, but that timer ticking in the corner reminds you must do it quickly. Numerity is available from the iOS App Store for US$0.99. It is compatible with the iPhone and iPad and requires iOS 6.0 or later. There are no ads, but the game does include in-app purchases for coins.
Perloo is a free physics-based puzzler that is clever and engaging
I'm not hooked on too many games, although the original Angry Birds did cost me many (happy) hours. Every so often something catches my attention, and Perloo has done that. Perloo is a free app that has no 'help' page, no screen of instructions. It starts in black, and then a man in a meadow ruminates philosophically. The screen goes black again and you see a round white-and-black shape. It soon becomes obvious that the white shape responds to movement of your iPhone. From there, I have no advice to give you. As you go deeper, the game gets more intensive and frustrating. Keep at it. There are worlds to discover and explore. I'm not sure how far I am into the game, and how far there is to go. That's one of the joys of how it all works. Even the game icon (see above) is puzzling. It looks like just black at first glance, but a closer look barely reveals a shape. I have seen some games, the 'Myst like' games that create a physical place you can explore. But Perloo is completely abstract, and yet physical rules apply. The sounds are excellent, and it is hard not to get involved. Perloo is not universal, so it's best played on an iPhone or an iPod touch. It requires iOS 6 or better. Although I didn't try, I'll bet headphones further enhance the game experience. Beware the prism level. Enough said.
Hexcells, Hexcells Plus now available on Steam
Hexcells and its standalone expansion, Hexcells Plus, are now available on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux users. Both games play a bit like the Picross series - players are presented with designs made out of hexagons at the start of each level. The black, numbered hexagons tell a player how many pieces of the final design are touching the black spaces, but players need to determine which of the orange hexagons are extra black hexagons and which are hidden blue hexagons. As players mark each orange space, the correct choices will turn blue, while miscalculations add to the Mistakes counter of a level. Each game is $2.99, but they can also be bought in a bundle for $4.99. Hexcells seems like the sort of puzzler we would laugh off the complexity of, right before frying our brains over levels like this. [Image: Matthew Brown]
Puzzles And Dragons' next collaboration taps the robots of Evangelion
Having already joined forces with Batman and Hello Kitty, hyper-addictive puzzle roleplaying game Puzzle And Dragons will next feature the giant robots and angsty teens of the Evangelion anime series. The event begins on February 24 in Japan, with the rest of world following suit in March. As with the previous crossover efforts, this event will see Evangelion characters appear in the game as party members with their own, unique sets of attacks and abilities. Puzzle And Dragons will also receive a new Rare Egg machine shaped like the EVA-01, as well as an unknown number of Evangelion-themed Ultimate Evolutions. Like all Puzzle And Dragons crossover events, this new content will be added to the game at no charge to players. That said, this is a promotional effort designed to highlight the ongoing Evangelion reboot, Rebuild of Evangelion, so don't be surprised if you find appropriate ads within the puzzle hit. [Image: GungHo Online Enertainment]
Strata is a colorful, relaxing puzzler with a unique personality
Strata is a puzzle game like none that I've ever played, and since I spend a good deal of my time specifically looking for unique puzzle games on the App Store, that's saying something. There are no fun little characters, no bright lights or flashy graphics; it's just colorful ribbons and some soothing music, and it's a fantastic way to unwind. Your objective in Strata is to layer colored ribbons over a grid in such a way as to color the blocks underneath. You can lay your ribbons in two directions, and when two ribbons overlap the top ribbon color is the one that gets carried through to the block below. Each puzzle grid consists of a square with anywhere from four to 36 blocks, and as you might imagine, the difficulty increases exponentially with each grid size. Depending on the number of colors involved, puzzles can take just seconds or several minutes to figure out, but the point here isn't to rush through each challenge. The game rewards you for taking your time and thinking out each ribbon placement ahead of time. Scoring a "Perfect" rating means layering the ribbons the exact correct way with no re-dos. This is a lot more difficult than it might sound. The music of Strata is perfect for the type of relaxing puzzle experience the game provides. Soothing tunes ripple and sway as with each ribbon you place and when you mess up, the music will squawk in an unappealing fashion, alerting you to the error. Strata costs US$2.99, and there are currently level packs available for a couple of extra bucks. There are also "Hint packs" you can purchase to help you through the trickier spots, but I'd highly recommend ignoring this option, since the feeling of accomplishment when you best a challenging puzzle is really what the game is all about.
Unfortunately, Guess The 90s is really, really good
There are already enough (or perhaps too many) trivia games on the iPhone. There are all-encompassing gems like QuizUp but most aren't nearly that well done, and to be honest, I was kind of hoping Guess The 90s would be a dud as well. I was born in the mid 80s, so the vast majority of my childhood memories took place during the decade that brought us Pogs and popularized snap bracelets. But to my chagrin, the trivia puzzler is fantastic, and so I've been reliving my childhood in 2-minute bursts for the past week or so. The puzzles in Guess The 90s simply ask you to name whatever object, musical group, tv show, or other piece of pop culture it displays on the screen. You have rows of letters with which to spell out the answer, and you can use a hint if you get stuck (but a simple Google search is usually a quicker way to find the answer if you truly get stumped). What really makes the game special is the wealth of 90s content on offer. There are some truly obscure items here, and you'll need a pretty robust knowledge of 90s media, with a huge focus on the TV shows that were popular at the time. There's also a ton of toys to name, one-hit-wonder bands, and even some fashion trends that will make you cringe. Guess The 90s is free to play, but includes in-app purchases of "coins" (which are used to gain hints), as well as the occasional pop-up advertisement. The cash-making features shouldn't hinder your experience too much, and if you don't want to drop a few bucks to score some cheap hints, you can always use the web. If you're a 90s kid -- or really anyone who wants to take a brief nostalgia break -- you might find yourself getting sucked into it.
Daily App: Threes! is a tiny puzzler that'll convince you math is cool
Threes! is a game of threes that, appropriately, was made by three people -- Asher Vollmer, Greg Wohlwend and Jimmy Hinson. It's a sliding puzzle game that'll have you doing math and loving every minute of it. Threes! challenges you to slide numbers together in order to add them, but there is a catch -- the sum has to be a multiple of three. Lower numbers can be added together to equal three or six -- you can add 2 + 1 and 3 + 3, for example. Higher numbers can only be added in pairs -- you cannot add 6 + 3, but you can add 6 + 6 or 12 + 12. This is a sliding puzzle game, so the tiles shift when numbers are added together and combined into one tile. New numbers are also randomly added to the board and an indicator at the top of the screen shows you which number is coming up next. Your goal is to add as many numbers together as possible and keep the board from filling up. Once you can no longer add any numbers, the game is over. There's a twist in Threes! that makes it a bit more challenging than most puzzle games that I've played -- instead of sliding one square at a time, the squares slide in groups. When you try to add 3 + 3 at the bottom, you may also be adding a 2 + 1 at the top. It makes the strategy that much more difficult when your moves have multiple effects on the board. The trailer above shows the gameplay, but you really have to play it yourself to get the feel of it. Threes! is one of those games that is easy to pick up and addictively fun. The graphics are appropriate for the game and the music in the background is just perfect -- it's catchy enough that you hear it, but subtle enough that you don't focus on it. There are also voiceovers that provide the tiles with some character -- literally. Each block has a personality with a small face and a tiny voice that responds when you touch it. Threes! is available in the App Store for US$1.99 and is worth every penny. Puzzle fans should just go and buy it now. You won't regret it. A quick note for parents who are buying it for kids. Threes! would be an enjoyable game, but it's not meant for the younger set. The app has a prominent tweet button, an easily accessible credit screen with links to the developer's Twitter accounts and an App Store link for the developer's other game.
Indie puzzler Threes comes to iOS at 33% off, naturally
Today marks the debut of Threes, a new iOS puzzle game that asks players to combine adorably anthropomorphic numbers into even larger, potentially cuter numbers. Developed by Ridiculous Fishing artist Greg Wohlwend and Asher Vollmer, formerly a designer at thatgamecompany, Threes was built from the ground-up with accessibility in mind. "Threes is a game anyone can play anywhere," Wohlwend told us in an interview last month. "It's the first game I've ever made that didn't rely at least partially on reflexes in some way. It's purely turn-based and rewards a lot of thought between each move." Vollmer added, "It can be played for ten seconds or two hours at a time. There's no hidden or memory-based information, which means it can be picked up at any point in the game. The difficulty of the puzzle always keeps up with the skill level of the player." To celebrate the game's launch, Threes has been marked down to $2, or by 33.3 percent, a figure that is both numerically apropos and only available for a limited time. [Image: Sirvo LLC]
Escape from giant heads in this Gnah teaser trailer
Gnah is a "game about exploring and escaping giant heads." That's how Montreal-based indie developer Ko-Op Mode describes its latest project in addition to the phrase "the only way out is through" in the game's teaser trailer. Gnah is a collaboration between the Ko-Op Mode collective and designer Samuel Boucher, whose Tumblr blog is filled with attractive designs related to the game. Boucher took to an indie gaming forum to discuss the project in December, calling Gnah a "puzzle game about a little guy trapped in some weird heads called Gnahs." Gnah has players controlling the character in the heads as well as manipulating the heads themselves to help the character escape. The game is in development for PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya.
The Room 2 hits iPhone this Thursday, Android by Valentine's Day
Fireproof Games will launch The Room 2 on iPhone this Thursday and will arrive on Android "on or before" February 14, the developer confirmed to Pocket Gamer. Fireproof supplemented the news with a tweet today that the Android version will be out "within three weeks." The Room 2 first landed on iPad in December. Smaller iOS device holders will need either an iPhone 4S or fifth-gen iPod Touch or better to crack the game's puzzles. The developer also added via Twitter that it doesn't have plans to support Windows Phone at the moment.
Faif is a turn-based tile combat game rooted in gambling
Faif, an interesting puzzle game with RPG and gambling elements, was created by developer Beavl in 12 hours as part of the latest Ludum Dare game jam. The theme for this Ludum Dare was "you only get one." The premise of Faif is simple: You take on an AI opponent in turn-based combat. Each of you chooses five tiles from the grid and the game randomly chooses one of them for you. Land on a heart and your health increases, land on a skull and you take a hit. Swords increase your attack power and gems can be used in the store to buy goods. You can play a beta build of Faif in your browser right now, free of charge – we suggest doing that because the game is a lot of fun. An iOS port is in the works, while an early access version is half-off ($.99) on Android right now. Developer Beavl says it will upload improved versions of the game "almost every week" in the run-up to the full release.
Review: Simian.Interface lands on iOS with its primate-stumping puzzles
Simian.interface has been around for a while as a browser-based Flash game created by Vested Interest. Thanks to some hard work by the developers at Bullseye Studio and the publishing prowess of Chillingo, the title is now available for iPhone and iPod touch owners. Just like the web title, Simian.interface for iOS has you taking the role of a primate that is challenged to solve spatial puzzles. The interface has an 8-bit look and feel with a bleep-blop soundtrack to match. In the game, you start off by moving sets of squares so they fit into each other. As you progress, the patterns get more challenging to solve. Get your brain fired up as there are no hints or pointers to help you out. You will be confused and flounder at times, but that is part of the challenge! Simian.interface is a perfect fit for the iPhone, and many people will be happy to see the title ported to the mobile platform. For those who are used to playing the game on the web with a mouse, the app has a touch control option that allows you move shapes with your fingers. There's also a tilt control that allows you to tilt your phone to move the shapes on the screen. The tilting adds a new dimension to the game and is my preferred mode of play. My only critique of Simian.interface is that it is a short game. Don't expect hours and hours of gameplay. And once you've completed a puzzle, there's little replay value because the challenge to figure it out is gone. That being said, I think Simian.interface is worth the buck that it costs. It's a fun puzzler that'll fill your free moments with some unique challenges. My advice is to spread the puzzles out. Don't download the game and blow through all the puzzles in 30 minutes of frenzied play. Do a puzzle here and there and enjoy the challenges... one puzzle at a time. You can download Simian.interface for US$0.99 from the iOS App Store. It's compatible with the iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 5.0 or later. There are no ads and no in-app purchases.
Tower of Elements 2 funded on Kickstarter
Now that Tower of Elements 2 has matched its funding goal of $10,000 for release on PC, Max and Linux platforms, we can start preparing for a different kind of war. Claiming victory in its battles will rely more on a player's organizational and leading skills than how many experience points they've poured into an attack attribute. Tower of Elements 2 will be a hybrid of real-time strategy and puzzle elements, asking you to juggle the direction of your capital while pummeling opponents with match-3 elemental spells. Players will organize the elemental tiles within 50 towers across 10 regions in the game, casting spells down lanes toward opponents depending on wherever a match is made. Towers won't all be designed the same way, however - while one may equip you with two long rows of tiles, the next might have a smaller, diamond-shaped space for the elemental ammo. Some towers will contain special tiles that are locked or frozen into place too, so players will need to get creative. Decisions made in the capital will determine the qualities a player's followers display. Depending on its leadership, the capital will reflect one of four culture traits; Martial, Druidic, Republic and Elemental. Tower of Elements 2's pitch page also explains that capital will allow players to "construct and upgrade buildings, grow your population, research spells, construct implements of war, recruit elite troops and much more." At the time of this writing, Tower of Elements 2 has gathered $4,278 more than developer Frogdice's funding goal, but stretch goals are "coming soon" should you be interested in helping fund its development. The funding campaign will conclude on January 5. Tower of Elements 2 is planning on a February release for backers, with a public release following "a month or two later." Frogdice's previous project, Dungeon of Elements, was successfully funded in June and was released on schedule.
