The APPera

Written By: Daniel Scott

Developed by industry veterans formerly from Square Enix, Activision, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Insomniac, this next game is bringing a lot of swagger behind it. Did they succeed?

Trixel ($2.99)

You flip the tiles on the board to match the tile pattern on the top left of the screen. You do this with a cursor you can only move one space at a
time, vertically or horizontally, and you have limited moves to solve the puzzle. It’s graphically well designed and injected with cool gameplay animations and sounds. Trixel is definitely harbored by people who know their work!

My Take

Trixel is an easy pick and play game, but takes practice to master.  I lean towards puzzles, since I am too busy to invest time in story driven games.  I will say it’s a good looking game. As the iPhone platform continues to mature, the games tend to get better. Developers are relying on direct feedback for solid updates and/or the many hours of beta testing to pick out those nasty gremlins.  This one feels as if it was taken apart a few times and rebuilt to present a solid game worth our 3 dollars.

Presentation

The graphics are good, nothing over the top which leads to choking the processor speed.  On a side note, the user interface reminds me of a virtual palm pilot, one of the old ones.  Of course that’s my sarcasm chiming in, so it looks fine and functional.  The tiles are all “web 2.0″ looking, with the framework and buttons all chromed out.  It’s a sharp looking game.  But as we know, some of the best looking games can have the worst game play causing a gamer to shelve it feeling duped out of their dough. Fortunately, Trixel is the polar opposite.

The sound can be turned off so you can play your favorite iPod music. This is greatly appreciated.

Game Play

It’s straight forward. All the buttons and so on are explained in a play-as-you-go tutorial.  The pattern is in the upper left corner. Your fewest moves trophy on the right, and the earned power ups on the bottom for those who feel the need to take a mulligan (one I would like to have an unlimited amount of, is the wormhole power up, just thowing it out there).

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The problem arises when you tap the tile you want to change colors to in order to match the target pattern. Some tiles are in the way and need to be changed back – but at a cost of a step taken. Hence, each puzzle has a certain pattern. You are shooting for the gold trophy which is reachable if you take the fewest steps.  Some of these puzzles become really challenging as you progress in the game which is a really great thing.

There are 100 levels to beat. Those are mad plenty to chew on.  If you get stuck, and the power ups you earned aren’t helping, step away and try the race against the clock mode. I have not been able to get into that mode yet. It looks as if it is unlockable content after you beat your brains with the puzzle mode. That should be addressed to be available upon purchase.

Since they allow you to go back and better your record, it does make it easier to hone your skills down for the tougher puzzles. By doing so, you will unlock the bonus puzzles to await your peril.  Did I forget to mention collecting all the crystals?   Oh yeah, you have to collect them all to achieve the 100% status.

The Cons

Ok, I have little beef with the fewest step game play angle.  It’s a nice touch, but maybe a freeplay option in which the goal is to complete the puzzle regardless of how many steps taken.  It’s probably me being a crybaby, but it’s frustrating to be stopped in the middle of thought with a dialog box telling me I failed (exceeded bronze steps count).   It burns, just burns me good.

Secondly, is there a way to turn off the arrows on the live tile?  It’s annoying, although a minor complaint. I’m bellyaching over the cosmetics which is near perfect already ;p.

Conclusion

It’s a great one.  I wouldn’t tell you otherwise, and no I am not paid to tell you to buy a game that blows. I would recommend a lite version (if it gets released) for those still on the fence. If you’re in for a great puzzler that plays and looks fantastic at the same time, what are you waiting for? This is the game to get. I can never say enough how the game looks extremely polished. It’s definitely one of the best gems in the store right now.

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