In the mood for some light puzzling on the iOS platform of your choice? We take a look at two suitable options and let you decide which one’s the best for you!
Whereas Bug Panic focuses on frantic insect shooting, ChuChu Rocket! is all about frantic cat-and-mouse puzzling. First released a decade ago for the Sega Dreamcast, this puzzle game became fairly popular, though it never intrigued me enough to try it out. Luckily, one of the many magic tricks possible on the iPhone is bringing dormant classics back to life.
The tutorial of ChuChu Rocket! starts off tame enough, showing you how to place arrows on the game screen by swiping with your finger. These arrows will then redirect the Chus at your command as they blindly run clockwise around the stage. Your mission is to get the Chus to the goal by using the arrow(s). This simple concept becomes increasingly more complicated with the introduction of cats and other hazards, as well as complex paths the Chus must take to cross the finish line.
It’s a thinking man (or woman)’s game, and is actually the perfect compliment to any of the more exciting shooters and platformers on iOS; it all just depends on what you’re in the mood for.
Try saying this game’s name three times in a row as fast as you can. Did you do it? Congratulations, you’ve just saved yourself a dollar, as that’s probably the same amount of fun you’d have by actually playing this app.
Not that that Clock Blocks is a terrible game, it’s a just a terribly simple one. The concept is that you control a little while pellet. The pellet enters the screen and lands on a clock. You can press anywhere on the screen to make the clock spit the pellet out in the direction that the hand is currently swinging, and the hand will go around in a circle until you do so. If you fail to fire after a single rotation, it’s game over. Also if you fire but miss another clock, game over.
It’s a simple, unique concept, but that’s really all this game has to it. You go from clock to clock clearing screens for points, but it’s incredibly easy. Even on the hardest settings, the game is just too simple to put up a challenge. Some increased depth would have gone a long way, such as clocks that are worth more points for a limited time, moving obstacles, or power-ups of some sort.
The beauty of the App Store is that simple games like Clock Blocks can exist, and they do so for only a dollar. The downside now is that so do a million other titles of remarkable quality, leaving undercooked ideas such as this in the dust. If you’re extremely curious, just check out the Lite version instead.
