Appletell reviews contraption-based puzzle games for iPhone, iPod touch

Puzzle games. You can’t avoid them, and really, why would you want to? The iPhone / iPod touch / eventual iPad are perfectly suited for some quick puzzle gaming, so you may as well get used to it. And thankfully, every now and again a few come along that ask you to do a little bit more than match three similarly colored gems in a line. In this review, we’ll take a look at three such games.

DaVinci’s Secret Machines

Seller: Aboveground Systems
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.0 or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 18.5MBMB
Version Reviewed: 1.1
Price: $0.99
Age Rating: 4+

Here’s a game based on the diagrams and drawings of Leonardo DaVinci, apparently. The game’s description says that many of these drawings were never completed for whatever reason, so it’s your job to complete them. Each level provides you with a contraption of sorts, and you have to use the provided elements to get it to work, usually by setting balls in motion.

The concept is wonderful, really, but the execution doesn’t quite live up to it. This is mainly because your taps and gestures don’t always register, and some of the puzzles just seem lazy; you often don’t need to use all of the elements you’re given. That may be a conscious development choice, but it made me feel like I was cheating. The game comes with 30 levels, with more promised. So, hopefully they’ll be better orchestrated.

The graphics are very cool, placing the objects over DaVinci’s diagrams and giving them some depth with drop shadows. The audio is fine, too, and you’re given the option to listen to your own music as you play. Unfortunately, the interface is more appealing than the game itself, due to various glitches and puzzles you can seemingly cheat your way through. I’m going to keep it around, however, because I think the promise of additional levels could make this a game worth having.

Appletell Rating:

Buy DaVinci’s Secret Machines

Aztec Quest

Seller: Clickgamer Technologies
Requirements: iPhone OS 2.2 or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 4.5MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $0.99
Age Rating: 4+

Do toy stores still sell the board game Mouse Trap? Aztec Quest is kind of like a simplified Mouse Trap or a paint-by-numbers Rube Goldberg contraption. You’re given an isometric map with blocks on which you can place various elements. The goal is to get the elements in the right position to guide a ball from a serpent shaped spittoon to that diamond that floats above the head of your Sims characters.

This format is much more rigid than that of DaVinci’s Secret Machines, as you’re forced to place the elements in specific areas, and you can’t even rotate them. The result is that this game starts off far to easy; you can solve the first 10 to 20 puzzles in about 10 to 20 seconds each. But as the number of playable elements and tiles increases, Aztec Quest becomes much more challenging and much more rewarding. Be prepared, though, for when you solve a puzzle only to be scolded for not solving it the way the developer wants you to. You have to place every element in order to progress, and that’s the way it should be.

The game is visually appealing, both as you’re setting your pieces and when you’re watching the ball work its way through the path you’ve set up. I’d prefer the animation was slower to give you more time to appreciate your contraption, especially on the harder levels, but it’s not a deal killer.

It’s also worth mentioning that Aztec Quest allows you to create and share your own levels, which greatly increases its shelf life beyond the 50 levels that are provided. Give this one a try, and be sure to stick with it if you don’t find it challenging at first. You’ll get there.

Appletell Rating:

Buy Aztec Quest

Rafter

Seller: Emantras
Requirements: iPhone OS 3.1.2 or later
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 8.2MB
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Price: $0.99
Age Rating: 4+

At first glance, Rafter could be a clone to DaVinci’s Secret Machines. It has the same sketchy look, and it involves placing elements on a screen in order reach a certain goal. In this case, you physically draw bocks and circles that are dropped into the game area to hit a mine. Various obstacles block your way, of course, and you to navigate them to reach your goal.

Rafter doesn’t just rely on placement, however. The size of the blocks you draw and the time at which you drop them are just as important. This ups the challenge, as it’s hard to know if you’re taking the wrong approach or if it’s simply that your timing is off.

The puzzles themselves are good enough, but two things hurt this game. First, there are only 21 levels. Emantras promises 10 more in February, along with a level editor. Right now, though, there’s not much here. Second the audio is just wrong throughout. Shouldn’t a game called Rafter have kind of a metallic clanging sound when the elements hit each other? The audio effects here are muted and dull. Also, the music seems out of place. It’s bouncy and fun, like the kind of music you’d find in one of those diner games where you have to serve people food. It doesn’t fit here, and it dampened my enthusiasm for the puzzles. Hopefully, the February update will allow you to listen to your own music in addition to the current option to simply shut it off.

Appletell Rating:

Buy Rafter

At $0.99 each, you won’t be disappointed in any of these choices. The best place to start, though, is with Aztec Quest. It gives you the most for your money at this point, even if it takes a while for the puzzles to really become fun. DaVinci’s Secret Machines and Rafter are both visually appealing games with some good puzzles, but they’re an update or two away from being on the same level with competitors such as Enigmo 2.