Myst, the hugely popular 1993 PC game, is now available for download on iPhone and iPad. Sure, it was already there. But this new version takes the existing Myst Mobile and turns it up to 11.

The updated Myst Mobile has been remastered to make it look gorgeous on Apple's mobile devices. This new release is to celebrate Myst's 30th birthday, and it's never looked so good.

Furthermore, developer Cyan has released the game into the App Store for free, although there is a catch for those who like to explore.

The remastered Myst Mobile is free, but you'll need to pay $14.99 via in-app purchase if you want to explore beyond Myst Island. But you'll play through Myst Island without having to pay a penny.

However, buy the in-app purchase now, and you'll pay just $9.99 as part of a release promotion.

"Journey to Myst Island and begin to unravel the mystery you have been thrust into," Myst's App Store page says. "As you learn what happened on the island, you will find yourself playing a key role in an epic story whose ending has not yet been written."

The game's remaster means that you can only play it on more modern iPhones and iPads, however. Anything with an Apple A12 Bionic or later is good to go, which means you aren't limited to needing Apple's best iPhone to play.

Compatible devices include:

• iPhone XS (Sept. 2018) and above.
• iPhone SE 2nd generation (April 2020) and above.
• iPad Air 3rd generation (March 2019) and above.
• iPad Mini 5th generation (March 2019) and above.
• iPad 8th generation (Sept. 2020) and above.
• iPad Pro 4th generation (March 2020) and above.

Cyan notes that the game is optimized for M1 and M2 devices, meaning they'll get the best graphics. Those with older devices will likely need to reduce some settings to get the best out of the game.

Want to take Myst Mobile for a spin? You can grab it directly from the App Store right now. And considering it's free, why not?

Puzzle games are the chameleons of the gaming world. They can adopt the flair of an RPG, disguise themselves as an adventure game, and even hide in plain sight as a minimalist game. Puzzle games are always different, and they can vary from extremely complex to super simple.

A great puzzle game will keep you entertained for hours as you try (and a lot of times fail) to progress in the game. You may get frustrated, you may put down your iPhone or iPad in anger, but the game will keep you coming back for more because you sure as hell aren't going to let a game get the best of you. The sheer force of will required to continue you in a well-crafted puzzle game is something a lot of gamers have a love-hate relationship with, but there's no denying its power. Here are my top picks for the best puzzle games for iPhone and iPad.

• Red's Kingdom
• The Room 3
• Monument Valley
• Slayaway Camp
• FRAMED
• Threes
• Ultra Flow 2
• Deus Ex GO
• Prune
• Mini Metro
• You Must Build A Boat
• Photographs
• Gorogoa
• Donut County
• ELOH
• Lumino City

Red's Kingdom

Red's Kingdom is a perfectly crafted adventure puzzle game that has a lot of depth. The goofy but heartwarming story with its colorful characters is bound to grab your attention, and the incredibly fun gameplay never seems to go stale as the game layers in plenty of elements to surprise you at every turn.

Red's Kingdom opens the doors to its world and allows you to take non-linear paths giving you the opportunity to explore different areas and find alternate routes to hidden treasures. Although it's a puzzle game at its core, the game feels more like an action-adventure game than anything else. I can't recommend Red's Kingdom enough.

$3 - Download Now

The Room 3

I couldn't make a list of best puzzle games without including the super creepy puzzler The Room 3. The entire Room series is worth a download, but The Room 3 is especially fun If you enjoyed playing Myst back in the day.

The Room offers complex box-related puzzles along with an atmospheric storyline and unsettling clues to the reality behind the madness. The visuals are outstanding, and the soundtrack is just as spooky as everything else, playing The Room 3 is a full experience.

$4 - Download Now

Monument Valley

Another puzzler with eerie visuals and a compelling tale, Monument Valley offers a variety of 3D maps to conquer — all while transporting you into a strange world of crows, block creatures, and breathtaking Escher-style landscapes.

Monument Valley has been praised by critics and player alike, earning accolades such as Apple's Game of the Year 2014 and the Apple Design Award 2014. Plus, the game has over 20,000 ratings and holds a 4.5 rating overall.

Once you're done with the original, don't miss out on the critically-acclaimed follow-up, Monument Valley 2 ($5).

$4 - Download Now

Slayaway Camp (17+)

Slayaway Camp is a morbidly funny take on the puzzle genre that tasks you with going on a killing spree, and no one you meet is safe!

You'll need to slide around each scene and murder your victims in a particular order to reach the portal to advance to the next area. With plenty of obstacles such as fire pits, open water, and cops, you'll need to be smart during your rampage.

Taking its inspiration from classic 80s horror films, the violence in this game is over-the-top, extremely fake, and incredibly funny.

$3 - Download Now

FRAMED

A film-noir inspired comic book adventure, FRAMED is a unique puzzle game with great visuals to boot and compelling story to boot!

The story is told in comic book form with panels, but they are all jumbled up, and you'll need to put them in the right order to progress forward.

The comic book art is stunning, and all hand-crafted, and the mysterious storyline will keep you glued to the game for hours.

Once you're done with FRAMED, make sure to grab the sequel, FRAMED 2 ($5) for even more graphic novel panel puzzle solving.

$4 - Download Now

Threes

The matching game that started a 2048-clone phenomenon, Threes brought smarts (and some great background music) to the puzzling genre.

Threes may be a game comprised of numbers, but you need no real mathematical skill to excel at this game — just an open mind and a penchant for thinking ahead.

Best of all, you can always find new paths to pursue, new tricks to test, and new methods for matching; the game is always different, though the numbers remain the same.

$6 - Download Now

Ultra Flow 2

Ultra Flow 2's simplicity is probably its greatest strength. The game has a fun and engaging soundtrack and focuses more on hand-eye coordination than serious brainpower.

That being said, it's still not easy. It's in the sweet spot: challenging enough that your mind gets a workout, but easy enough that you're never stuck on the same level for longer than a handful of cracks at it.

Free - Download Now

Deus Ex GO

From Square Enix popular GO series, comes the mobile addition to the Deus Ex franchise that has everything you could want in a puzzle game.

Deus Ex GO never gets boring, as the game layers in complex systems to solve each puzzle. Defeating enemies, hacking computers, and sneaking your way around the map are just a few of the techniques you'll need to apply to be successful.

If you're a fan of Deus EX or the other games in the GO series, downloading Deus Ex GO is a no-brainer.

$5 - Download Now

Prune

If you need a game to help you relax after a long day, Prune may be the perfect puzzler for you.

Prune tasks you with cutting trees in different patterns to reach the sunlight, all while avoiding the dangers of the world around. Its minimalist design and very limited color scheme allow you to focus in on the game in a very relaxing way, making it perfect to help you unwind.

$4 - Download Now

Mini Metro

Do you ever look at your city's public transportation and think you could design it better? Well, Mini Metro will let you try to create your own subway system.

Minimalist in design but complex in its mind-boggling puzzles, Mini Metro provides hours of fun — even if for some of those hours you will be scratching your head.

$4 - Download Now

You Must Build A Boat

You Must Build A Boat takes the classic formula of match-three and combines it with a challenging and frantic RPG, with a dash of endless runner and building.

Embark on a journey of battling monsters and getting them to join your ranks as you recruit them for your boat, which grows bigger and bigger with every conquest. Battle by matching blocks in groups of three or more to attack, defend, cast magic spells, unlock chests, and more. Watch as your boat continues to grow, and as more creatures join your ranks and offer valuable services and upgrades. And since your matches can be chained, the possibilities for huge combos can be done.

You Must Build A Boat is one of my favorite match-three RPGs ever, and it's well worth picking up. You won't regret it.

$3 - Download Now

Photographs - Puzzle Stories

From the same guy who brought you YMBAB, comes a new puzzle game that focuses on the narrative. Say hello to Photographs.

Photographs is an interesting one because you'll be searching around and solving puzzles, but as you do, you'll uncover and hear a story to go along with each scene. And not only will you be immersed by the captivating stories, but the beautiful pixel art and music pair along with the narratives so perfectly.

Each story takes place in a different setting and will feature unique gameplay mechanics. And while the game is fairly short (only takes about three hours to complete), it's an experience that you need to try out.

$4 - Download Now

Gorogoa

If you like the panel puzzle concept like FRAMED, then you'll get a kick out of Gorogoa as well.

The gameplay of Gorogoa is interesting and fairly unique. You'll have several hand-drawn panels that you need to arrange and combine in order to solve the puzzles they contain. It's simple but complex at the same time. The art is also beautiful, and everything becomes animated once you figure it out. The entire concept of Gorogoa is something you've not seen before in other puzzle games, so it's definitely an experience you should check out if you're a puzzle fan.

$5 - Download Now

Donut County

Donut County is one of the most quirky and interesting puzzle gams you'll come across. Think of reverse Katamari Damacy.

Meet BK, the raccoon. He has a device that creates donut holes in the ground, which basically helps him steal trash in order to win stupid prizes. One day, he ends up falling into one of his own holes and finds his best friend, Mira, along with other Donut County residents, such 999 feet underground. They demand answers!

The gameplay of Donut County involves exploring the home of each character, who also have their own distinctive stories to tell. You'll move the hole around to swallow up their stuff, and the hole grows as you get more trash in it. You can combine items for fun effects, and catapult things out of the hole if needed. Sometimes you'll have to in order to solve the puzzles that await you.

It's a puzzle game, though it doesn't always feel that way. After all, you are controlling a big old hole in the ground and devouring everything that's in the way. Honestly, what else do you need in a game?

$5 - Download Now

ELOH

This puzzle game will help you find your groove and relax at the same time.

ELOH is a musical puzzle game that's all about finding the right position for the blocks to help guide the balls into the correct holes. As you progress through the game, the puzzles get a bit harder, but they all have one thing in common: rhythm. The blocks that you'll need to move also take on more creative shapes and forms and some can only move in a certain way. The game looks beautiful, has over 90 stages, and there's no time limits or other stress factors. Just find your rhythm and solve the puzzles. No stress or in-app purchases!

$3 - Download Now

Lumino City

If you're into beautiful games that look as good as they play, then you must get Lumino City. It was painstakingly hand-crafted from real-life paper, cardboard, miniature lights, and motors to create a wonderful little world that we can all interact with.

Lumi's grandfather has been kidnapped from Lumino City, and it's up to you to help Lumi explore the city to find out what happened to her grandfather. The city is full of realistic puzzles that are all connected and intertwined together, and you can interact with everything through simple touch controls.

The game is a bit long in the tooth at this point, but it's still a must-have in our book.

$5 - Download Now

What are your favorites?

Have a favorite puzzle game, I want to know about it! Leave a comment down below or hit me up on Twitter.

July 2019: Added more puzzle games to the list.

2048 is a matching game where your job is to combine matching tiles to create larger numbered tiles. When there are no more moves left and the board is full, the game is over. If you want to get to the mythical 2048 tile, you'll have to think of the best 2038 strategy and plan your moves carefully. Here are some tips and tricks on how to work your way up to a better score every time in 2048 on iPhone or iPad!

Six tips for the best 2048 Strategy

1. Understand how the board moves

In 2048 you only have four main gestures: up, down, left, and right. Every time you swipe, every tile on the board moves in that position as far as it possibly can. If multiple cards can combine at once, they will do so. Keep this in mind and understand how moves work before swiping a tile that may or may not end up where you thought it would.

2. Don't chase large tiles

Sometimes it's tough to resist temptation and chase larger numbered tiles across the board to combine them. This almost always puts you in a worse position than a better one. Instead, focus on combining smaller tiles and worry less about a specific set of tiles. They'll almost always meet up at some point, or you end up making a tile that ends up right next to it.

3. Work your way towards the corners

Staying in the corners assures you have more of the main game board to bring in new tiles. I've found that keeping tiles grouped into the corners works the best. Bring new tiles into the middle area when you can, and then you can swipe them to the corners to combine. Sometimes I start off in the upper left corner but see an opportunity to make larger combos by moving the entire board to the bottom left or diagonal. Working in the corners makes a shift in strategy a lot easier.

4. Plan ahead

This somewhat goes along with my first tip, but seriously, plan ahead - it's the best 2048 strategy. Look at everything you have on the board and what a 2 or 4 card will do to change it. Perhaps you see a match right now but bringing a 2 down on the other side would create multiple matches in one move. That's what you want to do.

5. Slow down and think

Sometimes it's hard to tell what the absolute best move is, so it's okay if you don't make it. 2048 gives you a lot of opportunities to recover from a bad move as long as you have empty spaces on the board. If you aren't sure what the best move is, re-evaluate where cards are on the board and whether or not you need to change their position before worrying about new cards.

6. Always make moves where multiple tiles merge first

If you come across an instance where you can merge multiple stacks of cards at once, take it. The more spaces you keep open on the board, the better flexibility you have when bringing in new cards. With single moves you're replacing a card you stacked with a new one. When multiple cards can be combined, you're not only bringing one new card onto the board, but you're getting rid of more than one. That's always a good thing.

Check out our tips for Threes!

If you like 2048, why not check out the game that "inspired" it, Threes! While Threes! and 2048 aren't played in the same way, they are very similar when it comes to gameplay strategy. We put together a killer guide on Threes! a while back and a lot of those tips apply to 2048 as well, so be sure to check it out!

Do you have any tips?

If you play 2048 regularly on your iPhone or iPad, what tips or tricks can you share for the best 2048 strategy? Be sure to let us know in the comments! And if you want, let us know what your high score is so far!

Technically, Gorogoa came out last week, while I was writing my overview of Oddworld: New n' Tasty, but the game is truly a masterpiece and I couldn't live with myself if I skipped over it for a second time.

Although Gorogoa went live just under the wire, it's easily one of my favorite games of 2017, and you can bet your bottom dollar I will be telling everyone I know to play it.

$4.99 - Download Now

Big concept

I think the most difficult part about trying to tell you how fantastic Gorogoa is to play, is that the concept behind the game sounds unbelievable. A hand-drawn puzzle game where you're tasked with moving people, buildings, fruit, and various other objects across four comic book-like panels that transcend time and space. Is your head spinning yet? Add in the fact that there is absolutely no dialogue, the game starts with no instructions or tutorial, and you have yourself one confusing game to pitch to somebody.

When I first looked into the game this past weekend, I was even unsure of what I was getting myself into; it was only after I played Gorogoa that I understood it was all part of the beauty. Sure, throwing you into a puzzle game with absolutely no instructions on how the gameplay mechanics work sounds frustrating, but the game does such an amazing job at letting you learn the mechanics on your own, you won't even feel frustrated. The entire design of the gameplay feels very natural and when you solve one piece of the puzzle, you feel like you learned something about the game at the same time.

Stunning artwork

A lot of the beauty in Gorogoa comes from the hand-drawn artwork that was all done by the game's creator Jason Roberts. Not only is every panel you come across in the game extremely intricate, every minor detail could be important.

Solving all the puzzles throughout the game forces you explore every inch of each image, tapping on everything you think might be important, or dragging every element across the screen to see if the image will split in two. Every time I looked at a panel. I saw something new, so when I found myself stuck on a challenge it made exploring the images in front of you fun and exciting.

High praise from the industry

I'm not the only one who thinks this game is fantastic. In fact, Ryan Cash — the founder of Snowman, the development team behind Alto's Adventure — tweeted about how much he loved the game.

This is just one example of the high praise Gorogoa has been receiving, and if there's anything I have learned in my time as a gamer and game reviewer, developers usually have the best game recommendations!

Play Gorogoa

Typically, I don't give out ratings to the games I highlight every week, but I'm breaking my rule and telling you that Gorogoa is a 10/10.

The entire time I played the game I was in a constant state of amazement and what was happening before me. This is a must own game for any iOS user, and offers a well-design, impactful, and beautiful gameplay experience.

$4.99 - Download Now

Have you played Gorogoa?

Let me know in the comments down below what you think of Gorogoa!

Other games this week

Sonic Runners Adventure: Everyone's favorite hedgehog and his trusty friends will be running on an iPhone screen near you! $2.99 on the App Store.

Bridge Constructor Portal: It's time to start thinking with portals! This hilarious combination of Portals game play mixed with bridge constructor. $4.99 on the App Store.

Games available for pre-order

Apple you can now pre-order games so you can download them automatically when they launch. Every week I'll give you a quick rundown of the titles you can pre-order!

Thumper: Pocket Edition: The "rhythm violence" game that will have you speeding along to the beat! Expected to launch January 24th, 2018. $4.99 on the App Store.

Anithero — Digital Board Game: Become the ultimate thief by using your stealth, cunning, and the odd murder or two. Expected to launch January 2nd, 2018. $3.99 on the App Store.

If you like room escape type puzzle games, like Myst — or more recently The Room series, then get ready for a new adventure. This time, you're traveling to the lost Temple of Khmer to find out what has happened to Professor Antoine LeBlanc. Escape Hunt: The Lost Temples is available now as a free download with a $3.99 in-app purchase to download the full game after you've solved the puzzles in the first room.

• Free with $3.99 in-app purchase - Download now

The adventure begins

Players are greeted at the beginning of the game with information about Professor LeBlanc, who has recently gone missing after discovering what is to believed to be the lost Temple of Khmer. Your job is to find the professor (and maybe discover the lost temple yourself, too).

You're whisked away to Cambodia to the Khmer Kingdom where you first face what appears to be an abandoned temple. You are immediately faced with your first puzzle: How to get across the river. That first puzzle is fairly easy and obvious, but once you get across the river, you must figure out how to open the door and raise the gate to the temple.

My advice: Be observant. Many of the puzzles' solutions are hinted at if you just look around. Symbols mean some things. Pictures represent other things. You get the idea.

Once you've opened the door and the gate to the temple, the free part of the game ends. If you're intrigued, you can purchase the rest of the game for $3.99 and follow the path that Professor LeBlanc took before.

Fans of adventure puzzle games will enjoy Escape Hunt: The Lost Temples

I'm a big fan of adventure puzzle games. They're more intellectually challenging than a simple point-and-click adventure game and less boring than just solving puzzles without any story.

Games like The Witness, Monument Valley, The Room series — these are all puzzle adventure games that are top in their class. Dating back even further, if you are aware of the famous PC game Myst you probably know all about puzzle adventure games.

Escape Hunt: Lost Temples fits perfectly into this genre. It's got great graphics with beautiful imagery and a comfortable point-and-click (or in the case of iOS, tap-to-move) style of gameplay. In each new room, you'll be required to solve between two and four puzzles, some of which must be solved in a particular order. For example, you might have to gather some items before you can use those items to create another item, which is then used to unlock a secret compartment, which holds another item that is used to access a different room. Stuff like that.

"Rooms," in this case are stretching the description a bit. Sometimes, you're at the entrance to a temple. Sometimes, you're inside a temple. Sometimes, you're in a market place. The idea is the same, though. Complete all puzzles in one location before moving on to the next.

It's made by a company that hosts escape room games IRL

Escape Hunt is actually an international live escape room game company with franchises around the globe and has been around since 2013. You might even say Escape Hunt is the company that popularized the real-life escape room trend that's happening across major cities right now.

The company boasts having an "Escape Game Design Academy" where new puzzle adventures are being designed all the time.

The Lost Temples is the company's digital version of their real life escape room games, which is totally meta because real life escape room games are based on escape room video games that have been around since the 1980s.

It's fun, but short

Escape Hunt: The Lost Temples isn't particularly hard. The puzzles are fairly easy to figure out without much effort. They're also not too complex, in comparison to the epic puzzles that you come across in something like The Room 3.

That being said, it's really fun and you get into it pretty fast. It's like a light snack of puzzle games. I completed almost the entire game in about three hours. If you have the time, you can complete it in one night.

Some might scoff at a $3.99 game that is done in just a single night, but it's less than you'd pay for a movie, and in my opinion, more fun in many cases.

In comparison, Monument Valley was short when it first launched, before ustwo games added more puzzles. The first Room game was very simple and definitely not as long as the next two installments.

My point is, The Lost Temples might be short, but it's fun. If your a fan of puzzle adventure games, it's right up your alley. It's not too difficult to get through, but is challenging enough to make you want to keep playing until you beat it. I'd recommend it for anyone that enjoys games like Myst, The Room, Monument Valley, or The Witness. It's fun and simple and keeps you entertained.

Don't you want to know what happens to Professor LeBlanc?

• Download now

What are your thoughts?

Have you played Escape Hunt: Lost Temples? Tell me what you thought of it. Have you ever played a real-life room escape game? Take me with you next time. They're super fun!

Minecraft is one of the most popular games in the world, it's available on practically every gaming system you can think of, and the Minecraft: Pocket Edition is specifically designed for mobile!

This adventure game focuses heavily on mining materials, crafting objects, and building things, and quite a few people have dedicated many hours to building some truly impressive works of block art.

If you're hoping to dive into the world of Minecraft and create your own masterpieces, here's everything you need to know to get started.

• $6.99 - Download now

Create a world

When you start playing Minecraft for the first time, you'll want to create your first world. You can build a world practically from scratch by using the texture packs of your choosing.

When you first create a world, start by giving it a name. Then, select the game mode from Survival or Creative. If you select Survival, you'll be vulnerable to attack from other creatures in the world, as well as other players if you've created an online game with others.

You can then select your level of difficulty from Peaceful, Easy, Normal, and Hard. Each level provides different adventures with increasingly harder means to survive, even in Creative mode. Decide whether your world will be available for online gameplay. If you create a multiplayer game that your friends can join when they see that you're playing Minecraft.

Biomes

Minecraft divides the world into biomes, which are essentially connected areas with a variety of specific features, adding a sense of exploration to your game. Different biomes are home to various resources and animals, as well as multiple NPC buildings, like temples, huts, and villages. Here's a list of some of the the biomes you'll find in Minecraft!

• Plains
• Forest
• Dark Forest
• Birch Forest
• Beach
• Desert
• Cold Beach
• Stone Beach
• Swamp
• Jungle
• Mesa
• Tundra
• Hills
• Mountains

Crafting

A huge part of Minecraft is crafting materials, which you can then use to build structures, sculptures, or whatever your heart desires. To craft most things in the game you'll need a crafting table, however, you'll need to craft wooden planks before you can make a crafting table.

The first thing you should do in order to start crafting is mine some wood. You'll need about 12 pieces of raw wood, so find some trees and start mining that wood!

Once you're done collecting the wood, head into your crafting menu to create some wooden planks. You'll notice after you're done crafting those, you should be able to make a crafting table.

From here it's just a matter of finding as many different materials as you can and experimenting accordingly. Weapons, armor, plants, building materials, and more, the world of crafting will be open to you!

Death

Although Minecraft is very much an exploration game, there's still lots of danger lurking around the world.

At night or in caves you'll notice a variety of creatures wandering around that will try to do you harm. Zombies, skeletons, creepers, and more monsters will attempt to kill you on sight, so be wary. Also, falling from an extreme height will cause you to take damage as well — and if it's high enough, it will kill you outright.

You have a health meter in the top left corner of your screen represented by hearts, when you run out of hearts you will die and lose all your materials that you have collected. You recover health slowly over time, so try to stay away from monsters until you have the proper equipment to deal with them.

Tips and Tricks

There are lots of ways to make your time in Minecraft: Pocket Edition go much smoother. Whether you're looking to build colossal structures or just need help finding precious coal, we've got you covered!

• Minecraft Pocket Edition: Top 10 tips, hints, and cheats

Use a MFi Controller

This is a bonus tip specifically from me; use a MFi controller if you have one. While the controls have been optimized decently well for a mobile experience, the game still feels much easier to handle with a proper set of controls.

I would highly recommend the Steelseries Nimbus MFi Controller if you're looking to pick one up!

What else would you like to know?

Let us know in the comments below!

Candy Crush Saga is a massively successful, casual puzzle-like game that has spawned two spin-off games and countless copycats. The game itself is incredibly simple, making it a staple time-waster on many people's iPhones and iPads.

If you're just entering the world of Candy Crush Saga and you're trying to figure out if the game is worth a download, here's everything you need to know!

• Free - Download Now

The objective

Candy Crush Saga is pretty straightforward. You win each level by completing its goal, which is usually limited by the number of moves you're allowed to perform.

Most of the early levels just require you to get a certain number of points, but as you progress through the game, you'll need to complete other objectives like clearing all the Jelly.

How to score points

You score points by crushing candies, which is to say, lining up at least three in a row of the same type of candy. The more candy you crush, the higher your score will go.

How to clear jelly and other obstacles

Clearing jelly and other obstacles is as simple as crushing candy over the spot where the jelly or obstacles rest.

Some obstacles later in the game take more than one crush to remove.

Special candies

When you combine four or more candies, you will receive a special candy that you can then match with other candies of the same type to activate special abilities, allowing you to clear more candies at once.

You can even match two special candies — even if they are a different type — to activate multiple effects at once. It's usually a good idea to do this whenever you can, so you can collect points more quickly!

Lives

If you fail to complete an objective in a level, you will lose a life. You start with five lives, and each time you lose one, it takes 30 minutes to replenish.

Once you are out of lives, you won't be able to continue playing the game until you've replenished at least one life.

You can also refill lives by spending gold, which you have to buy with real money.

Currency

There is one premium currency in Candy Crush Saga, and that's gold. You can buy gold for real money from the Candy Shop — the in-app store.

Strategy

Candy Crush Saga is equal parts strategy and luck. Each level is randomly generated, so even if you play the same level back-to-back, you'll get different results.

That doesn't mean there aren't a few tricks you can employ to get the most out of the hand you're dealt!

• Candy Crush Saga: Ten tips you need to know!
• Candy Crush Saga: Another ten helpful tips!

What more would you like to know?

Leave us a comment down below!

The Room and its sequels are arguably the best puzzle games ever made for mobile devices. Each one grew exponentially, and got much better looking. If you've played all three, you know how significantly FireProof Games has invested in the ever-expanding universe of The Room. Today, the game company announced it will launch "an all-new experience" later this year.

The announcement is painfully sparse. There are no details, Fireproof Games notes that the fourth installment in the series, titled "Old Sins," is expected in late 2017, so we shouldn't expect it before the holiday season.

We did get a small teaser about what to expect in Old Sins;

You can also get your hands on a sweet looking wallpaper for your iPhone with the iconic eyeglass from Old Sins to tide you over while you wait for its launch.

I've loved The Room series since the first game launched five years ago. The puzzles are multi-layered and immersive, and really make you work for the solutions. When you unlock a puzzle, only to reveal a half-dozen more, it's exciting. I absolutely loved The Room 3 for having a larger area to explore. I can't wait to see what Old Sins has in store.

If you haven't played The Room series yet, and you're a fan of puzzle games, you should definitely try one of them. You don't have to play them in order. The original is the least expensive, but the third is the most expansive.

See The Room series in the App Store

Are you excited?

Have you played any games in The Room series? Which one is your favorite? Are you intrigued about Old Sins?

Even though I'm a millennial and was born at the very beginning of the 90s, the 80s is my favorite decade. I may not have experienced it first hand, but the hair, the fashion, the music, and the movies have always had a special place in my heart. In fact, the first horror movie I ever watched was Silver Bullet (1985), and at the time it was scary as hell. Of course, when it come to 80s horror films not all of them are scary, a lot of them are just downright ridiculous.

Slayaway Camp is a puzzle game that also serves as an homage to the campy and cheesy 80s slasher films that populated the silver screen during the time of mullets and acid wash jeans.

In true 80s slasher flick fashion, Slayaway Camp is much more entertaining than it has any right to be.

Play Slayaway Camp today!

Warning: Slayaway Camp is rated 17+ on the App Store, and the content below depicts scenes from the game, which could be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

Story & Setting

There isn't much of a storyline to Slayaway Camp, but if you consider the source material of its intended parody, it's quite fitting. The closest thing we get to any story is at the beginning of each new area — represented by VHS tapes, in true 80s style — there is a "trailer" for the movie you're about to play through, and they are delightfully ridiculous.

These little scenes offer no real plot, but they do give you a glimpse at which killer you will be playing as, and the horribly cheesy dialogue is pure gold.

As for the setting, Slayaway Camp nails it. As mentioned before, each new area is represented by a new VHS tape and each level is a new scene in the horror movie. It's a nice touch that gives yet another nod to an era gone by.

Gameplay

If you've played any other puzzle games similar to Slayaway Camp — like Red's Kingdom — the basic mechanics are pretty straightforward. Swipe in the direction you want your killer to travel, and they will slide in that direction until something gets in the way.

As you slide around each scene, you'll need to dispose of all the people (except cops) in a particular order before the portal to the next scene appears. To kill one of your victims, you merely have to slide into them, and then Skullface — or one of the other killers you control — will slash, pierce, or bludgeon

As you progress through the scenes, the puzzle gets harder to solve as new obstacles and new mechanics are thrown into the mix. The gameplay itself isn't groundbreaking, plenty of other puzzle games operate virtually the same way; however, Slayaway Camp does include one particular mechanic that I believe is worth mentioning.

Sometimes to complete a scene correctly, you need your soon-to-be victims to move to a different location before turning them into worm food, and you can accomplish this by scaring characters.

If you slide beside a person, they will take the opportunity to run away from you in the opposite direction. Not only can this create a correct path for your killer to complete the scene, but it can also cause the fleeing victim to kill themselves by accident. The addition of this scare tactic — literally — breathes some new life into the gameplay right around the time it gets starts to get a little repetitive and increases the challenge level of the game.

Speaking of the difficulty level, it's incredibly inconsistent. The whole first VHS tape is essentially a tutorial, so it makes sense that the first ten or so scenes are relatively easy; however, when you move into the second VHS tape you start to notice the difficulty really vary scene-to-scene.

Too often I would find myself breezing through three scenes, only to be stumped by the next two, then power through the one more with ease, and then by stuck on the next scene for an hour. It may be a minor complaint, but it just made the pacing of the entire game feel jumbled and disjointed.

Design & Sound

The greatest things about modeling your game after terrible slasher flicks of the 80s, is you don't have to make it look or sound particularly good to accomplish the style you're trying to capture. No, I'm not saying Slayaway Camp looks and sounds bad, in fact, quite the opposite.

The game goes out of its way to make everything look over-the-top and cheesy, from the insane amount of blood that gets splattered all over the screen each time you kill a victim, to the soundtrack that sounds like a 13-year-old boy making creepy sound effects around a campfire.

Slayaway Camp manages to cram so much humor into the visuals and audio of the game, that it's impossible not to be chuckling while you're playing. A huge credit goes to the Minecraft-like characters with giant block heads and pixelated blood for making each gory death scene look ridiculous enough to be funny all while being extremely gruesome.

One top of the blood, guts, and murder of it all, Slayaway Camp includes lots of subtle things that contribute to the overall 80s horror atmosphere the game creates. From each new area being a VHS tape to Skullface resembling a block-headed Jason from the Friday the 13th series, to the terrifying clown you terrorize campers with in the third VHS tape, everything in this game is a nod to a great slasher flick of the past. Heck, even the name of the game is quite clearly a shout out to Sleepaway Camp, the easter eggs in this game are endless and make playing through each scene a nostalgic adventure through some of your childhood's worst nightmares.

My Verdict:

• Plenty of 80s nostalgia
• Morbidly funny gore
• Tons of scenes to complete

• Inconsistent challenge level
• Gameplay isn't new

Slayaway Camp is an incredibly fun puzzle game that makes the most out of its somewhat wacky premise.

Although the gameplay isn't revolutionary and the difficulty level changes a little too much for my liking, I can't say I was ever bored playing Slayaway Camp. Its dark humor mixed with extreme — but unrealistic — gore is a combination that keeps you entertained for hours on end.

The constant throwbacks, shout outs, and nods to famous horror films of generations past and the inclusion of all the awful tropes you find in those cinematic masterpieces, makes Slayaway Camp an instant gold mine to any movies buffs or 80s fanatics.

Overall, Slayaway Camp has plenty of gameplay to offer in a unique and bloody package that will have you laughing your way through the weirdest killing-spree you have ever seen.

Play Slayaway Camp today!

What do you think?

Have you picked up Slayaway Camp yet? Let me know what you think of the game by leaving a comment below!

Slayaway Camp is a morbidly funny take on the puzzle genre that tasks you with going on a killing spree, and no one you meet is safe! Unfortunately, at Slayaway Camp it's not quite a free-for-all when it comes to the maiming; there are cops, telephones, bookshelves, and other obstacles that get in the way of your homicidal tendencies.

If you're having trouble getting through the scenes, I'm here to help. I'll give you a breakdown of everything you need to know to get you back to your murdering ways.

Warning: Slayaway Camp is rated 17+ on the App Store, and the content below depicts scenes from the game, which could be disturbing to some readers. Discretion is advised.

• How the mechanics work in Slayaway Camp
• How to kill characters
• How to scare characters
• Extra kills for cash
• Obstacles

How the mechanics work in Slayaway Camp

If you've played any other puzzle games similar to Slayaway Camp — like Red's Kingdom — the basic mechanics are pretty straightforward. Swipe in the direction you want your killer to travel, and they will slide in that direction until something gets in the way.

As you slide around the room, you'll need to dispose of all the people (except cops) in the level before the portal to the next scene appears.

How to kill characters

It's a little too terrifyingly easy to finish off an unsuspecting victim in Slayaway Camp. As you slide around each scene, any person you slide into will be promptly disposed of; of course, if you don't dismember your victims in the right order, you may find yourself rewinding the level a few times until you get it right.

How to scare characters

Sometimes you need your soon-to-be victims to move to a different location before you can turn them into worm food, and you can accomplish this by scaring characters.

If you slide beside a person, they will take the opportunity to run away from you in the opposite direction. Not only can this create a correct path for your killer to complete the scene, but it can also cause the fleeing victim to kill themselves by accident.

Extra kills for cash

At the end of each scene, your murderer will have the opportunity to remove another poor soul from existence by way of a mini-game.

There will be a skull icon that slides along a bar located along the bottom of your screen; tap the screen when the skull is in the red area to complete the gruesome deed and earn in-game cash. You can use this cash to buy other gore packs, which allow you to cause carnage in various funny ways.

Obstacles

There are quite a few obstacles that can help or hinder your quest to maim everyone in sight, and to become a true murder master you'll need to know how they all work!

Cops are always on the lookout for psycho killers like yourself, so you need to make sure to stay out of their line of sight. If you finish your movement directly in front of a cop, it will be game over for you and your killer.

Cops cannot be scared like other characters in the game, but you can still force them into the afterlife by sliding into them from the sides or the back where they can't see you coming.

Nobody at Sleepaway camp, including rampaging murderers, can swim. You'll want to avoid water at all costs. If you fall into any water, you'll be sleeping with the fishes.

If you scare characters into water, they will also die, so keep that in mind as you are moving about!

Like any good summer camp, Slayaway Camp has fire pits strewn about just begging to be used as marshmallow toasters; however, Skullface and your other killers use them to roast people.

You can scare campers into the fire pits, but Skullface and his group of killers will also be killed by firepits if you slide into them.

As you slice and dice your way through victims in Slayaway Camp, you'll come across some Holes that can be helpful or hurtful.

Just like fire and water, these holes will cause anyone who runs over them to end up 6 feet under. Sometimes you'll need to scare characters into these holes — just make sure you don't end up in one yourself.

Throughout the game, you'll encounter objects that you can push over. You'll interact with bookcases first, but soon you'll notice other items such as refrigerators and dressers, which act the same way.

Hit these objects in the front or back, and they will tip over in that direction, which can squish any characters standing on the other side. You'll also notice that pushing over bookcases (and the other items) will unlock new paths for you to take on occasion.

Old school blue rotary phones must have been popular in the 80s because they are everywhere in Slayaway Camp, but they aren't just for show!

Telephones always come in pairs, and each one is a direct line to the other in the level. If you slide into a phone, you'll make a call to the other one, causing the nearest person to answer the phone. This changes the layout of the puzzle and presumably give your killer time to say something creepy like "seven days".

Are you enjoying Slayaway Camp?

The terrible story, the horribly fake gore, all the homages to 80s horror films — are you enjoying Slayaway Camp as much as I am? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter

Growing up I had a plethora of books and games dedicated to finding things. Where's Waldo, I Spy (shoutout to my fellow Canucks), and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego were just a few of the titles that would occupy my time and give my parents a few minutes of peace before I was causing some sort of ruckus or fighting with my older brother.

While I haven't picked up a Where's Waldo book in 15 years, Hidden Folks made me feel just like I had one in my hands again, but the experience was even more mesmerizing than I remembered.

Play Hidden Folks today!

Gameplay

As you can imagine, the gameplay in Hidden Folks is pretty straightforward. You are given a list of characters, animals, and objects you have to find in each scene by tapping around the screen. Each item comes with a tiny hint that helps you locate the object, and when you find so many objects you can move on to the next level.

The levels start out pretty simple and small, but before you know it they become complex and massive. In fact, by the time I hit the fourth level I spent so much time scrolling through the level just to see everything, that I opted to continue playing on my iPad. I also found the larger screen helped reduce eye-strain from staring at small characters on the screen for long period of time.

You also don't spend a 100% of your time looking for characters in huge areas, there are a few levels where you simply need to help one of the characters make his or her way across the terrain. These levels offer a pleasant, but short reprieve from the standard gameplay and gives your brain and eyes a couple minutes to relax.

Design & Sound

It's hard for me to believe that all the levels, characters, animals, trees, and other scenery in Hidden Folks is hand drawn. Sure, all the stick figures and line art definitely looks the part of hand-drawn, but the sheer amount of artwork involved makes it almost insane to believe.

Everything you tap on has some sort of animation, big or small it doesn't matter, everything can be interacted with. Tents can be opened, shrubs can be cut down, people will jump or move, and all of that was drawn by hand. If you don't appreciate the work and craftsmanship behind the charming art found in the game, I would argue that perhaps Hidden Folks may not be the perfect game for you.

Going hand-in-hand with the game's childlike drawings and its overall charm is the mouth created sound effects. Once again the amount of work put into the sound is mind-boggling. The Hidden Folks description in the App Store cites the developers have included more than 960 sound effects and I believe it.

Everything you touch has a unique sound. No two characters sound alike, different vegetation makes different noises while being chopped, and every animal lets out a different call, once again showing off the creativity on display in things game.

As impressive as the vast sound effects library is, I did find myself getting annoyed at the various beeps, bleeps, boops, and woops that the game shouts out at you pretty often. While I enjoyed hearing every new sound for the first time, hearing that sound for the 20th time gets on your nerves.

My Verdict:

• Huge levels with lots to find
• Hand-drawn childlike art is superb
• Challenging to find everything

• Sound effects can get on your nerves

Hidden Folks is an amazingly crafted puzzle game that strives for simplicity and succeeds with flying colors.

Finding everything on each level is quite the challenge and Hidden folks will make you flex your brain power to figure out certain hints that accompany each findable person or object.

The hand-drawn art is as charming as it is impressive and you'll spend just as much time looking around each level enjoying the design as you will squinting your eyes trying to find Beekeeper Barry.

When it's so easy to see all the time and effort the developers put into making Hidden Folks a unique experience. It's a no-brainer to purchase the game for $3.99.

Play Hidden Folks today!

What do you think?

Have you been playing Hidden Folks, I'd like to know what you think! Leave a comment below about your experience with the game.

Although it's still early in 2017, Red's Kingdom already has my vote for iOS game of the year — I did give it a glowing review. If you're considering buying the game, or have already been playing the game, you may be surprised at the depth of Red's Kingdom.

I'll break down everything you need to know to play through Red's Kingdom and enjoy the nutty adventure!

• How the mechanics work in Red's Kingdom
• Room Exits
• How to defeat enemies
• How to increase your health
• Obstacles of Red's Kingdom

How the mechanics work in Red's Kingdom

The basic mechanics of the Red's Kingdom are pretty simple. Swipe in the direction you want Red to travel, and he will roll in that direction until something gets in his way. By rolling Red around like this, you need to make it to the next room to progress through the game.

The nuts you find on the screen help act as a guideline on where to roll, so if you ever get stuck and there is still nuts left in the room, think about which way you need to roll to collect the nuts, and you'll probably find your way to the exit.

Room Exits

Exits are marked with a colored "X", so you know where you want to roll Red to progress to the next room. Some rooms have more than one exit giving you multiple options to progress and opportunities to find treasure chests, so make sure you explore!

There are three different colors of exits. Green exits are always reachable, while yellow and pink exits need special abilities you pick up along the way.

How to defeat enemies

Enemies in Red's Kingdom are the gray squirrels (who work for Mad King Mac) you'll come across in various room throughout the game. Usually, you'll have to defeat them before progressing forward.

When you first run into one of these goons, you won't be able to defeat it. Instead, you'll just pass by the gray squirrel completely ignoring him like an ex-lover at a mutual friend's birthday party; however, once you receive the Medallion (shortly after passing that first enemy) you can start bashing into the gray squirrels and do some damage.

Over each enemy, you'll see some hearts, usually two or three, that's the health meter of the enemy. Red also has a health meter (represented by hearts) in the top left corner of your screen. You attack an enemy by rolling into them and each time you do both you and the enemy will lose one heart, and Red will roll backward. Make sure to be mindful of your health when you see gray squirrels on the screen.

Pro tip: If you tap on the screen just before Red makes contact with a baddie, you'll perform a critical hit. A critical hit will deplete two hearts of your enemy's health meter, and Red will avoid taking any damage, it's a real win-win!

How to increase your health

Red will start the game with four hearts in his health meter; however, you're not stuck with four hearts for the entire game. As you journey throughout Red's Kingdom you will find items called "heart in a bottle"; collect three of them to increase your health meter by one heart.

These bottles are typically found in optional rooms in the game, meaning you'll have to go looking for them. Don't forget to explore everywhere to find them all!

Obstacles of Red's Kingdom

Red's Kingdom throws plenty of obstacles in your way as you journey through the game. You'll need to know how they all work to get past all the rooms effectively; I'll break each one down for you.

Note: I'm only about ⅔ of the way through Red's Kingdom, so as I find different obstacles I'll be sure to update this list for your reading pleasure.

Once you go over a ramp, you can roll back against it cause Red to stop in his tracks — just like hitting a wall or barrel. This will allow you to roll places you couldn't before and help you get to where you need to go.

Later in the game when you've acquired the Wingsuit, ramps will cause you to fly across a few squares. This is the power you need to access yellow exits.

When you roll over or stand on a pressure block, the block will raise up out of the ground. This will give you the ability to reach new higher paths or give you a new place for Red to stop.

Rolling over or standing on a button will activate certain objects, such as raising a portcullis, giving you access to new places you couldn't reach before.

Doors with keyholes need keys to open. You'll find keys in chests throughout Red's Kingdom, though they are often not in the same room as the locked door, be sure to look around.

Red or blue pots that have a green target on them can be broken by rolling into them. You'll need the medallion first, which is the same item you need to fight enemies.

Activate switch blocks by standing on a red button.

Color-coded levers control the red and blue blocks found in Red's Kingdom. When the knob on the lever blue, the blue boxes will be raised, and when the knob on the lever is red, the red boxes will be raised. You activate the lever by rolling towards it when Red is standing beside the lever.

There's a lot of instances where you'll find more than one color-coded lever like this in a room, forcing you to go through a maze of red and blue boxes and activating the different levers at different points.

These little black pools of tar will stop Red in his tracks when he rolls over them, giving you the ability to access different paths.

When you activate a lever (roll towards it while standing beside the lever), it will trigger different object to move. Typically, you'll find that levers will cause pillars to rise or fall.

Keep in mind that some levers are timed, meaning you only have so long before the lever automatically resets itself. You'll know a lever is timed because you'll hear a ticking sound — like a timer —when you throw the switch.

Red can move push block by rolling into them in the direction you want to move the block. Block can only be moved in the black and white squares on the floor. Sometimes you can push blocks onto buttons, which will open new paths for Red.

When you roll over or stand on a reset button, any pressure blocks you raised will go back down. These red buttons will have a circular arrow on them, so you don't mistake them for normal red buttons.

If you roll into a spiked barrel, Red will lose a heart from his health meter and be flung backward. Ouch! Avoid spiked barrels at all costs!

Rolling into a bouncy tire will cause Red to bounce off in a different direction.

When Red rolls into a gopher hole, he will travel underground and pop up on the other side rolling in the same direction he went in.

Are you enjoying Red's Kingdom?

Are you enjoying Red's Kingdom? Did you find this guide helpful? Let me know in the comments below!

When you play games for a good portion of your time like I do, it can be hard for one game to break through the noise and really stand out of the riff raff. But, when a game does, I know I'm going to be in for a wild ride.

Red's Kingdom is a perfectly crafted adventure puzzle game that has a lot of depth. The goofy but heartwarming story with its colorful characters is bound to grab your attention, and the incredibly fun gameplay never seems to go stale as the game layers in plenty of elements to surprise you at every turn.

Buckle up: It's time to go on a nutty adventure!

Play Red's Kingdom today!

Story & Setting

Perhaps I'm a little jaded, but I didn't think I would be able to write about the story in a puzzle game, but Red's Kingdom surprised me early on and I was captivated.

Red's Kingdom starts out with a little cutscene that manages to pack a decent amount of plot into a short amount of time. The scene takes place in less than two minutes, and just by watching it I managed to feel a little emotional attachment to the hero of the story. It threw me completely off guard, but in the best possible way, I was instantly hooked on the story.

You play as Red, a toothy red squirrel, who is on a mission to retrieve his Golden Nut from the Mad King Mac. Oh, did I mention he also kidnapped Red's father? As you chase after the King — a very nasty gray squirrel — you meet a colorful cast of supporting characters along the way, who manage to stick out in your mind, despite having only a few moments of screen time. Before long I was finding myself looking forward to speaking with the next person I came across in Red's travels

A big reason the characters manage to make an impact is due to the cleverness of the writing. As a wordsmith myself, I find it hard to resist a good pun, and Red's Kingdom throws out a lot of them, often giving me a good chuckle in the process. Plus, the game somehow keeps its childish charm, all while finding room for some adult-aimed humor usually centering around the double meaning of the word "nuts". It reminded me of how I feel watching a Disney or Pixar movie as an adult, it's still very enjoyable, but you'll pick up on things that kids won't and it becomes like an inside joke between you and the movie (or game in this case).

Gameplay

Controlling Red with a series of directional swipes, you must make it through each "room" on the map, collecting nuts as you go along. As with most puzzle games the controls are super simple, swipe in the direction you want Red to roll, he will roll until an object stops him.

The key to any great puzzle game is finding the right balance between challenge level and fun level. The game has to be difficult enough to warrant using some brain power, but still "easy" enough to keep a player from feeling hopeless; Red's Kingdom strikes the perfect balance.

Each puzzle builds on the last, making each room just a tad harder to traverse, but never feeling like you're completely lost. In the beginning, I found that a good minute or two of studying the room and examining each move carefully was enough to solve the problem; however, as you progress, the game doesn't just get harder, it changes slightly.

The first two areas of the game, like most puzzle games, are pretty linear. You must make it from point A to point B, avoiding obstacles; however, once you progress to the third big area in Red's Kingdom, the game becomes much more of an "open world".

You'll start to notice multiple exits to each room and even newer obstacles or enemies that you can't always tackle right away. You may be missing an ability or an item that you need to move on, causing you to go on a hunt for said missing ability or item. It's at this point I realized that Red's Kingdom feels much more like an adventure game with great puzzles reminiscent of Zelda games of old.

The game keeps you guessing on where to go next and forces you to explore the each room more thoroughly. There are a fair amount of hidden treasures as well, which make exploring worthwhile and doesn't slow down the pace of the game.

Design & Sound

The game is very cartoonish, both in tone and design, and the graphics aren't mind-blowing in any way; however, each area has it's own distinct look and keeps the game looking fresh. Lush greens, bright pinks, and other neon colors will greet you in a lot of the outdoor areas, whereas deep browns, slate grays, and other darker hues await you in the castle areas.

On occasion, the way the map is laid out, it's a little hard to tell exactly where Red will end up when you swipe in a given direction. Luckily, it seems the developers — Cobra Mobile — caught this minor drawback and offered a pretty easy solution. By tapping and holding on Red, a faint dotted line will appear on the floor allowing you to see where Red will roll. I do wish Red's Kingdom included that in the tutorial at the beginning of the game; I probably could have been spared a few frustrating moments.

The music mostly fades into the background and doesn't affect the game noticeably, except for the times where the music stops. It almost sounds like the game is going to start playing a new track on a CD — you know the brief couple seconds before the song changes? Instead it just starts replaying what you have already heard, it can get a little repetitive at times, but I was mostly too focused on completing the next puzzle for it to be a huge issue.

My Recommendation: 👍

I can't recommend Red's Kingdom enough! The well-thought-out puzzles that are laid out in beautifully colorful landscapes are enough to make this game worth purchasing on their own, and that's without taking into account all the other great aspects Red's Kingdom.

The gameplay stays fresh and constantly throws new challenges your way, and is so much more than a puzzle game. Red's Kingdom opens the doors to its world and allows you to take non-linear paths giving you the opportunity to explore different areas and find alternate routes to hidden treasures.

Throw in Red's Kingdom's clever scripting and the wacky but lovable cast of characters, and it's a no brainer. Red's Kingdom is a slam dunk!

Play Red's Kingdom right now!

Update: Puzzle Maker mode is now live in Deus Ex GO.

Game maker Square Enix Montréal has launched another entry in the mobile GO franchise. This one is based on the Deus Ex universe. As agent Adam Jensen, your goal is to sneak around different rooms in a variety of buildings, trying to uncover a secret terrorist plot. You don't have to know anything about Deus Ex to enjoy Deus Ex GO. Though the characters and dystopian cyberpunk atmosphere will be familiar to fans of the franchise, the gameplay is completely different.

Deus Ex GO is a turn-based puzzle game where players must avoid getting caught by baddies as they travel from point A to point B. There are plenty of obstacles to get in the way, including motion-detecting turrets and floors that disappear when deactivated.

If you are just getting started playing Deus Ex GO, we've got all the information you need to stop the terrorists from executing their plans.

• How Deus Ex GO game mechanics work
• How to avoid the baddies
• How to use Invisibility augmentation
• How to hack the computer systems
• How to play weekly puzzle events
• How to earn achievements for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• How to use the Puzzle Maker

How Deus Ex GO game mechanics work

You are agent Adam Jensen. Your mission is to infiltrate a number of locations, looking for information that will help you uncover a terrorist plot and expose its members. You do so by sneaking around different rooms, trying to avoid getting caught by guards, guns, and other nefarious nonsense. You do this by timing your movements very precisely.

The game is turn-based – sort of. You take a turn, and then all bad guys take a turn at the same time. This can, and will, be used to your advantage in some situations (more on that later).

The floor of each room is covered with pathways that you must follow in order to get to the other side and exit. How you navigate the pathways is the key to getting out alive.

To move, tap the screen in the direction you want to go. You will move forward to the nearest node (or space) on that pathway. You can also swipe your finger across the screen in the direction you want to go, which can sometimes be helpful if something is in the way of your view of the path.

Each move you take counts as one turn. Hacking computers and activating invisibility augmentation also count as one turn.

To earn the Mastermind achievement on each mission, you must complete each level within a certain number of moves. You will earn special rewards that can be used in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided when you complete Mastermind achievements. So it is in your best interest to plan wisely and not take any unnecessary steps.

After you move, all baddies, bots, and motion-sensing weapons take a turn simultaneously. If you are hacking a computer system or activating an Invisibility augmentation, the bad guys do not move, although it still counts as a turn for you.

Getting killed or starting a level over will not count against you. You can replay a level over and over, 100 times if need be, in order to complete it within the specified number of moves.

How to avoid the baddies

Deus Ex GO is a stealth game at its core and the best way to avoid a baddie is to stay out of the range of sight. Baddies included guards, bots, and turrets.

Guards are humans with superhuman augmentation armor called "Titan shield." When a guard sees you, he activates his shield and runs at you. You'll know when a guard has activated his Titan shield because he turns red. You can't kill a guard when his shield is activated, so, don't even try. It'll likely get you killed instead.

As soon as you cross a pathway that a guard is facing, he sees you and starts running. If his next move lands in the space you are occupying, you're toast.

Because the game is turn-based, you can get out of his pathway before he reaches you. Once out of his sight, he'll just turn around and go back the way he came. When he gets back to his guard post, he will deactivate his Titan shield, making him vulnerable to attack.

You may not be able to fight a guard head-on, but you can sneak up on one to take him out, as long as you are on a pathway that he is not facing. That includes walking up right next to him on a sideways path.

You can also hack the computer systems on many levels to get turrets to do your bidding. When an unsuspecting guard ends up in the line of fire, he'll go down instead of you.

Bots come in different forms. Some of them are ED-209 RoboCop style monstrosities that will crush you like a bug if one enters your space. Others are like those small Fix-Its from Batteries Not Included. But they will definitely not fix you. Instead, they will zap you out of existence if you get within one space of them. You can get close but not too close.

You can destroy bots by sneaking up on them. Similar to guards, if they are not looking down the pathway you are on, you can smash them to bits from behind or sideways.

Turrets will mow you down as soon as you move into a path they are facing. They don't move, but they don't need to. You can't destroy turrets, but you can take over control of them by hacking a computer system, and when you do, you can make them friendly to your cause. This can be very useful for picking off unsuspecting guards that happen to be in the way. Remember, when a guard's Titan shield is active, he is invincible – even to turrets.

You can also use Turrets to your advantage without needing to control them. If you move down a pathway that is parallel to a guard and perpendicular to a turret, you can time your movement so that a guard blocks the bullets fired as you cross its pathway.

How to use Invisibility augmentation

In this cyberpunk world, you can temporarily go invisible so as not to be detected by guards, bots, or turrets. Unfortunately, it is very temporary, lasting only one move. But, sometimes one move is all you need to get away.

Invisibility augmentation looks like a blue pyramid. All you have to do to get one is enter the space it is in, but it won't trigger automatically. You can save it for another time and it will sit in the upper right corner of the screen until you are ready to use it.

To activate Invisibility augmentation, tap the blue pyramid that sits in the upper right corner of the screen. A blue hexagon will appear under your feet. Tap your character to trigger the effect.

You can then move into a new node (or space) while invisible and you will stay that way until you move again. When you move into a new space, the effect goes away and you are visible again. If you are within any bad guy's line of site, you may be in for a beating.

Just because you are invisible doesn't mean you can walk through objects (or guards). Don't walk into a guard's space while he is moving. Since he is technically bumping into you, he will become aware of your presence and attack you. Invisible or not, you'll be dead.

How to hack the computer systems

After you've completed a few early levels, you'll see computers sitting nearby. They control the turrets and activate or deactivate special tiles on the floor. When you use a computer to control one of these objects, it can help you get to the end or cause an enemy to get stuck or die.

To activate a computer, walk into the node (or space) that it occupies and then tap your character. You will enter hacker mode, which shows you your available options for controlling objects in the room.

To take control of an object, drag your finger from the computer to the object. The screen will display the pathway that the computer takes.

Note: Sometimes, the pathway makes a difference in what a hack does. Taking the westerly route might make a tile turn clockwise, while taking the easterly route might make it turn counter-clockwise.

You can take control of a turret, which will make it friendly to you and instead shoot at guards. You won't be shot at if you cross a hacked turret's pathway.

You can take control of special tiles on the floor, which either disappear and appear by your command or rotate, changing the pathway options available to you. These are major puzzle mechanics and it is important to understand when to hack a tile and when not to.

If you hack a tile at just the right moment, you can cause a guard to be stuck behind it, allowing you a clear path to the exit. If a guard is standing on a tile when it disappears, he will simply hover above it until you make it reappear.

Rotating tiles will cause bots to move down an alternate pathway. They will also open up new pathways to help you get to an exit.

Guards can reverse your hack job on an object, so watch out. If you are standing on a disappearing tile when a guard disables your hack, you will fall to your doom.

This is where timing is key. If you plan your moves properly, you can get past a tile before the guard gets to it.

How to play weekly puzzle events

In addition to Story mode, players can take part in weekly puzzle events. These are special missions that only last one week. If you complete all levels in the mission within the specified amount of time, you might earn a special reward that can be used in Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

These weekly puzzle events are significantly more difficult than the puzzles in Story mode. It is a great opportunity for players that have completed the story to continue playing the game.

How to earn achievements for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

In a smart move to get fans of Deus Ex excited about the mobile game, Square Enix has included a reward system that will let players earn skill points, called Praxis Kits, in Deus Ex GO.

When you connect your Square Enix account to Deus Ex GO, you can send your Praxis Kits over to the Deus Ex: Mankind Divided game, where they can be assigned to your augmentation tree.

There are currently five Praxis Kits available to earn in Deus Ex GO: You can get two for completing Story mode, one for clearing every level with the Mastermind achievement, one for completing the first puzzle week event, and one for completing the second puzzle week event.

It is possible that Square Enix will add more Praxis Kit rewards as time goes by, especially as a reward for completing weekly puzzle events.

How to use the Puzzle Maker

Thanks to Puzzle Maker mode, you can create levels using the basic puzzle tools in Deus Ex GO. Lay down pathways, plant baddies, add hackable computers that let the player control turrets, and change to color of your floors and backgrounds. You can share levels with everyone and rate levels that are uploaded by players. The best ones get spotlighted in the Daily Challenges.

Tap the Puzzle Maker tab, it looks like an upside-down triangle with a pencil inside of it. Then, tap "Create" to get started. Tap the icon for pathways, bots, and paint to create your level. Tap the Play icon to test the puzzle and make sure it is ready for prime time. When your puzzle is awesome and fun, publish it to the live network so others can try it out. If you get a lot of likes, your puzzle may show up on tomorrow's Daily Challenge. Good luck!

Pleasing graphics, jolly soundtrack, and RPG elements make Crossy Maze a ton of fun to play. Appearing straightforward at the beginning, the game increases in difficulty as you progress. To help your Pip along the way, you will gain items and hearts. How does it all fit together? Here's how to get a head-start on unlocks, pickups, and play-styles.

Free – Download now

• Don't get trigger happy
• Study and plan
• Know your enemies
• Lure your enemies
• Use your inventory to your advantage

Don't get trigger happy

Tapping directional arrows too fast can move your Pip too far. With the amount of traps littered around the maze you will likely wind up losing a heart. There will be times when you panic and have to tap fast, but try to keep count of your taps. As you can see above, I tapped one too many times and fell into the pit.

Study and plan

When you start a new maze there should be no immediate danger, so take a few moments to study the board. Plan your route using the least amount of moves, as less moves means less chance of losing hearts. In the first two screenshots above you can see how many blocks I've touched without getting too close to the enemy Pips (although, I did use a Rainbow—more on that below). You can see in the last screenshot above how intricate some boards can be.

Know your enemies

You may not be Sun Zi, but you can take the famous tactician's advice and know your opponents.

• Red Eyes Pip: Can only move in relation to your place on the maze. Cannot move diagonally.
• Green X Pip: Will take the quickest route toward you. Cannot move diagonally.
• Blue Eyes Ball Pip: Takes the quickest route to you. Can move diagonally and can jump over blank spaces.

Understand what they can do and you'll have a better chance of beating them.

Lure your enemies

Moving enemy Pips will attempt to follow you around the maze. They are not affected by rising spikes but cannot traverse spike pits. If these enemies are blocking a certain part of the maze, move close to attract their attention, then move away. These enemies can be removed from the maze by luring them onto a falling block square you have activated, as pictured above. Note that enemy Pips cannot activate falling blocks.

Use your inventory to your advantage

Coins collected while crossing the maze can be used to purchase several items: Hearts, weapons, save points, and reviving a dead character. Other than hearts and swords, items purchased or picked up will appear in your inventory (located beneath the maze and above the directional arrows, as pictured above). Hearts and swords are located above the maze. I try to keep enough coins in my inventory for a revive—accidents happen—which costs 30 coins. Inventory items cost 10 coins while marking a save point will cost you 20 coins. Inventory items include:

• Heart: Run out of these and you'll have the option to revive your character. Run out again and you'll have to completely restart.
• Sword: If you have a sword in your inventory you will automatically attack an enemy Pip who lands on your square. Swords are one use only.
• Shield: Tap to deploy. The shield will prevent any enemy Pips from landing on the square. You can use the shield to block enemies from a part of the map, or you can use it to create a safe space for your Pip.
• Bombs: Tap a bomb and place it near one or more enemies. Run! A timer on the bomb counts down to detonation. Don't get caught in the blast—you will lose a heart.
• Rainbow: Tapping the rainbow will color all adjacent squares. If there is a trap-filled area of the map you'd rather not deal with, get as close as you dare and deploy the rainbow. The squares will now appear colored and you can move on.
• Trap: My favorite item: tap, deploy your own trap, and lure enemies toward it. Enemy Pips who land on the trap are removed from the board. Your trap, once deployed, will remain active on the board until you pass through the end-door.
• Freeze: Tap to freeze time for five seconds. You are free to move around, but traps and enemies are frozen in place.

Have your say

Did I miss your favorite Crossy Maze tips? Let me know in the comments below!

Candy Crush Jelly Saga, the third installment of the very popular Candy Crush series, brings you more of the same, addictive, match-three mechanics. You advance through levels of increasing difficulty where you must "spread the jelly everywhere," free the shy Pufflers, or battle the Jelly Queen for control of the board.

Free + IAP - Download now

• Make special candies
• Crack the frosting in different spots over the board to begin
• Choose your moves wisely
• Keep an eye on the Pufflers
• Time cheat to get more moves

1. Make special candies

Matching a number of the same color candies lets you make special candies that help you clear the board more quickly.

This is especially important for Jelly Queen levels where you're going head-to-head against the sticky monarch herself.

• Striped candy - Match four in a row. Clears an entire row or column, depending on direction of the stripes.
• Candy fish - Match four in a 2x2 square. Fish attacks a random square and eats the candy on it.
• Color bomb - Match five in a row. Powerful spotted candy that clears all candies of the same color as the one it was matched with.
• Wrapped candy - Match five in a T-shape. It will explode when swapped, taking out any candies around it.
• Coloring candy - Match six or more. Changes the color of any candies that it's swapped with. Good for raising the your chances for making special candies.
• Coconut wheel - Randomly appears at later levels. Clears the first candy it's switched with, then converts the next three candies in that row or column to striped candies.

All of the special candies can be combined with each other to create other special candies that grant you different benefits.

• Striped candy and wrapped candy - Makes a giant striped candy that clears three rows and 3 columns in a cross shape.
• Striped candy and color bomb - Converts all candies — including special candies — to the color of the original striped candy and activates them.
• Striped candy and jelly fish - Makes three striped fish that convert any eaten candy into striped candies and activates them.
• Striped candy and coconut wheel - Changes a total of six candies into striped candies and activates them.
• Wrapped candy and wrapped candy - It makes the board go boom. It clears out 24 candies in a 5x5 grid surrounding each wrapped candy.
• Wrapped candy and color bomb - Changes every candy of the same color as the wrapped candy into wrapped candies and activates them.
• Wrapped candy and jelly fish - Makes three wrapped jelly fish that turn the candy they eat into wrapped candies.
• Wrapped candy and coconut wheel - Changes an entire row or column of candies into wrapped candies.
• Color bomb and color bomb - Want to clear the entire board, including most obstructions? Match two color bombs together and watch the whole board explode.
• Color bomb and jelly fish - Makes three color bomb jelly fish, which turn any eaten candy into jelly fish and activates them.
• Color bomb and coconut wheel - Turns a row/column of candies into striped candies and activates them.
• Coconut wheel and coconut wheel - Turns a row/column of candies into striped candies and activates them.

2. Crack the frosting in different spots over the board

For Puffler levels, start cracking the frosting randomly across the entire board to find where the shy critters are hiding. Doing this will reveal where you need to concentrate your clearing efforts for later on in the level.

3. Choose your moves wisely

You have five moves in total per three hours and each level may have up to three boards to clear. Think strategically and conserve your moves to get the most benefit out of them. Conversely, don't waste your moves.

A good example of a wasted move is freeing locked pieces. They are usually cleared as you are playing through a level, so unless they're blocking something important, don't waste your time on them.

4. Keep an eye on the Pufflers

In levels where you have to find the Pufflers, they tend to move around as you clear the frosting above them. Sometimes, a tail or head will be revealed. As you reveal more of their bodies, they get overcome with shyness and run away to hide.

When they run, watch where they go. You'll see the rows and columns of candy light up as they pass underneath. If you pay attention, you'll know where they've gone!

5. Time cheat to get more moves

Like most mobile games, Candy Crush Jelly Saga gives you a limited number of moves: you get five turns every three hours.

To get more turns, you can do this trick: In your settings, you have a setting for automatic time zone. Turn this off and set the clock three hours ahead. Fire up the game and play. You can keep advancing the clock three hours at a time.

When you are done playing, be sure to turn on automatic time zone again because fiddling with the time can cause other applications to malfunction.

How much candy have you crushed?

Have you reached the top level in Candy Crush Jelly Saga? Brag about it in the comments below and tell us how you did it!

It's an oldie but a goodie, so let's have a look at the original Bejeweled game. Whether it's a throwback for you, or a brand new game app on your phone or tablet, you can't knock a classic!

1. Slow down!

Even when you're playing a game on a phone or tablet, the old principles of strategy and patience still apply. It's tempting to dive in and just start shuffling things around to see your score go up. Bejeweled gives you plenty of playing pieces, so try to think of it like a giant chess board. Strategic moves mean serious points, so take the time to really survey the board before making your move.

2. There is only one rule

Every move you make must result in points. If you try to move a jewel into a position that does not give you any points, the game will automatically return it to the original position. A jewel can only be swapped with one of the jewels immediately next to it. No giant moves across the board here.

Speaking of moves, remember that tapping on a gem won't move it. It will put brackets around it and make it spin, but it's up to you to move it up and down or side to side by sliding it.

3. Levelling up

The bar across the bottom of the screen gives you an indication of how you are progressing through each level. Before you reach double digits in level numbers, you will have reached a six-digit score, even if you're brand new to the game.

With each new level, the basic score goes up by 50 points. The most basic way to score in Bejeweled is by matching three jewels in a horizontal or vertical row. To reach for more points, try to match four jewels; the four will condense down into a Flame Gem, which will carry over into the next level if you don't use it. Matching two Flame Gems creates an explosion, which is rewarding in points, but admittedly it does shake up whatever strategy you may have had in place.

Points can also be earned in less common patterns, like L and T shapes. These are easy to overlook when you're focused on rows of three or four. Pause to see if you can fit them into your strategy when the more obvious matches are hiding from you. If you do make these matches, you're rewarded with a Star Gem, which can be matched with others to make massive gem eliminations since it will also carry over into another level if unused.

4. View from the top

Anyone who has played Bejeweled will give you the same advice: always move from the top. Go for the matches that are in the first three rows, even if you see clear moves at the bottom. Eliminating jewels in the bottom rows too soon will cause the order in the top rows to change, eliminating easy scores. Save those bottom row moves for the moments when you've exhausted every top row move first. Remember, too, that hitting the Hint button won't necessarily give you the most strategic move, but it will give you an obvious one you may have overlooked.

5. Look up every now and then

Intermittently, the screen will cast a diagonal shimmer over all of the jewels. This actually does refresh your view because it redirects your attention to other areas of the screen, just in case you've been staring at one spot for too long. The real refresh, though, is to look away from the screen, for a few seconds or a few minutes.

Back to basics

New game apps are constantly coming at us, and games like Bejeweled have several newer versions, like Diamond Mine, or Bejeweled Blitz. These add levels of strategy, or reinvent elements of the original. If you've become a Blitz devotee, or you left Bejeweled Classic behind a few years back, or what's old is brand new to you, a classic is a classic.

• Free - Download now

Lara Croft GO is a brand new turn-based puzzle title by the same company that brought the world Hitman GO. Taking the same experience and art direction of the previous GO title and mashing it together with Tomb Raider has resulted in a beautiful take on Lara Croft. Prepare to be immersed on the diorama board with plastic figures as you work alongside Croft to uncover the myth of the Queen of Venom.

Should you not be a fan of turn-based games, you may wish to look away as this is exactly what has become of the fearless tomb raider. If you're a fan of the genre, you'll be tasked with navigating through gorgeous-looking boards, fighting off enemies who happen to cross your path, and overcome the usual deathly obstacles and traps Croft has dealt with many a times in the past.

There's a lot to see and do with more than 75 levels available, split into five chapters. Collecting ancient relics on your journey will enable you to unlock some new threads of Croft, providing a refreshed look for the adventurer. It's an interesting take on the Tomb Raider franchise and one we expect many will enjoy. Like Hitman GO, the latest title from Square Enix Montreal will set you back $4.99.

• $4.99 - Download Now

If you're playing your way through Candy Crush Soda Saga and our basic tips, hints, and cheats just don't seem to be enough for you to get past some of the harder levels, we're here to help!

In this guide we are taking a look at some of the hardest levels to beat out of the first 100 levels. So if you've exhausted all your other options and just can't seem to pass them, follow along for the best tips, hints, and cheats we have to help you pass them!

Level 40

Level 40 requires you to find 6 bears that are hidden underneath an array of different confections you'll need to break through. In order to uncover them, you'll want to focus on certain kinds of special pieces more than others. Concentrate on forming these candies more than anything else:

• Fish
• Vertical stripes
• Donut holes
• Packaged candies

Since you start off at the top of the level, vertical striped candies are ideal for stripping a layer off an entire row. These are much more important at the beginning of the level than they are once you get lower into the grid. If you have a chance to make a horizontal striped candy, still take the move, but just wait to use it until it drops into the grid and can clear an entire layer horizontally. Detonating them at the top won't do you any favors.

You'll also want to start collecting fish early on, but try not to use them right away. Fish have a tendency to clear a piece that the game thinks is important — at least that's the case most of the time. Save these for towards the end. If you're left with only a piece or two of ice to crack, the odds are pretty good you can get to it with a fish.

Packaged candies are important in this level since they clear a ton of the board in one swoop. They're especially useful when combined with a fish or a donut hole. Anytime you can wait to get these to combine, it's worth it.

The only thing that makes level 40 hard is the small amount of moves you're given to complete it. As long as you take your time and give priority to using the four combo pieces laid out above, you should be able to clear it fairly quickly.

Level 52

In level 52 you need to pop 8 soda bottles. As you pop them, another one will re-appear in its place. The easiest and best way to clear this level is to focus on creating and using fish. I'd tell you to try and get fish next to a striped candy but in my experience, doing this always results in a vertical stripe, which is the opposite of what you really need.

Instead, use fish as you acquire them unless you see a useful combo coming your way, like swiping two fish together. At the very beginning of the level you also want to make sure that you're swiping towards the bottom but not below the soda line, as this won't allow more pieces to fall that could help you.

Level 60

In order to beat level 60, you'll need to get all 5 bears above the candy necklace string in 35 moves or less. With lots of pastries standing in your way, you'll have to be strategic about how you do this. When you start level 60, pick a side to start clearing and stick with it. Doing this lets you drill away at cupcakes and other pastries faster. Toggling between sides when you don't have to means you're wasting moves.

There are two kinds of candies you should focus on making in this level:

• Coloring candies
• Packaged candies

If you're lucky enough that you can manage to get a coloring candy next to a packaged candy for a combo, game over. You will have beat the level. However, since we already know how difficult coloring candies are to make to begin with, if you just can't manage to get one, focus on floating packaged candies between large groupings of pastries and detonating them. The more board you can clear in a single move, the more flexibility you'll have at the end of the level when it comes time to navigating your bears to the top.

Level 70

Level 70 is a find the bears level, 20 to be exact. The hardest part about level 70 is making enough room at the beginning of the level in order to start making special candies. The easiest way to do this is to make getting rid of the cupcake wrappers highlights in the above image your first priority. Once these are gone, you'll have more room to focus on special candies. The two that you should focus on making the most of are:

• Packaged candies
• Striped candies (horizontal or vertical)

After you've cleared most of the cupcake wrappers we talked about above, start making special candies but always focus on making them as low as you can on the board. The reason you want to make moves lower to the bottom is because the more new candies that appear on the board, the better the chance you have of creating a cascade effect. This way most of the cupcakes towards the top start clearing themselves with little effort on your part, and while using fewer moves.

Above I mentioned that packaged candies and striped candies are your most valuable in this level. That's because if you can get them next to each other you can clear lots of cupcakes in a single move. You obviously don't want to depend on this strategy the entire time but always be on the lookout for the opportunity to achieve that particular combo. Almost every time I've passed level 70, it was the result of a few lucky packaged and stripe candy combos.

Level 72

Level 72 requires you to get the bear above the string. It's divided into 5 different sections that you'll need to navigate your bear through. In each section, you'll want to take a slightly different approach.

Section 1:

Easy enough. Match a licorice cage to release a fish as fast as possible. Once it's free match it and it will swim right to the next licorice cage. That fish will swim directly for the striped candy. Your bear will then move to the second area.

Section 2:

Go ahead and detonate the first donut hole by swapping it with the purple candy. This will bring your bear into view. You'll notice that there are blue candies in the bottom blocking your way that are nowhere to be found in the accessible part of the game board. Don't make this harder for yourself than it needs to be. Instead of making tons of vertical striped candies, focus on releasing the donut hole at the top of the board and matching it with a red candy. If you can do this, the blue candies will match themselves and you're on your way to the next portion of the level.

Section 3:

Focus your energy on the middle of the board and attempt to make a combo out of a fish candy and a striped candy. This will clear the soda bottles fastest and raise the soda level. Then all you've got left to worry about is matching candies and floating your bear to the top.

As a side note, if you have a striped lollipop hammer at your disposal, this will make quick work of floating your bear towards the top. This works in section 4 as well.

Section 4:

Start by clearing all the cupcakes in the middle of the board. Once that's done and the soda level is at the top, create a fish and striped candy combo to float your bear all the way to the top. Just be sure that you don't have any cupcakes or bottles left or the fish will make that its target instead of bringing your bear to the top.

Section 5:

Section 5 is the last one and is pretty straight forward. You just need to get your bear above the string on the left. If you used our tips above, you should have plenty of moves left to accomplish this. The easiest way is to try and match as many soda bottles as you can without the help of fish. Then use the fish to pop any candies that are standing in the way of reaching the candy necklace. And if you can get a striped fish over there, even better!

More Candy Crush help

If you're still struggling to beat certain levels in Candy Crush or Candy Crush Soda Saga, be sure to tell us what ones are giving you problems in the comments below! And be sure to check out our other tips and guides by visiting the following links:

• Everything you need to know about Candy Crush
• Top 10 tips, hints and cheats for Candy Crush Soda Saga
• Original Candy Crush: Top 10 tips, tricks, and cheats

Cookie Jam is either a striking homage or shameless copy of the mega-popular Candy Crush series of games. Regardless, there's no denying that jamming cookies just as addicting and can consume just as much of your free time as crushing candies. What's more, there are just as many tips, hints, and cheats that can not only help you blaze through levels faster, but even earn you unlimited free lives without spending a dime. If that sounds good to you, follow along for our top tips!

1. How to get unlimited free lives in Cookie Jam

Cookie Jam is susceptible to the same date and time change trick as most similar games. When you run out of lives, simply hop into the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and change the time forward a few hours. Hop back into Cookie Jam and voila, you should have lives again. You can repeat this trick as often as you'd like. Just remember that when you're done, you'll need to put the time back to normal or you may run into issues with iMessage.

2. Played Candy Crush? Look for the same patterns!

Cookie Jam is so derivative, It even includes the same patterns and types of special pieces as Candy Crush. That means 5 candies in a row will do the same thing a donut will, an L or T shape formation will give you an exploding ingredient. There are a few differences but seriously, use your candy crushing abilities to your advantage. That being said, if you havne't already, be sure you check out our Candy Crush guides as well, since many of the same rules, tips, and tricks, will apply here.

• Candy Crush: Top 10 tips, tricks, and cheats
• Candy Crush Soda Saga: Top 10 tips, tricks, and cheats you need to know
• Even more Candy Crush help and information

3. Save your rolling pins for hard to reach corners

Rolling pins will clear an entire row of ingredients in one go. While it's tempting to use them to finish off a certain type of ingredient, it's much smarter to save them for obnoxious corners and crevices you can't reach easily. For example, if you have waffles that you have to clear, you'll run into many times where they hide in corners that are hard to match.

4. Let the gingerbread men do themselves in

Don't go chasing gingerbread men around the board. Of course you have to keep an eye on them but for the most part, they'll take care of themselves in due time. By that I mean look for patterns above and around them. For example, if a green gingerbread man is moving up a row and there are two green candies not far from him, let him move there and then swipe him to his demise. Don't try to lower pieces or bring them to his level, you're better than that.

5. Always make moves at the bottom of the board first

When you make moves at the top of the board, you typically don't ever have an opportunity to get combos. This is because less pieces are moved around all at once. Instead, always take all your moves at the bottom of the board first. This way, you create a cascade effect and more new pieces become available. And hey, sometimes the pieces you would have swapped at the top take care of themselves as pieces fall.

6. Focus on special cookies more than ingredients, most of the time

7. For 3 stars, end with as many moves left as possible

While some folks are A-OK with passing a level with a mere one star, there are lots of us out there that just don't think that's good enough. In order to master each level, not only do you need to clear ingredients and become a combo master, one of the best ways to earn all 3 stars is to end with as many moves as possible. This way you get special ingredient pieces at the very end to pad your score even more. So watch for patterns and clear as much as you can in single moves. And most importantly, avoid meaningless moves at all cost.

8. Don't assume combos with special candies are your best move

It's super easy to get distracted by two special candies sitting right next to each other. It's almost as if there's a tiny voice inside your head that says "Swipe them now!" That being said, it isn't always your best option. While swapping two rainbow cakes or a rainbow cake and a striped ingredient are always a sure bet, two diagonal ingredients and a few other combinations are not typically worth wasting. Instead, save them for when they are in better positions independently and can serve you two purposes.

Your top Cookie Jam tips?

Those are our top tips for jamming as many cookies as possible. We're always on the lookout for more, however, so if you know any others, tell us all about them in the comments!

The folks behind the well-loved physics puzzle series, Cut the Rope, have released a new game called My Om Nom. In it, you get your own adorable little green alien to feed, dress up, and play around with. There are a few simple games to enjoy, but most of it is just about having your own Tamagotchi-style pet. Although it looks like it amounts to little more than Clumsy Ninja with minigames, Om Nom's appeal can't be denied.

Here's a quick look at the game's features.

• YOUR OWN OM NOM! Take good care of the adorable monster from the famous Cut the Rope puzzle. Play with him, bathe him, and feed him regularly with candy!
• INTRODUCING OM NELLE! For the first time ever, a little candy-eating monster girl.
• FUN TO WATCH! See your pet react to you in hundreds of hilarious ways! They get sick when ignored, so make sure that you are caring and attentive.
• UNLEASH CREATIVITY! Give your Om Nom a great new look with hundreds of customization options.
• DECORATE YOUR HOME! From a modest shack to a luxury townhouse. Then visit other players' houses and see who is the better decorator!
• PLAY MINI-GAMES! Send Om Nom on a space trip, or power up your brain with a 'match-three' puzzle.
• SOLVE THE MYSTERY! Complete quests from the Professor to learn about the mysterious origins of Om Nom.
• $4.99 - Download now

In a major surprise, Telltale Games announced today it was teaming up with developer Mojang to create Minecraft: Story Mode, an episodic game series that will be released sometime in 2015 that's based on Mojang's hugely popular sandbox game.

Telltale Games states:

Telltale has two episodic games, also based on established media franchises, that have recently launched their first episodes: Game of Thrones and Tales from the Borderlands. Mojang's own announcement about the game confirms it will be released for the Mac and iOS devices, among other platforms.

Source: Telltale Games

A year after Square Enix released a port of the original Tomb Raider game for the iPhone and iPad, the publisher has done the same for its sequel, Tomb Raider II. It's now available to download from iTunes for $1.99.

Once again, players take control of explorer and treasure hunter Lara Croft as she seeks to find the Dagger of Xian in a variety of settings. Here's a quick look at its features:

• Explore GRAND NEW LOCATIONS from Tibet, China to Venice, Italy!
• ARM YOURSELF with automatic pistols, grenade launcher, M16 rifle and more!
• Over 50 UNIQUE ACHIEVEMENTS to unlock!
• KILL OR BE KILLED by deadly Warrior Monks, Yetis and more!
• Comes complete with "THE GOLDEN MASK" expansion!
• Take CONTROL OF VEHICLES such as motorboats and quad bikes!

Hopefully this means iPhone and iPad fans can look forward to even more classic Tomb Raider games being launched in the years to come.

• $1.99 Download now

If you didn't get enough candy-crushing action out of the original Candy Crush Saga, you can rejoice because Candy Crush Soda Saga is here for both iPhone and iPad with all new challenges and levels to master. With it comes new challenges, obstacles, and candies. You'll also need to be on the lookout for new combos that can help you rack up some serious points. We've got all the tips, hints, and cheats you need to get past the toughest levels, and even a tip on how to earn free lives faster, no real-world money required!

1. How to get free lives faster

In Candy Crush Soda Saga, you earn about two lives every hour or so with a maximum of five lives. If you run out, you'll have to wait or cough up cash for gold bars. Or do you?

As luck would have it, Candy Crush Soda Saga is susceptible to the same free-lives cheat that the original game is. Just hop into the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and navigate to General and Date and Time. Just move time forward a few hours and relaunch the game. Voila! Your lives are refreshed and you can keep crushing candies!

2. How to scout out Frozen Bears under ice

Frozen Bears are stuck under either one or two layers of ice. Once you crack the first layer, you'll be able to see a faint blueish-green glow where a Frozen Bear is stuck. Save moves by only going after areas of ice that contain bears. In Soda Saga, candy falls through ice and doesn't act as a barrier, so if you don't need to smash the ice, leave it be.

3. Don't let soda bottles pass you by in Bubble Bear levels

When trying to save Bubble Bears, be sure you don't let soda bottles go off the screen by making the bear rise too fast. Ensure that you match all the bottles on the same level or below the Bubble Bear before making it rise any further. If you can't raise the soda level enough, you'll build yourself into a corner that you can't get out of. Just keep your eyes peeled on all corners of the screen so soda bottles don't unknowingly pass you by.

4. In candy necklace levels, use vertical striped candies to reach the top faster

Once you've matched all the soda bottles on the screen (or they're far enough up), create vertical striped candies in the same column as your Bubble Bear. When you detonate them, you'll clear the entire row and he'll float to the top faster. While this theory doesn't always work, whenever you get the opportunity, you should definitely take it as it can save you a few moves. Just be sure your bear has room to rise, otherwise you'll be wasting a striped candy for a bear that can't rise far enough.

5. Remember that Frosted Bear locations are random each time

While some levels always remain the same in Candy Crush, the Frosted Bear locations are always random. That means if you have to restart a level, don't plan on the bears being in the same place twice. Your memory won't help you here and you'll just have to watch the ice and use your best judgement each time in order to figure out where the Frozen Bears are hiding.

6. How to use Coloring Candies wisely

Coloring Candies are new in Soda Saga and can be created by matching a whopping seven candies. You can then swap a coloring candy with any candy on the board, just like you can with colorbomb candies. Just be sure you understand what they do. Basically, whatever color is on the inside of the coloring candy is the color the pieces will change to.

For example, if the coloring candy is green, the color you swap it with will be changed to green. You'll always want to swap a coloring candy with a color that you have a lot of on the board. If you have a green coloring candy and it's next to a yellow piece — and you have a lot of yellow pieces on the board — swap it with yellow. Ideally, wait until you have a good amount of both the coloring candy color and the color of the candy you're swapping with. The idea is to maximize how many pieces get cleared off the board. (I sometimes use coloring candies as ways to free candy in pesky licorice cages, as well if matching colors are surrounding them.)

7. Only create Swedish Fish if you need them

In Soda Saga you can now summon Swedish Fish on demand by creating a square grid of four of the same candy. While this is useful for getting at hard- or impossible-to-reach candy, you don't always need fish. For instance, if you're in a Frozen Bear level and there isn't anything hard to reach, you probably won't need to create fish. And since fish pop things largely at random, you're always taking a chance. Save your moves and create fish only as you have a need for them.

8. Master the physics of Bubble Bear levels

In Bubble Bear levels, candies flow up from the bottom to the soda line. If you swap pieces above the soda line, candies will fall downward. Remember this and plan each move based on this fact. There's nothing worse than wasting a combo that you thought would bring a Bubble Bear above the line only to realize the soda isn't high enough and the candies fell instead of rose, or vice versa. Since these kinds of levels aren't timed, you're better off planning moves accordingly and not rushing.

9. Get to know your barriers such as chocolate, honey, and others

As you progress through Soda Saga, you'll come into contact with different kinds of barriers along the way, just like in the original Candy Crush Saga. Here's a few general rules to remember for each type of barrier so you know what to expect.

• Chocolate: Just like in the first game, as long as chocolate is on the board, it'll keep multiplying unless you break at least one piece each move. The piece it covers is gone forever, so watch your combo pieces before chocolate gets to them.
• Pastry, cupcakes, and other treat items: The more toppings and items that are on them, the more matches you'll have to get in order to break them down. Once you get them down to the wrapper, you need one more hit to break past them.
• Honey: You'll need to break through honey in order to save bears. Honey layers can vary in thickness from one to six layers. When it's only one to two layers, you should be able to see bears through it. Anything more than that and you'll have to do some guesswork first in order to learn the location of trapped bears.

10. Most original Candy Crush Saga rules apply to Soda Saga

You can use many of the same combos and strategies from the original Candy Crush game in Soda Saga as well. As such, whether you're just getting started with Candy Crush, haven't played in a while, or want even more tips and tricks, check out our original guides for even more helpful tips to get you past those tough levels!

• Candy Crush: Top 10 tips, hints, and cheats you need to know
• Candy Crush: Another 10 killer tips, hints, and cheats!
• Candy Crush Saga: Even more tips, hints, and cheats!

And if Candy Crush isn't your thing, we've got lots of other game guides for you to check out as well!

The highly addictive Candy Crush game from King has now spawned a sibling title, Candy Crush Soda Saga. First released as a Facebook game, it is now available worldwide for the iPhone and iPad.

Candy Crush Soda Saga has 135 levels and includes a new character, Kimmy, who joins the original game's Tiffi and Mr. Toffee. Here are Candy Crush Soda Saga's five game modes:

• Soda - Players are tasked to fill the board with fizzy purple soda
• Soda Bears - Gamers must release the floating bears in soda
• Frosting - Fight to crush the ice to free the bears
• Honey - Release the bears stuck in the honey
• Chocolate - Remove all the chocolate from the board

While the game is free to download and play, be aware there are in-app purchases. A lot of them.

• Free with in-app purchases - Download now

Developer Halfbrick will release a major revamp of its classic arcade action game Fruit Ninja for the iPhone and iPad in early October, which will include some big gameplay changes along with a new menu and user interface.

In an email sent to the media, Halfbrick stated that Fruit Ninja, which challenges player to slice and dice various types of fruit by moving their fingers on a smartphone's touchscreen, has generated over 500 million downloads across all of its platforms since the first version was released in 2010. As far as the October revamp, Halfbrick says:

Do you think it's a good idea to relaunch Fruit Ninja with such a major change?

• 99 cents Download now

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got an update to one of the best calendar apps for iOS, new service sync support in a popular newsreader, a new note tool and more!

New iOS apps

• Threads - Threads is a new weather app for iOS that focuses on how you should dress for the day rather than showing you forecasts and radar maps. Just launch Threads and get an overview of the weather along with cute animations on what it recommends when it comes to dressing for the day. $1.99 - Download Now

Updated iOS apps

• Clumsy Ninja - Everyone's favorite flingable ninja now has some summer toys to play with, like a beach ball, frisbee, and a dedicated summer suit. - Free, IAPs - Download now
• SoundCloud - Music streaming and discovery app. Version 3.1 brings a now playing indicator, liked playlists on user profiles, Record with AudioCopy is now available via the More tab, and other tweaks and changes. Free - Download Now

Discounted iOS apps

• Breach & Clear - A turn-based tactical strategy game. Lead an elite military force into tense situations. Equip them with the right gear and train them with the right skills to get the job done. - $3.99 $0.99 - Download now

New Mac apps

• Printworks - Printworks is a complete desktop publishing and page layout suite for your Mac. From creating brochures, catalogs, and fliers to creating address labels and envelopes, Printworks does it all and then some. To celebrate the initial launch, Printworks is offering 40% off regular price. $29.99 - Download Now

Discounted Mac apps

• MagicalPad - Take notes, manage your tasks, and brainstorm ideas. - $24.99 $4.99 - Download now
• Acorn - A big update to a well-loved photo editing app for Mac with a big price cut. - $49.99 $29.99 - Download now

More new, updated, and discounted apps?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new, updated, or discounted apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

Mojang has released a fairly substantial update for the Pocket Edition of Minecraft, available for iOS and Android. This release focuses on adding more mobs, features and extended functionality, while also addressing the size of worlds and squashing any known bugs affecting the immersive experience.

Version 0.9.0 contains quite the feature list, so be sure to check out the list below for a full run through.

• Infinite worlds
• Caves
• Loads of new blocks and items including Monster Eggs and huge mushroom blocks.
• Wolves! Tame a loyal companion.
• Loads of new flowers! So pretty.
• New mobs, including the spooky endermen and less spooky Mooshrooms.
• New biomes from the PC version, including mesas, jungles, swamps and extreme hills.
• Abandoned mineshafts, villages, and many other cool places to explore.
• A brand-new "interaction" button. Never accidentally punch a sheep again!
• New feature generation, including lakes, vines and monster rooms.
• Many bugs fixed, and possibly a few added.

How are you enjoying this latest update? If you haven't yet checked out Minecraft, give our top tips and cheats guide a read through.

• $6.99 - Download

In Fruit Ninja by Halfbrick, you are a ninja that is tasked with slicing as much fruit as you can while avoiding obstacles such as bombs. There are a few different modes to choose from including arcade, classic, and multiplayer. No matter what mode you play, the object is to slash as much fruit as you can while avoiding bombs. There are lots of ways to rack up your score and unlock objectives faster, and that's where iMore comes in! These are the top Fruit Ninja tips, hints, and cheats you must know!

1. You don't need to buy starfruit with real money

Starfruit is the main currency type in fruit ninja and you can use it to buy boosts and other swag inside the game. Fruit Ninja is one of the very few games that actually requires you to buy in-game currency in order to advance. Most of the objectives are fairly easy to complete and earn you quite a bit of starfruit. You can also watch short video ads which is another super simple way to rack up starfruit to use toward boosts.

2. Don't use long swipes when bombs are around

While bombs don't end the game in arcade mode, they do end the game in classic mode if you hit one. Try to always use short and brief swipes when you know bombs are floating around. The longer the swipe you use, the more likely you are to hit a bomb that may appear. Just go after fruit and don't worry about combos unless there are no bombs lurking around.

3.Check Gutsu's Cart periodically for free starfruit

Sometimes Gatsu has a nice little starfruit bonus waiting for you when you visit his cart. If you've never visited it before, be sure you do and you may be surprised how much starfruit he has to offer you right off the bat. This is also where you'll buy power ups to use inside the game, some of which you'll need in order to complete certain objectives.

4. Use Peachy Times to boost your score in arcade and zen mode

I've found Peachy Times to be one of the most useful power ups if you enjoy playing arcade mode. Every peach you slice gives you an extra 2 seconds on the clock. While that doesn't seem like a lot, when you swipe several of them, that's a heck of a lot more game play time to work with. In some games, it can make a difference of a few hundred points if you've got a great combo blitz going.

5. Don't use more than one finger

There are some tip guides out there that tell you that using more than one finger is a good idea. I have never ever found this to be effective, and if anything, I've found it distracting. All it does is obscure your view of the screen even more. Lay your iPhone or iPad down on a flat surface if you can and find a position that allows you to see as much screen as possible. That also brings me to my next tip...

6. Try playing upside down

Playing upside down helps some players since the fruit comes up from the bottom. When you're holding your iPhone or iPad, your hand most likely obscures some of your view of the bottom of the screen. Playing upside down prevents this from happening. If you play with your iPhone or iPad laying flat on the table, simply rotate it. If you play holding your device, use rotation lock and then turn it.

7. Multiple special bananas = huge high score

The most awesome way to boost your score ever is when you get a two power up bananas at the same time in arcade mode. Double points and freeze are awesome but the rare fruit frenzy and freeze bananas are by far the best combo to have. Once everything is frozen and the fruit is moving in slow motion, just wait for it to fill up then slide in broad strokes to rack up huge combos over and over.

8. A good ninja always listens first, and acts second

If you pay close attention, you can hear whether fruit or a bomb has been launched your way by the sounds the game makes. Listen to these cues as it gives your brain time to prepare for what's coming up from the bottom of the screen. If you hear a ticking bomb, you know that short strokes are a good idea. If you don't, you know you're in the clear to swipe as many combos as you can quickly.

9. Pay attention to the objectives and complete them

Completing objectives in Fruit Ninja is the simplest way to rack up starfruit quickly. The amount offered is very generous and the objectives are never incredibly hard. Some of them may require you to buy power ups to complete them but they don't cost a ton and they're extremely fun to use. I also never pay to skip an objective. It costs a lot of starfruit and odds are, you'll get good enough to pass it if you just try a few times.

10. Don't be afraid to start a level over

Sometimes you start off badly. Perhaps you hit a bomb right off the bat in arcade mode, or you let a fruit drop off the screen in classic mode. Unlike games such as Candy Crush or Two Dots, there is no lives limit and you can play as much as you want, as often as you like. If you're having a bad game, quit and start over!

Your Fruit Ninja tips, hints, and cheats?

Are you a fruit slicing master yourself? If so, what tips, hints, and cheats have you found that have helped get you to your highest score ever? Be sure to let me know in the comments! And if you'd like, let us know what your highest Fruit Ninja score is currently!

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Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got a new navigation app from Garmin, game updates, a major update to Ember for Mac and more!

New and updated iOS apps

• Viago: GPS maker Garmin's new navigation app for iOS sports details like speed limit display, lane assist, weather info, in-map traffic display and photo-realistic junction views. $0.99 - Download now
• Fruit Ninja 1.9.2: The popular fruit-slashing game sports new blades, and is free. Free - Download now
• Vesper 2.001: The notes, idea and to do list management app has been updated to make untagged notes easier to find, account creation fields are easier to tap, bugs have been fixed and more — check the release notes for a special joke related to the version number. $2.99 - Download now
• Godzilla - Smash3 1.11: The "match three" genre game featuring the King of Monsters. Big difficulty adjustments that may Tokyo battles a bit easier to manage, reduced level load time, bug fixes and more. Free - Download now
• Ember 1.3.1: The digital scrapbooking app for iOS sports improvements to syncing with its Mac counterpart. $4.99 - Download now
• Sunrise 2.4: Calendar app that works with Google Calendar, iCloud and Exchange. Now connects with Songkick, Evernote, Tripit, Github and Asana. Free - Download now
• OneReader 1.0.1: OneReader is a new RSS app for both iPhone and iPad that syncs with both Feedly and Feedbin. You can also bring in your social accounts for an all-in-one place to read all your news. $3.99 - Download Now

New and updated Mac apps

• EditReady: Transcoding for video professionals. Transcodes QuickTime-video to edit-ready formats like Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHD. $49.99 - Download now
• iBooks Author 2.1.3: Apple's ebook authoring software sports stability improvements and bug fixes. Free - Download now
• Ember 1.7: The digital scrapbook app (for the Mac) sports added support for plain text documents, allows you to save pages as bookmarks, save and view PDF, video, SVG and Illustrator files, and has sync improvements. $49.99 - Download now
• OKDOTHIS 2.0: A community of people that inspire each other to get out and do the things they want to do most. This update brings a completely updated interface, new photo editing tools, the ability to search users and ideas, and lots more. Free - Download Now
• 24me 2.4.8: 24me is a smart personal assistant that helps you get and stay organized. The 2.4.8 update adds a someday group that gives you easy access to any tasks that don't have definitive due dates. There are also lots of bug fixes. Free - Download Now
• Shout Photo Messenger 1.0.2: Shout Photo Messenger is a new photo messaging app that lets you quickly take, caption, and send photos to all your friends much faster than what MMS allows. Free - Download Now
• Bonfire 1.0: Bonfire is a new chat app for both iPhone and iPad that lets you chat with other people near your location. If you want, you can also choose to post anonymously. Free - Download Now

New and updated Mac apps

• WeatherBar 1.0: WeatherBar is a new way to get the weather on your Mac. With support for forecasts, humidity, current conditions, and much more, WeatherBar puts all the weather you need at your fingertips. $2.99 - Download Now

More apps and updates?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new or updated apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

Blek ingeniously turns a challenging puzzle game into a work of art. Draw patterns on the screen that bob and weave in and out of obstacles. Along the way you must collect all the colored dots on the screen while avoiding the black dots. While it may sound simple, there are many possible solutions to each level and sometimes none of them are very obvious. That's where iMore comes in! Here are the tips and tricks we think you need to know to blaze your way through even more levels!

1. Remember where your pattern starts and ends

Your pattern always starts off exactly as you started it at the beginning. This happens the second you remove your finger from the screen. Be sure when you lift your finger up, you are exactly where you want your line to start repeating. Sometimes it takes multiple tries to get it just right but the most important element is starting off exactly where you need to be.

2. It's hip to be a square

Don't always focus on drawing curvy lines in Blek. Sometimes square patterns will save the day and get around obstacles curvy patterns just aren't suited for. This is especially true in levels where you have a grid of black dots to deal with. Draw squares and portions of squares in order to avoid edges and obstacles better.

3. Sometimes black dots are guidelines instead of obstacles

If you're working on a level that has a set of black dots that is seemingly useless, think again. Typically these dots mirror the section that contains the colored dots you'll need to collect. Use this as a launch pad to start your line. Normally it's going to be the easiest way to plot your course.

4. Solutions are typically easier than they seem

Blek is a shining example of a game where the most obviously solution normally is the solution. Don't second guess yourself and if you think it seems to easy, you may be wrong. Since you can't die or run out of lives, what do you have to lose? Just remember to think simple before you think complex.

5. Let lines bounce off the walls

I've beaten several levels in Blek by sheer luck. I created a line that managed to collect most of the colored dots but missed one or two. Sometimes it's impulse to tap the screen and start over when this happens. Instead, wait and let your lines bounce. Many times they may surprise you and run into the colored dot you need before bouncing out of sight or into a black dot.

6. Timing and speed matter

In many levels timing will matter. This is especially true in levels with white dots that are contained within a colored dot. If they're spinning, you'll need to plan your moves carefully and look at what's on the board. Do you need to create a chain reaction? Do you need to draw slower or faster? Remember that whatever speed you draw your line, that is the speed it will repeat at.

7. Stay on the straight and narrow

How you draw lines and arches and mirrored exactly as you draw them. That means if your line is the tiniest bit diagonal, it won't be straight. The same goes for bends and curves. Be sure they're the same height on each side or your line probably won't repeat the way you want it to.

8. Creating and using portals

Drawing a circle and meeting the beginning and end of your line will create a portal. Place two of them and then draw a line that enters one. It will then exit from the other. This is a handy trick and one that'll definitely come in handy on levels where you'll need to get on the other side of the board to capture one last dot.

Your tips, hints, and cheats for beating Blek?

If you've been mesmerized by Blek and its fun yet challenging dynamic, have you come across any tips, hints, or cheats that would help other iMore readers get through levels faster? If so, be sure to share them in the comments!

Bubble Witch Saga is a popular match three puzzle game by King, the same makers of the wildly popular Candy Crush Saga franchise. If you're looking for the best tips, hints, and cheats, you've come to the right place! In Bubble Witch Saga you are tasked with helping the witches ward off dark spirits that are trying to take over the land by popping your way through more than 500 levels. Use potions and spells along the way to help you pass harder levels before you run out of lives. Here's our top ten tips, hints, and cheats to getting your highest Bubble Witch Saga score yet!

1. How to get unlimited free lives

Bubble Witch Saga lives work much like Candy Crush. Every time you don't pass a level or forfeit, you'll lose one. You can always bug your Facebook friends for more but if you are too impatient for that, Bubble Witch Saga luckily contains the same time glitch that Candy Crush does. Simply hop into your Settings app and change the time forward a few hours. Re-open Bubble Witch Saga and your lives should now be replenished again.

2. How to get the Wish of Precision for free

Every day you come back consecutively to play Bubble Witch Saga you are given the Wish of Precision for 24 hours for free. If you don't currently have it due to not playing several days in a row, there's a way you can trick Bubble Witch Saga into thinking you have. Just play for a few minutes, then hop into setting and forward the time ahead 24 hours. Re-open Bubble Witch Saga and you should be presented with the Wish of Precision instantly.

3. Aim high

Before you start pelting bubbles all over the place, you'll need to have a plan. When you can you should always aim high in order to release as many bubbles as you can. The more they bounce off of each other and on to spiders, the higher your score will be. It also means that you'll use less shots to clear those bubbles resulting in bonus bubbles at the end of the level. Always use the least amount of bubbles as you can.

4. Don't forget to swap bubbles in the cauldron

Some folks don't realize that you can not only see what color is coming up in the cauldron, but swap the current bubble for the one coming up by tapping on the cauldron. Many times swapping a bubble can give you a larger combo that you would not have had with the current color. Always be aware of what's coming next and swap whenever you need to. There's no cost or penalty for doing this so take advantage of it!

5. Drop bubbles where the most spiders are dangling

When bubbles bounce off spiders, it multiplies your score. You always want to have the highest amount of spiders dangling as you can. Each time you toss a bubble and don't create a cluster of three or more, you lose 2 spiders. Try and avoid this at all costs and keep the max amount of spiders dangling. Then aim to drop bubbles on top of them. Watch your score when it hits the cauldron, you'll notice it's higher than if it were to just drop in without the spider's help.

6. Don't forget to watch for wall shots

In some levels you can ricochet bubbles off the wall in order to connect with other bubbles that may seem out of reach. It requires a little bit of aim but it something that shouldn't be forgotten about, especially if you have the Wish of Foresight activated. Be sure to look for combos you can reach before deciding what shot to take.

7. Use the Wish of Foresight wisely

The Wish of Foresight lets you see 3 bubbles in the cauldron instead of just two. This means tapping the cauldron will let you swap between all three. Unfortunately this will cost you $1.99 in real money and only last one level. However, I have found the Wish of Foresight to be extremely helpful on tougher levels where you're running out of bubbles before you can clear it or not achieving a high enough score. It's one of the better boosts available in Bubble Witch Saga, you just have to use it wisely.

8. Aim for the sides to create a cascade effect

Sometimes only one bubble is keeping several others holding on. This is often the case by the walls. You'll normally only need to get to one or two bubbles at the top in order to create a cascade effect and send a huge amount of bubbles tumbling down. Watch for these and clear them as quickly as possible.

9. Make popping bubbles in your vantage point your first priority

The only thing worse than missing a good combo is seeing one and not being able to get to it. Balls that are dangling directly above the cauldron can severely impair your ability to reach most of the board. Remove these bothersome bubbles first so then you have a better idea of what you can actually get to on the board.

10. Can't pass a level, try beating it through Facebook

For some reason, King games are ridiculously easier on the computer than they are on mobile. On top of that, even if you're out of lives on your iPhone or iPad, you won't be on Facebook since they don't sync. This holds true not only for Candy Crush, but for Bubble Witch Saga as well. If you're having trouble passing a level on your iPhone or iPad, hop on a computer and fire up Bubble Witch Saga in a browser. You may actually get free items for doing so too that you wouldn't get in the mobile version. I've passed countless levels in Candy Crush this way that had me stumped and Bubble Witch Saga seems to follow the same gameplay tactic.

Your Bubble Witch Saga tips, hints, and cheats?

If you play Bubble Witch Saga regularly, let me know in the comments if you have any strategies for popping bubbles that I haven't mentioned. And if you've come across any other cheats or glitches, be sure to let us know those too!

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Intake landed on iPad today, offering an insane amount of challenge in a really unique package. In short, pills fall from the top of the screen, and you have to tap them before they hit the bottom. They'll come in one of two different colors, and you need to switch between those two colors by tapping the bar at the bottom of the screen. If you have the right color active while tapping the right pill, you get extra points and earn a score multiplier if you can keep a string of them going. Even if the pill hits the bottom, if you have the same color active, you'll be shielded from an overdose. If you hit certain waypoints, such as level 25, you can chose to start there rather than from the beginning, though expect a challenge.

At the end of each gruelling wave, you get a sprinkling of white vitamins to pop, which then get added to your bank and spent on upgrades in the drugstore. When you get a game over, you get a bonus round that feeds players a generous sprinkling of vitamins to pop, though I find it's easy to get carried away here and accidentally get booted out of the app due to an accidental multitouch gesture. It may be worth flipping those off in your iOS options before playing. Drugstore items include extra lives, so you can let a pill through and still keep playing, or a random occasional power-up that makes pills bigger and easier to hit. Each of the power-ups can be upgraded multiple times for increased effectiveness.

Though working through as many levels as possible is the primary game mode, you can test yourself in Challenge mode, which offers particularly hard waves that you normally only get once every five levels. These include an acceleration mode, which flings a few pills at high velocity at you, or flood, which has a massive, slow-moving tide of pills to eliminate. To make matters worse, you don't get any power-ups to help you out. Serious achievement hunters can even unequip power-ups in the core game and go for broke.

The music in Intake is fantastic and chock-full of dubstep influence. Soundtrack is always front and center with Cipher Prime games, but there's one fairly significant complaint to be made here: you only get one track to start with. You can unlock new music tracks for 20,000 mg to start (which is a fair bit, considering the first upgrades are around 5,000), but in the meantime, you're stuck with a loop of a song that will grate on you the 100th. time you hear it. Of course you can always turn off the music in the settings, but then you're losing a critical part of the game. I would have much rathered have all of the tracks available and picked at random when you started playing, or at least unlocked as you hit higher-level waypoints.

Although Cipher Prime has been traditionally against freemium tropes like incessant prompts for in-app purchases, you can accelerate your progress in Intake by buying vitamins through IAPs. There are zero pop-ups or reminders to make these purchases, and you actually have to dig around a little bit in the game menu to find them, but they're still there for those that want to fast track. Personally, I see this as the classiest way to implement IAPs, and encourage other devs to take notes. Intake is currently an iPad-only game, and may be straight-up impractical for iPhone, seeing as you really need two hands and a lot of screen to play this game well. Important features like Game Center and cloud saving are both included.

Intake is a fresh take on a pill-popping theme we haven't seen much of since Dr. Mario, and aided with a few points of retro charm such as an "Insert Coin" prompt on the first screen preceded by a 16-bit warning from the FBI to not do drugs. The challenge rating may be too high casual gamers, but the controls are instinctive and easy to pick up regardless. Overall, Intake is an intense trip that will suck you in and leave you burned out.

• Download Now - $2.99, IAPs

Puzzle & Dragons is a massively popular game out of Japan that continues to be among the top free-to-play titles in the App Store. True to its Japanese roots, you’re going to find a lot of Pokemon-style creatures and statistics here, but at its core is a match-3 game along the same vein as Candy Crush Saga.

The gameplay is decidedly more deep, with massive creature selection, progression and upgrading. This depth may pose some serious challenges to players trying out the game for the first time, but we've got some tips to help you get started and clearing out dungeons in no time.

1. Restart the tutorial until you get a high-quality god

When first starting out, you’ll be shown the ropes through a tutorial level and eventually get to buy your first god. The quality of that hero will be rated in stars, and will be doing a lot of heavy lifting for your team. To maximize how well you do out of the gate and in the long term, you want to make sure that it’s a really great [ocl. If it isn’t, uninstall the game, reinstall, and run through the tutorial again. It’s a bit of a hassle, but will ensure you do well in the long haul. There are plenty of opinions on which gods are ideal for your “starting pull”. If you’re willing to put the time in, keep going until you get Horus, Isis, Archangel Lucifer, Bastet, Kushinada, or Umisachi and Yamasachi.

2. Make more than one match at a time

Though Puzzle & Dragons is technically a match-3 game, it’s much more free-form than most, since you can move tokens anywhere on the board. That said, make sure you make more than a single match with every move to get your best bang for buck. This is done by keeping an eye on how tiles are swapped as you move yours; ensure the one you’re moving will be replaced by something that will make a match at the original location. With any luck, swaps you make on your path to the final spot will create more matches. Basically, you should be doing a combo every turn.

3. Log in regularly for rewards

You can easily stock up on magic stones simply by logging in regularly. Players earn rewards for logging in for consecutive and cumulative days. On your seventh consecutive log-in you’ll get 500 coins and 200 PAL points, and smaller rewards every day leading up to that. If you manage to log in 500 days total, you’ll get 15,000 coins, 1400 PAL points, and 83 magic stones all-told.

4. Save magic stones for GodFest

Though you may be eager to pop your magic stones into the rare egg machine for a new god as soon as possible, sit tight until a God Fest is happening. Odds of getting a really great egg increase a bunch during these events, which usually happen on weekends. Even though you’ll be raking in the stones early on, don’t spend them frivolously on stuff like endurance or retrying dungeons.

5. Get friendly

Identify high-level helpers that fit in with the elemental theme of your team and friend them. Stock up on friends, since you can only call on their help if they’ve logged in recently, and keep your friends list pruned of folks that haven’t been online in awhile. You'll also get PAL points whenever they use your hero, which can be spent on getting a few new monsters.

Your Puzzle & Dragons hints, tips, tricks, and cheats?

That really just scratches the surface of Puzzle & Dragons. It's a much deeper game than it lets on at first, but these hints should help you get on your way. Any experienced PAD players care to lend their advice in the comments?

Love is in the air, and the luckiest among us will celebrate Valentine’s Day with someone special. And if you’re eating somewhere nice for the holiday, you’re probably going to spend more than a few minutes waiting to be seated. Why not pass the time with Valentine-themed content in your favorite mobile game? We’ve got nine festive games for him and her that you won’t want to put down when it’s time to order.

Bejeweled Blitz from PopCap

Bejeweled Blitz is the fast-paced spin-off off the original Bejeweled match-3 game. Games last for exactly one minute, so players have to rush to score as many matches and points as they can before the timer expires. With great leaderboard support and lots of helpful items to save up and buy, Bejeweled Blitz is one of the most addictive puzzle games out there.

The Valentine’s update to Bejeweled Blitz brings the following features:

• Heart Stone Rare Gem: This new Rare Gem replaces a portion of red gems with hearts, which explode in heart-shaped patterns and increase scoring potential with a multiplier effect.
• New starting boards: Each game now starts with a uniquely patterned game board. You can experiment with first moves to see how cascades fall and develop a starting strategy for the different game boards.
• Free coins: After playing the Heart Stone gem, tap one of the nine hearts that appears. Love-struck players can win up to 70,000 coins from the Bejeweled Blitz cupid.

Bejeweled Blitz is perfect for fans of Candy Crush Saga, puzzle games in general, and bright, shiny things.

• Free – Download Now

Bingo PartyLand from DeNA

One of the most popular mobile Bingo games around, Bingo PartyLand allows players to compete with friends and foes from around the world. Play up to 8 cards at once, buy magic boosts to get bonuses, and collect lots of cool items as you progress through your Bingo career.

The “Valentine’s Sweet Bonus” event runs through February 15:

• Join the holiday-themed Bingo room “Lover’s Island”
• Pick up valentine’s treats to decorate your beach with
• Double rewards for every bingo winner!

How long has it been since you played Bingo? You can’t get five in a row if you don’t play.

• Free – Download Now

Flutter: Butterfly Sanctuary from DeNA

Butterfly lovers will find lots to like in this butterfly garden simulator. Tend to your own personal rainforest, nurturing butterflies through their various stages of life. Collect a huge variety of butterfly and flora, interact with your family of butterflies, or simply relax to realistic rainforest sounds.

“Aphrodite” event runs through February 16:

• Collect the new Aphrodite set of butterflies!
• Complete the Aphrodite set to receive a special rose decoration for your forest.
• Treasure chests from gifting to friends offer more chances to collect the event flower needed to attract the special limited butterflies.

Flutter is a super cheerful game – but it does get grindy eventually.

• Free – Download Now

The Gate from Spicy Horse Games and DeNA

Craving something darker on this Valentine’s Day? Fallen warriors awaken in the underworld with only one diversion to occupy themselves: large-scale deathmatches. Collect and build an arsenal of warriors as you progress through the single-player campaign. Engage in real-time strategy battles against the CPU or take the fight online against other players.

The “Love Tale of the Marianas” event lasts through February 20:

• Top event players can win the limited Valentine’s Day card.
• Earn limited Marianas cards through PvE quests, PvP arena battles, and captus!
• Use this code before Valentine’s for free Bottle of Hope and Advanced Captus items: C-5S27-7D5G-AFCF

The Gate presents an engaging mixture of real-time strategy and card collecting, but it’s also very challenging.

• Free – Download Now

GI JOE: Battleground from DeNA

The boys can celebrate Valentine’s Day with this game based on the classic G.I. JOE property and toy line. Collect, train, and assemble your own squad of heroic Joes or deadly Cobra operatives. Engage in card battles against the computer and other players. The card art is illustrated by actual G.I. JOE comic and action figure artists

The “When Worlds Collide” event lasts through February 19:

• Engage in an alternate world where anything can happen
• Will Steeler and Baroness find love together or be pulled apart by their warring sides?

If you loved reading G.I. Joe character bios as a kid, you’ll love doing the same with the cards you collect in Battleground.

• Free – Download Now

Hellfire: The Summoning from DeNA

Perhaps a more macabre card collecting experience is needed to counteract the frilly hearts of Valentine’s Day. Hellfire allows players to collect beautifully illustrated fantasy-themed cards and battle against AI or other players. The actual battles feature a unique interactive element: players roll boulders at targets in a fashion similar to skeeball.

The “Valentinus” event runs through February 17:

• Valentinus has fallen in love with a pure-hearted girl, but her father rejects their love because of the differences in their families’ wealth.
• Catch all of the Love Nymphs in the forest to help Valentinus marry the girl of his dreams!

Card games, skeeball, and monsters go surprisingly well together.

• Free – Download Now

Kingdom Age from GREE

The only city building game in our holiday roundup comes from GREE. Players will start with a small settlement and build it into a vast kingdom. To make things more interesting, you can also go on RPG-style quests in which you explore dungeons and fight monsters. With three different classes to play, hundreds of quests, and PvP combat, Kingdom Age offers much more depth than the average city builder.

The “Star Crossed Lovers” event runs through February 17:

• The quest was inspired by a real-life couple who met in the game and eventually relocated to live together.
• Complete this three-quest chain to earn the coveted special edition reward:  Kay and Sheera, Dark Strider Heroes (custom avatars of the aforementioned couple) who offer a sizable +3% Alliance Attack.

We can’t all expect romance from Kingdom Age, but the game’s social elements are appreciated.

• Free – Download Now

Monster Match from DeNA

Collecting and raising a team of monsters is fun enough on its own. But throw a colorful puzzle game into the mix and watch out. Monster Match lets players explore dungeons and complete missions to find new monsters. The actual battles involve a gem-matching puzzle game, not unlike Puzzle and Dragons or Puzzle Quest.

With the “Parrot Trap” event having just wrapped up, the Valentine event now lasts through February 19:

• A voodoo toucan judges a beautiful swan to be vain and transforms her to an ugly duckling.
• Complete the event to teach the swan the meaning of true love and return her to her proper form!

Monster Match is cute and inviting, but sometimes you’ll have to wait until your stamina recharges to keep on playing.

• Free – Download Now

Word Science from WildTangent Studios

To cleanse your Valentine’s gaming palate, only a word game will do. Word Science puts players in charge of a laboratory of letters. These letters zoom in on a four-lane conveyor belt, and you must arrange them to form words before time runs out. Use power-ups or form longer words to boost scores to prove the hypothesis that you’re the best word game player around.

Valentine’s celebration:

• Build words that involve the science of love and the celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Add one part English and one part Science and the result is a clever word game.

• $.99 – Download Now

There are lots of ways to play through Cut the Rope, which is part of what makes it such a popular game. That doesn't mean there aren't lots of tips and tricks to help you get Om Nom through levels and to his prized candy faster. From finding secret items to completing additional challenges, Cut the Rope 2 is packed full of different ways to earn bonus items, unlock additional levels, and more. Here are the top 10 tips, tricks, and cheats to help you along the way...

1. There's more than one way to feed an Om Nom

There is rarely one single way to beat a level in Cut the Rope. That's part of what makes it so fun! The way I may choose to clear a level could be different than the next person. Sure some levels are pretty straight forward but sometimes the most obvious solution isn't the only one. In some cases, there are ways to clear levels that not only save you time, but increase your score.

That brings us to our next tip...

2. Explore each level, don't be afraid to restart

Restarting a level in the Cut the Rope is a button tap away and you should use restart fairly often. Don't be afraid to cut ropes, tap on items to see what they do, drop candy, and more. One of my favorite things about Cut the Rope has always been the no pressure atmosphere of the game. The point is to think things through and solve the puzzle that's set in front of you. Not all of us can do that in one shot, and that's perfectly okay.

3. Beat the clock for a better score

It's relatively easy to get all three stars in each level, but it isn't easy to get top scores. This goes back to tip #1 in which there's normally more than one way to complete a level. Naturally some of those ways are much faster than others. Your score is directly related to not only how many stars you get (you only need one in order to clear the level and move one), but how fast you manage to do it. If you want top rankings in Game Center, you'll need to replay some levels in order to complete levels faster.

4. Know your enemies, friends, and obstacles around you

Many obstacles stand in Om Nom's way but there's just as many friends that appear to help him. So along with exploring each level like I stated in tip #2, make sure you're also aware of what each friend brings to the table. For example, in levels where Lick is present the first thing I always do is tap on him to see exactly what he attaches himself to. That way I can see clear paths and tie in the other objects and obstacles relatively easily.

5. Unlock the additional levels in each stage

Each stage in Cut the Rope 2 has 20 levels but you can unlock an additional 5 by doing one of two things: either find all the medals in that level pack or finding the missing shamrocks. If you don't want to do that, you can buy the additional levels in each pack for $0.99 each. But who wants to do that? I've found the shamrocks aren't too terribly hard to collect but medal missions create more of a fun challenge in themselves. Watch for them after you complete a level. Just tap on the medal to see what you have to do in order to earn it and replay those levels.

6. Use your hints sparingly, and only when you need them

You are given a certain amount of hints when you start the game. If you use them all too quickly, you'll have to buy more if you need them. I've found if you use them sparingly, you rarely ever need to buy them since you're given a few here and there throughout the game. I've only used them on the more challenging levels in each level pack, particularly the last few levels. Even then, I always try a level several times before even considering using a hint on it.

7. Patience is typically rewarded, with in-app content

As mentioned in tip number 6, if you continue beating levels and plugging away at getting three stars in each level, you eventually earn in-app content for clearing sections. Stars are also how you open more level packs. For example, after clearing one level pack I was given free winter costumes for Om Nom. While they don't help you beat the game faster, they're fun and entertaining, especially for younger kids.

8. Don't forget about your helper items

Don't forget you have items available to you that help you along your way. In some cases you won't be able to clear a level easily without them, if at all. If you're having a lot of trouble clearing a particular level, look at what you have available to you and think out scenarios where those items may help you. But jjust like tips, you're limited how many you have at your disposal so choose how you use them carefully.

9. Enable iCloud Sync on all your iOS devices

So this isn't a technical game play tip but it sure is convenient if you plan to play Cut the Rope 2 on more than one device. Enabling it makes sure that your progress is synced back and forth between your iPhone and iPad. It's off by default so you'l have to pop into settings and enable it on each device you have linked to your iCloud account.

10. Give Om Nom a makeover

Zepto is great about adding fun in-game content that makes game play even more entertaining. It may not help you beat the entire game any faster but it's fun just the same. Give him wigs, change the type of candy you're feeding him and more. If you don't want to buy it, you can earn certain items as you clear different level packs and continuously get good scores.

Your tips?

If you have been playing your way through Cut the Rope 2, let us know if you've come across any useful tips or tricks that we haven't mentioned here by dropping a comment below. Have you beat it already or are you stuck on a particular level? Let us know that too!

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Adrift for both iPhone and iPad is a puzzle game with a simple premise but not so simple game play. You're tasked with drawing paths to each color in each world. The paths appear on three sides of a cube and they can't intersect. While game play starts out easy, it quickly gets challenging.

There are several stages in Adrift and each one starts out easier than the last. Each cube in each level is different and has different colors that you need to complete a path between. It sounds easy enough but the challenge comes in when you have multiple colors to connect and barriers stand in your way. Every once in a while Adrift throws you a bone by giving you a rainbow square that any color can run through. If you ever get stuck, you can use a hint to show you any one path of your choosing per hint. You get three to start with and can buy hint packs in increments of 10 as an in-app purchase.

There are also time challenges that tie into Game Center so you can compete with your friends in order to race for top spot. You can choose between basic, medium, and easy in time trials. Purchasing any paid level pack unlocks other bonus challenges as well.

Each world in Adrift has a number of levels in it with the tutorial and first stage available for free. Between the two you get 50 levels to play without paying a dime. After that, each additional stage costs $0.99 but contains a bare minimum of 80 levels each. Those levels will definitely keep you busy since the difficulty gets harder and harder. You're bound to scratch your head more than once.

The good

• Gameplay is easy to understand for any age
• Difficulty level increases at a good pace
• Great graphics and cute animations throughout
• You get a lot of levels for free and tons for a very small amount of money

The bad

• Sometimes the iPhone version can be cramped when drawing paths where cube tiles are smaller, causing you to hit the wrong cube. This isn't an issue at all on the iPad though.

The bottom line

Between multiplayer and single player modes, Adrift is a game that you'll want to keep playing for a long time to come. Level packs aren't expensive and Tack has managed to use the freemium model in a way that doesn't take advantage of customers, which is rare to find nowadays.

If you like puzzle games, you'll love Adrift.

• Free - Download Now

Tomb Raider has become one of the worlds best known gaming franchises, and now you can go back to where it all began on your iPhone and iPad with the release of the very first game to bear the name. Square Enix has today pulled the trigger and delivered us Lara Croft's first adventure for the low low price of $0.99.

Better still for anyone who owns, or is about to own an MFi game controller such as the Moga Ace Power, Tomb Raider has full support built in right off the bat. This release also sees two extra chapters not included in the original console release back in 1998, taking the overall game time to around 15 hours.

Hit up the App Store at the link below, and bathe in the warm glow of gaming nostalgia!

• $0.99 - Download Now

via Joystiq

After a weekend spent lazing around the house, partying, or lazily parting, it can be tough to get your mind sharpened back up for the new work week. What better way to get the brain juices flowing than a devious puzzle game?

Puzzle Retreat is just such a game, coming from Australian developer the Voxel Agents. With more 60 free levels of block-sliding challenge (and many more available for in-app purchase), it will thrill - and stump - even the most intellectual gamer.

Get away from the grind

The basic goal in Puzzle Retreat is to fill every empty space on the board by sliding blocks into it. A block can only be moved once, and only in the cardinal directions. Once all the empty spots are filled and the blocks have all been used, you win the level.

Before long, a variety of special blocks and tiles make their way into the puzzles:

• Blocks with dice patterns on them will split up into 2-5 separate blocks when moved, filling multiple spaces.
• Ice blocks can water Bonsai saplings or be melted by fire blocks.
• Fire blocks melt ice blocks and turn into an impassable block when they burn out.
• Bonsai saplings grow into impassable trees when ice blocks touch them.
• Arrow tiles cause whatever blocks pass over them to move in a different direction.
• And more!

Since blocks can only be moved once and puzzles get increasingly complex, it’s possible to make a mistake that prevents you from finishing the level. If that happens, players can undo any move they’ve made so far by pressing the undo button on the previous move. Or start from scratch by tapping the reset button at the top of the screen.

If you really struggle with a puzzle, help is only a button press away. Press the Help button at the top of the screen to visit a Facebook page dedicated to that specific puzzle. There players can ask questions and offer advice. It’s definitely an innovative use of Facebook.

Sharp design

Besides clever and challenging gameplay, Puzzle Retreat also benefits from an intuitive UI. On the level select screen, you get a preview of the level’s appearance and indicators for whether that level is unplayed, in progress, or completed. During gameplay, all the functions you’d need are just a single button tap away.

Backgrounds look like they’re made of wood, as do most of the blocks. Slide a block into the spaces and they make a satisfying “thunk” sound. The only splinter in the sound design is the complete lack of music. I always prefer at least the option of an in-game soundtrack.

Oh, and owners of more than one Apple device will appreciate the game's iCloud support. Hop between iPhone and iPad, why not.

One pack at a time

Puzzle Retreat includes two free level packs: “Welcome” and “Morning.” Welcome starts out easy enough, but the challenge ramps up around the 15^th level or so out of 24. Morning is even more deviously difficult from the get-go. It will take careful thought and practice to clear its 36 levels.

Players who want more block-sliding puzzles can buy extra level packs for 99 cents each, or three packs for $1.99. Every pack offers 36 levels. These new level sets feature unique backgrounds, advanced block varieties, and new completion animations and sounds. I grabbed the “Piano” pack and was not disappointed to hear a piano fanfare when I beat a level.

Puzzle games don’t tend to amaze from a technical standpoint. But games like Puzzle Retreat can grab certain players and refuse to let go. These puzzles require plenty of planning and/or experimentation in order to succeed. I imagine the game has some will be too hard for certain players, but at least you can always move on to a different puzzle or use the Facebook help feature if you’re stuck.

• Free – Download Now

BAFTA award winner, The Room, is now free to try for both iPhone and iPad. If you like it, you can unlock all levels for an in-app purchase of $1.99. The Room 2 is now available for the iPad with iPhone and Android versions following early next year.

In The Room, players have to open a series of boxes by solving puzzles and looking for cues around each level. The Room Two, much like the original, challenges players to solve complex puzzles. This time you'll be helping a scientist known only as AS explore the 3D interactive world around you. Objects are more detailed and graphics are better than ever in the sequel. If you have already picked it up, let us know your thoughts in the comments. Is it easier or harder than the original?

For those that have never played The Room, now is a great time to snag the original and check out the first chapter before committing to a purchase.

• The Room, iPhone, Free - Download Now
• The Room, iPad, Free - Download Now
• The Room 2, iPad - $4.99 - Download Now

Source: CVG

Cut the Rope 2 will be landing on an iPhone and iPad near you on December 19th and will be titled Om Nom's Unexpected Adventure. This time Om Nom is venturing out to explore the world around him in 120 brand new levels. That means all new obstacles to overcome, friends to meet, and of course, lots of candy to eat!

Cut the Rope is the story of a little green monster on the hunt for candy. It's your job to help feed him candy by overcoming all the obstacles that stand in the way. Cutting ropes is just the beginning when it comes to all the obstacles that you encounter throughout the series. Cut the Rope 2 will be available for $0.99 upon launch and will be an iOS exclusive. An Android release will follow early next year as a free to play game.

You can check out the official trailer for Cut the Rope 2 above and then let us know what you think in the comments below!

The latest title from King, the folks behind the smash-hit Candy Crush Saga, is now available to download for iPhone and iPad. Papa Pear Saga is another unbelievably colorful, and likely addictive puzzle game:

Tons of levels, fun gameplay and yes, in-app purchases sum up what we're to expect from this one, as if we'd expect anything less from King. If you're wondering what it's all about, there's an insanely long 'trailer' available to watch up top. Another winner or is it getting too much now?

• Free - Download Now

Clumsy Ninja is the story of a warrior on a mission to find his friend, Kira. Before he can go on his quest, he needs a lot of training because... well... he's so very truly clumsy. But... that's where you come in! With the help of Sensei, you'll guide this clumsy ninja through quests, earn XP, train, and play together. Now, you may be asking how you can get that done as fast and as best as ninja-ly possible? We'll that's where iMore comes in! Here's our list of the top 10 tips, tricks, and cheats to get your ninja ready for battle in no time!

1. Train, train, train!

The easiest thing you can do in order to earn XP and level up to different belts quicker is train. As you progress through the game, you will continue to unlock new training items. Each of those typically has subsets inside of it as well. For instance, you can have many trampolines to work with. Lower level ones replenish faster so don't take them for granted. Whenever you can use them for training, make sure you do so you accumulate as much XP as you can, as fast as you can.

2. Don't pay for repairs

Every time you train you'll typically have to repair an item. Clumsy Ninja gives you a few options depending on the repair. One option is to pay in coins or gems. I typically recommend against this as there are other things that your coins and gems are better spent on. In some cases, you get the option to watch a short video or send out a tweet. I never have a problem doing either of these things over using my ninja's coins and gems.

Alternately, you can always just wait it out and let Sensei repair the item for you after a certain period of time. Wait before using coins or gems, unless you absolutely have to repair something. In my experience so far, there's never a reason to pay for a repair. Just train with something else instead for the time being.

3. Always use coins before gems

Gems are extremely hard to come by and don't accumulate anywhere near as fast as coins do. If you have an option between paying in coins or gems, always choose the coin option first. Since you can accumulate coins a heck of a lot quicker, you won't miss them nearly as much. Gems, you almost always miss.

When it comes to purchasing with real money, if you're going to buy anything, buy gems. Coins are easy enough to get that there really isn't too much of a reason to buy them with real money, unless you're super impatient. Gems however, are hard to accumulate. If you're cashing in real money, cash it in for gems.

4. Don't unlock items with gems, be patient and level up instead

You always have the ability to unlock items with gems, even if you haven't reached the level necessary to use coins yet. That doesn't mean you should do it. As stated in tip 3, gems accumulate very slow and if you use them to unlock something that you can get with your earned coins in just a few levels, it's most likely worth the wait.

Long story short, save gems for things you really need, not for something you can simply cash in coins for in just a few short levels.

5. Pop balloons to get XP super fast

For some reason, popping balloons gives you a ridiculous amount of XP, with the exception of the Fiery balloon. Luckily you can get the Sky balloon relatively early on for only 4 gems. This is one instance where you want to spend your gems since the rewards are so great. Once you get to level 9, you can cash in a mere 25 coins in exchange for 5 blue balloons.

If you're looking to level up faster, balloons are a relatively cheap and easy way to do it. Just keep buying balloons with your coins and pop them. If you're struggling to level up or are getting impatient with a specific task, start popping balloons. Here's a breakdown of what each balloon earns you in XP per pop and what they cost:

• Sky balloons - 25 coins for 5 or 4 gems for 10 - 430 XP
• Natural balloons - 50 coins for 5 or 6 gems for 10 - 1,100 XP
• Sensei balloons - 75 coins for 5 or 8 gems for 10 - 6,300 XP
• Multicolored balloons - 100 coins for 5 or 10 gems for 10 - 10,000 XP

I've used the balloon method when a level is going slow and an item I really want to unlock is right within my grasp in the next level. That's a perfect time to use this strategy. I almost always use coins too, hardly ever gems unless I'm really in a pinch.

6. Complete all training before putting the game down each time

Since you have to wait for Sensei to repair things each time you use them, it's a good idea to make sure you use all the items and get all the XP and coins you can before closing the game. Training is typically short and makes for easy money.

Before closing the game each time, have each item in for repair with Sensei. This way you aren't wasting any hard earned coins or gems getting repairs that can happen on their own while the game is closed.

7. Keep up with quests

Sure you could just keep popping blue balloons all day and level up fast, but don't mix up leveling up and belts. For some belts and ninja moves, you absolutely need to follow and complete the quests. Not to mention, quests are a very easy way to accumulates coins, and in some instances, gems too.

It's the way the game is supposed to be played so unless your goal is simply to level us as quickly as possible, complete the quests. You'll be glad you did.

8. Collect your daily bonuses!

Each day you put your ninja to sleep and come back, you get a daily bonus. Even if you don't have time to play Clumsy Ninja that day, pop in just long enough to collect your daily bonuses. Then make sure you put your ninja to sleep for the day. If you don't, your daily bonus doesn't show up.

Get to 7 days in a row and you can collect 1,000 coins in one go. That's a lot of balloon money!

9. When all else fails, play with your ninja!

The charm of the game is all the ways you can interact with your ninja. Tickle him, throw him around, drag him on the ground. Each day you can collect XP doing all these basic things. It isn't a ton but it adds up over time and only takes a few seconds. So remember to take time off from quests and just go exploring with your ninja. You may be surprised what you find.

10. Collect animals as soon as you can, but use coins!

The chicken is the first animal you encounter as of level 10. You can of course use gems in order to acquire them quicker but it isn't really worth it. Collect animals if and when you can. They earn you money each day for doing nothing so they're a good investment over time.

Again, it's worth it if you're using coins but using gems takes a heck of a lot longer to recoup your investment.

Your tips?

If you play Clumsy Ninja regularly, let us know how far you've gotten and what tips and tricks you've used so far. Have you spent real money or are you sticking to the story line in order to work your way through the game? Let us know!

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Betaworks has pushed out an update to addictive iOS favorite Dots, that for a one-time in-app purchase of $1.99 brings an all new Endless game mode. As it sounds, Endless mode is free of time limits, free of move quantity limitations, just load up and keep on playing. Perfect to earn those dots to buy yourself all the power ups you can handle.

The interface has also been simplified yet further, if it's actually possible. For a free download, Dots is a lot of fun, and you don't need to buy the new game mode to get the most out of it. If you've yet to try it out, grab it from the App Store at the link below.

• Free - Download Now

Bejeweled Blitz by is Popcap's most recent twist on the all-time classic puzzle game. Along the way to total jewel domination, you have the opportunity to use boosts, bonuses, and multipliers. If you aren't smart about it, you can deplete your coin bank, and potentially your actual wallet, quicker than you earned it. I've been playing Blitz for years and here are the tips, hints, and cheats I've found to be most useful in helping fly by your friends in the leaderboards in no time!

1. Four gem in a row combos - save 'em up!

As most Bejeweled Blitz users already know, creating a chain of 4 gems will give you a special gem that detonates the gems around it. Instead of detonating these right away, I always save them for as long as I possibly can so I have a ton of them left on the board. Try to avoid detonating them at all costs and work on increasing your overall multiplier before even thinking about detonating them. You'll be glad you did when you've got a cascading burst of gems detonating at 8x your original score!

2. Multipliers and speed bonuses are super key to a super high score

In Bejeweled Blitz you technically have two bonuses to help you rack up a super high score. Here's an explanation of both:

The speed bonus will go by how fast you are at swiping gems. If you slow down, you'll lose it. Pay attention to the added speed bonus. As you swipe gems you'll see it go up until it maxes out at +1000. This means that for every move you make, 1,000 points is getting added to your score. If you maintain that and keep swiping gems quickly, eventually the +1000 will go from yellow text to red and you'll hear a sizzling noise. Once the font is completely red, you'll get a fire bonus where every gem you swap explodes the ones around it. You'll want to swipe as fast as you can to get this bonus as many times in one round as you can.

The second kind of bonus is your actual multiplier. As gems fall, you will see some of them have a x2 or x3 in them. These multipliers go in consecutive order all the way up to x8. Always swipe to snag multipliers whenever you can. The earlier you get a higher multiplier in the game, the faster your score starts to climb. I always keep an eye out for multipliers on the board and go after them as soon as I see a move that will either match three to obtain it or where I can explode it.

Using speed bonuses and multipliers in conjunction with each other is really the key to obtaining an extremely high score. A +1000 speed bonus and an 8x multiplier can rack up some serious points in not a ton of time.

3. Choose your boosts carefully

Boosts are a tricky thing and if you're going to spend your heard earned (or paid for) coin on them, make sure you're picking the right ones. While everyone's preferences are different, I've found the following three boosts to be the most effective almost 100% of the time.

• +5 Seconds - adds 5 seconds to your total game play time
• Scrambler - Allows you to scramble the board twice in one game
• Bonus Multiplier - You start the game with a bonus multiplier already on the board

I always choose these three boosts for important reasons. Adding 5 seconds to your game play time may not seem like a ton but when you have a 8x multiplier, you can rack up a heck of a lot of points in those extra 5 seconds. Ultimately, it can make a huge different in leaderboard rankings.

The scrambler is a great one to have on hand for when you don't see anything on the board immediately. As previously discussed, you'll only get fire bonuses in game and keep the +1000 bonus if you're fast. You'll lose it and your main added bonuses will start back at zero if you aren't quick enough. The scrambler gives you two saves per round and I use them if I don't see my next move on the board while making the previous one. Getting fire bonuses with high bonuses equals lots of extra points!

Bonus multipliers mean that you start the game with a multiplier on the board already. Sometimes it can take several seconds for one to fall into view and then you've got to snag it still by matching it. The faster you start making your way to an 8x multiplier the better!

4. Make sure you cash out your daily spins

Daily spins give you coins. Even if you aren't going to be playing the game right at that moment, it doesn't hurt to pop into Bejeweled Blitz once a day to collect your daily spins. You'll need all the coins you can accumulate in order to purchase boosts, bonus gems, and other special items. Unless you're okay with paying for coins in real money, I suggest stock piling coins whenever you can.

5. Collect coins in-game

Cashing in daily spins isn't the only way to collect coins. In game you'll see several gems that look like they contain coins. That's because they do. I always pay attention to these gems because they put more coin in the bank for when I want to use bonuses or special items.

If you have some down time, it's never a bad idea to just play rounds without bonuses or boosts in order to accumulate coins. I do this from time to time just to build up a coin bank for the times I'm having a good play day and want to cash some out.

6. Special items and rare gems

Just like boosts, it's important to make sure you select the special items and rare gems that are most beneficial. In my experience the two that have been the most helpful in achieving high scores are the cat's eye and the phoenix prism.

The cat's eye comes around at the end of the round and blasts tons of pieces off the board. If you're at an 8x multiplier and have a speed bonus, a cat's eye can boost your score dramatically.

Phoenix prism gems are basically "wild cards". You can match them with any two gems of any color in order to create a chain reaction that clears all pieces across the board diagonally. It's one of the pricier bonuses so make sure you're cashing in coins only after you're good and warmed up. I typically like to wait to activate the phoenix prism gems on the board until after my multiplier is at least at a 5x or higher in order to take advantage of the chain reactions they cause.

7. Warm up before cashing coins in for boosts

Lastly, make sure you aren't wasting coins you've earned on boosts or special items until you've warmed up. I typically play a few rounds before I start cashing in coins. It also gives you an opportunity to earn a few more in the process.

8. Your tips, hints, and cheats!

These are the tips, tricks, and hints I've found to work for me throughout my many year long addiction to Bejeweled Blitz. I know many of you out there are just as addicted as I am, where you're ready to admit it or not!

If you have any useful tips or tricks, drop them into the comments below!

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Sprinkle has long been a favorite of mine, since the very first time I played the Tegra exclusive version on Android. Despite being a casual game, the attention to detail was fantastic, and the water physics just superb. The good news is that Sprinkle is back with an all new title; Sprinkle Islands. I say all new in the sense that this is a sequel, not a reinvention of the original. It's definitely more of the same, but that's not a bad thing. Not at all. What the developers have done is taken everything that made the original a great game – basically everything – and added to it. There's more interaction in levels, there's more of the levels, generally there's more. Let's take a look.

The graphics in Sprinkle Islands are immediately familiar to anyone who has ever played the original. The same cutesy style has been applied, and everything is bright and colorful. The water physics are just as impressive as they ever were, only now the game is set on an island, there's some rippling sea beneath too. The controls are simplified a touch from the original; now instead of manually moving vertically and changing the angle independent of each other, you move up and down and the angle changes with your height. Some folks might not be so keen on that, but I like it, especially on the iPhone. The original felt too fiddly at times trying to get set up just right, Islands takes some of that away.

The levels in Islands are much larger than in the original game. No longer is your little fire truck rooted to the spot, it moves across the level putting out the flames in a variety of different locations. There's also more interaction from the player with the levels. Platforms to move, drawbridges to spray water at so they drop down for you to drive over them are all here, along with the kind of boulders we saw back in the original. As with before, the challenges get increasingly tougher as you progress, and you need to keep one eye on your water level before it all disappears.

The good

• Looks fantastic as ever
• Water physics still very impressive
• Bigger, more engaging and more challenging levels

The bad

• No complaints

The bottom line

If you ever played the original Sprinkle game, you'll love Islands. If you never played the original, you'll still love it. This is a great example of a casual, pick-up-and-play mobile game that offers enough of a challenge to keep you interested, but doesn't have much of a learning curve at the beginning. Great stuff once again from the folks at Mediocre.

• $1.99 - Download Now

Sprinkle for iPhone and iPad is a great casual puzzler in which you'll control a water cannon in order to distinguish fires and save villages. The trick is that you've only got so much water and obstacles stand in the way of you and several fires. You'll have to use the water in order to move objects out of the way or cascade water on top of them in order to splash it up where you need it.

Sprinkle takes place on Titan, a moon of Saturn. Its inhabitants all live in straw houses and when space tourists crash through Saturn's rings, it sends asteroids crashing into Titan, setting blazing fires. The Titan dwellers built a huge water cannon in order to fight the flames. That's where you come in.

In order to play Sprinkle you'll use the water cannon the Titans built to extinguish all the fires. You can move your cannon up and down by tapping and dragging it or drag your finger up and down anywhere on the screen to adjust the angle in which water comes out. As you progress through the levels of Sprinkle, you'll notice that the difficulty level of extinguishing fires increases. You'll have to activate switches, move objects out of the way with a stream of water, and even use them in order to gain leverage and bounce water off of them to where you need it to be.

You only have a certain amount of water in each level in order to complete it so you'll have to use it sparingly and make sure that you're getting it where it needs to be. If you run out of water, you'll fail the level and have to start over again.

The good

• Great water physics that is not only realistic, but will keep you challenged throughout several of the harder levels
• Cute characters and an even cuter story line
• Easy game play controls makes Sprinkle fun for kids and even big kids of all ages

The bad

• No complaints

The bottom line

Sprinkle is an insanely fun and even cuter casual game that will keep the kids, or yourself, busy combatting fires for hours. If you are a fan of games like Where's My Mickey?, Sprinkle will be right up your alley.

• Free - Download Now

Last year we inducted Tap Tap Revolution and it's developer, Nate True into our inaugural iMore hall of fame. With TTR, True created what would become the first ever iOS-native gaming franchise. But it was only half the story. It wasn't True alone who transformed Tap Tap Revolution into Tap Tap Revenge, Tap Tap Dance, and everything that followed. True sold TTR to Tapulous, a company that, in 2008, was positively dripping in iPhone developer and designer talent. And two of the people who worked on it there, who helped make it the monstrous success it became, and who have gone on to help shape the industry, are Guy English and Louie Mantia.

In a "long boring history" post on Decremental, Tapulous founder Bart Decrem said:

The original engine for TTR was contained in a single source file. To move the game forward, Nate True and Tapulous decided they needed something more "extensible and beautiful". True wrote on the Tapulous Blog [via the Internet Archive:

Tap Tap Dance launched in 2008, and in March of 2009, Tapulous released Tap Tap Revenge 2, and re-released the original version as Tap Tap Classic. Many other versions followed before Tapulous sold to Disney in July of 2010.

Guy English had been a game and app developer long before TTR and the app store. His background, as given on his website, Kickingbear:

English is also responsible for helping ensure the graphics performance of, and generally kicking out the door and into the App Store, many other well-known apps that he's either not allowed, or not inclined to talk about. In addition, that willingness to help others, and to help the developer community, has manifested itself in other ways as well

In October of 2011, alongside Luc Vandal and Scott Morrison, English launched the Çingleton Symposium. A yearly, single-track conference held in Montreal, Çingleton brings together developers, designers, and members of the media to present and watch talks focused around a single, grand topic. Videos of the presentations are later made available on the Çingleton Vimeo channel. The very first one was given by Daring Fireball's John Gruber:

Most recently, English teamed with Chris Parrish to form Aged & Distilled, and with Thomas Unterberger handling design, they launched Napkin. A Mac app with iPad-like direct manipulations, they billed it as concise visual communications, or more casually, #@(%!#* fast image annotation. It launched in January of 2013 and was featured by Apple on the Mac App Store.

• Iterate 38: Aged & Distilled and Napkin
• Debug & Iterate team-up podcast: The future of human interface

• $39.99 - Download Now

A frequent guest on John Gruber's The Talk Show, English also co-hosts two podcasts right here on Mobile Nations, Debug, which focuses on developers, and Ad Hoc, which features large panel discussions on movies, TV, and modern culture. He also continues to write on his Kickingbear blog.

In November of 2008, Louie Mantia joined the renowned Iconfactory. At the time, 2012 hall of fame inductee, Gedeon Maheux wrote on the Iconfactory blog:

One of the apps Mantia worked on at the Iconfactory was Ramp Champ. He shared his design process on his blog, Mantia.me:

From early on, Mantia's work showed an incredible attention to detail, a deep understanding of rich visual design, and flare for highly polished, highly usable interface and icons.

Mantia later went to Apple where he worked on icons for iAd Producer and Book Proofer, GarageBand's Organs and Guitars, the Trailers app, icons for Remote, WWDC, iBooks, GarageBand, Trailers, and the then-new icon for iTunes. He shared a little of the story behind the iTunes icon on Mantia.me:

In 2012 Louie Mantia joined Brad Ellis and Jessie Char to found Pacific Helm, a San Francisco-based design studio dedicated to "shipping beautiful products that people love to use". Pacific Helm's work includes The Magazine, and icons for Mini Display, Summly, and many others.

In addition to client work, much of which remains confidential, Pacific Helm has released two of their own apps to the App Store. The first was Checkers, a simple, elegant checker set meant to be played offline, with another human.

• $4.99 - Download now

The second, just recently released, is Camera Noir, a love-letter to the late, lamented Gotham filter.

• $1.99 - [Download now](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camera-noir-b?at=10l3Vy&ct=UUimUdUnU18680 w-photography/id653121289?ls=1&mt=8&at=10l3Vy&ct=d_im)

Mantia has discussed his work, and his philosophy with us several times as a guest several on our Iterate podcast.

• Iterate 24: Louie Mantia
• Iterate 36: Pacific Helm
• Iterate 40: The future of iOS design
• Iterate 49: iOS 7 design special (Part 2)

In between visits to Disney Land, Louie Mantia routinely adds free wallpapers to his website, Mantia.me, posts design concepts on his Dribbble page, and lights Twitter on fire with his opinions.

The work of Guy English and Louie Mantia may first have touched iPhone owners thanks to Tap Tap Revenge, but both of them have careers that far transcend any single app, and from bit to pixel, both have made iOS and OS X better platforms, and the community a better place. From blisteringly fast graphics to breathtaking icons, they've not only made fantastic apps, but helped make many of the apps we know and love even more fantastic.

That's why, as part of the 2013 hall of fame, we're honoring Guy English, Louie Mantia, and all of the apps they've applied their considerable talents too.

Color Zen is a gorgeous puzzle game that's designed for both iPhone and iPad. The premise of the game is to twist, turn, and flick mosaic tiles that are all colored and shaped differently in order to fill the screen with the same color. When two like colors meet, they'll recolor the screen that shade. Seem easy enough? Don't be so sure!

The levels of Color Zen start off easy enough and allow you to get a feel for how the game is played. You'll notice that each level has a border color. The goal is to make the entire screen the color of the border. If you flick a red piece into another red, they will absorb and disappear, leaving the screen colored red. Move on to the next mosaics you can match in order to completely clear the board leaving only the tiles that match the border.

Color Zen gets difficult rather quickly and you'll have to think several steps ahead in order to plan for the border color to be the last mosaic tiles you have left to match on the board. I got stuck on one level that took me about a week to finally pass. A large part of me prefers puzzle games that offer up a challenge so I don't fly through them as quick leaving me waiting for more levels. You do, however, have the option to unlock all the levels via an in-app purchase if you would like to skip around or get stuck on a particularly hard level.

If you'd like to add more levels to Color Zen, there is currently a nature pack available as well for another $0.99 in-app purchase. The standard levels will probably keep you busy for quite a while though.

The good

• Easy game play that functions as a good time killer
• Levels get hard fast, meaning you won't clear the game in just a few hours and be left looking for another puzzler as quick

The bad

• The ability to buy even more packs would be a welcome addition

The bottom line

Color Zen is a great way to kill some time either quickly or when you want to lay around and play for long periods of time. I've found myself picking it up when I have just a few minutes to kill or when I have an hour. It's easy to put down and pick back up at any time which makes it a likely candidate for me to choose when I want to weed through games to play.

If you're a fan of puzzlers, Color Zen is definitely one you should add to your list to try out.

• $0.99 - Download Now

Large Animal Games' latest creation is Color Zen, a puzzle game with simple mechanics that tests your ability to think calmly and logically. It's very aptly named - you need to clear your mind and focus on the task at hand to win each level.

The gameplay of Color Zen is beguilingly simple: change the color of the game field to match the color of the border surrounding it. You do this by making two same-colored shapes collide. The collision causes an explosion of color that fills the screen.

The game starts off slowly - the first few levels are very easy. There are six "chapters" in Color Zen, each revealing different challenges that you must master: first you learn basic gameplay mechanics - some shapes move, other shapes don't. Shapes obey a set of physical laws for motion - they bounce off walls and each other. Then you find out that white shapes absorb whatever color touches them. Then you discover that black shapes do the opposite. Each chapter includes 20 levels. And at least at this stage, that's it - there's no option to buy or download new levels.

Each puzzle is really lovely to look at - like like pieces of mosaic abstract art, careful geometries of squares, rectangles, circles, triangles and more. They're accompanied by a soothing downtempo electronic soundtrack and low-key sound effects that reward you for making shapes collide. Getting to the end of the puzzle forces you to think carefully through the steps, understanding the relationships of the different pieces in each puzzle and how to make them go away to reveal two final pieces that will match the border.

There are no points amassed and no timers in Color Zen, so there's no benefit to rushing through, no extra credit for panache or flair. You can take your time with each level, and sometimes you really have to, working backwards and inside out to figure out how to end up with the colored shapes you need to win.

You can replay any level you've played before - new levels are unlocked as you complete their predecessor. If you get totally frustrated with a level, there is an out - you can pay a one-time fee of 99 cents more to unlock all levels.

The good

• Interesting puzzle play with simple mechanics
• Eschews stressers like timers or challenges
• Beautiful to look at and listen to.

The bad

• Too short

Bottom line

Color Zen is a nice break from puzzle games that are loaded with in-app purchases, timers and relentless challenges from other players. It's just a nice way to mellow out and examine some pretty puzzles while solving them calmly. Color Zen quite admirably lives up to its name. I wish the game were longer, but I guess that's what sequels are for.

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