Mind Blitz for iPhone and iPad review: Exercise your muscle memory in this classic memory game with a twist

If you like memory games, you'll love Mind Blitz for iPhone and iPad. It's a twist on the classic flash card based memory game. As you advance through the game, the grids will get larger, time will get shorter, and different obstacles will be thrown in the mix. You can also challenge your friends via Game Center to compete for different achievements and the fastest times.

Mind Blitz starts off as a simple matching game where you'll be tapping on tiles in order to flip them over and match them with the same tile that's hidden elsewhere on the board. The further you get into the game, the more tiles will be added making it harder to complete each level.

As you progress through levels, you'll gain the ability to use the power that you've earned through game play in order to purchase power ups. The power ups include adding 15 seconds, free card flips, power multipliers, and wiggles. While the first three are apparent, the last probably isn't. Using the wiggle power up will allow you to flip over any card and its match will wiggle. Each time you use it, you'll get two cards to wiggle resulting in two free matches.

When it comes to collecting power ups, you'll notice the circle at the top of the screen fill with green as you make matches. The number will go up with each power up you collect. These are what you'll use towards buying power ups. Considering you must start a level over if you fail a round, it's pretty easy to collect power ups quickly.

The good

  • Great interface with cards that are easy to differentiate from each other
  • Power ups are quick and easy to collect, meaning not spending tons on in-app purchases like some games base themselves on
  • Game Center integration makes working towards achievements and competing against friends easy

The bad

  • The animations between flipping cards are a little long, and it eats precious seconds
  • Having to start completely over each time you fail one level is somewhat of a letdown, I wish you were able to pick up with the level you failed

The bottom line

When it comes to memory matching games, I have yet to find one as well put together as Mind Blitz. Not only does it bring back a classic, it adds fun little twists such as shuffle cards.

If you're looking for a laid back puzzler that you'll never get tired of picking up here and there, Mind Blitz is a great choice.

Allyson Kazmucha

iMore senior editor from 2011 to 2015.