The iPhone Mom

Shady Puzzles is one of those games that makes me realize how tired my poor little brain is. I try this type of puzzle and I know that I should be able to figure them out. I know that the answer is right in front of me. But the logic of it all just escapes me. I was never very good at this sort of thing but since having kids my skill has become just plain sad. That being said, even though it left me well aware of my mental limitations, I enjoyed the Shady Puzzle and even managed to solve a few. Emphasis on the word few.

The idea behind Shady Puzzles is to fill in a grid according to a set of numbers. The numbers run along the top and side of the grid. They tell you how many boxes in each row and column should be shaded in. For example, if there’s a 3 next to a row then it needs to have three shaded boxes. You might also see something like 1,2. This means that one box needs to be shaded in and then two boxes, but they’ve got to be separated by an empty box. The trick comes when you work in the columns as well. They’ve got numbers above them too and you’ve got to make the column’s shading work with that of the row it intersects with.

The concept of Shady Puzzles is clever and it’s a great game to get your brain working. I like the look and feel of the app’s graphics. It’s like doodling on notepaper instead of doing your homework. The app did have a tendency to sometimes crash when I solved a puzzle.  Also, I might be missing something but I couldn’t figure out a way to back out of a puzzle once I’d started it. But all in all it’s a challenging puzzle game, for me anyway. But please, if you try this one out and breeze through it don’t let me know. I’ve already got enough puzzle anxiety as it is.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 – App Store says this is a promotional price

Seller: Lambdamu Games

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

I was recently contacted by the developer behind the  Wee Little Gamer apps. He has several games available in the App Store but I decided to try out Sir Roly Poly and Lil’ BBall.

Sir Roly Poly is a puzzle game that has levels for adults and children. Sir Roly Poly is off to rescue a princess and it’s your job to guide him through fifty block maze puzzles. The maze path is blocked by obstacles and you must drag them out of the way so Roly Poly can pass through. When you tap on an obstacle arrows will appear to show you the directions you can move it. The challenge comes in figuring out where everything needs to go, it’s not always as clear cut as it first appears. Sir Roly Poly has twenty levels that are designed especially for kids.  The other levels are divided into easy, medium and hard. When you begin the game the medium and hard levels are locked. Check out the wee little gamer website to watch a demo that shows just how tricky those later levels become. We enjoyed this app and I liked the fact that there are levels just for kids. That allows our family to share the app.

Lil’ BBall is a pinball basketball game. You use your finger to launch basketballs and then move your iPhone around to guide the balls into one of three hoops. If you tap on the “i” at the top left of the screen you can choose whether the hoops are big or lil’. Big hoops are good for the younger kids because they can easily make the baskets. There are accomplishments to  be unlocked as you play and they can also be reset in the general iPhone settings. For the 3-5 year olds this is a nice alternative to the more difficult basketball games.

Sir Roly Poly – $.99 (currently 50% off)

Lil’ BBall – $1.99

Seller: Wee Little Gamer

Toy Kit is a puzzle game that will have your child building “helper vehicles” – a fire truck, police car and helicopter. To begin they’ll see an outline of the vehicle and the various parts lined up neatly next to it. They must tap on a part and drag it where it belongs, one piece at a time. After they finish each piece a new outline will appear showing them where the next piece should go. When they’ve completed the vehicle it will become animated for a moment and it’s name will be displayed on the screen. After that it falls apart and the pieces are scattered. There are no outlines this time, your child must now assemble the vehicle without help.

I love the simplicity of the vehicles in Toy Kit and the puzzles are very cute. The app runs smoothly and will be good for young preschoolers. My only complaint is that there are only three vehicles to build. Hopefully more will be included in future updates.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Integral

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

1 to 25 was sent to me and when I first opened it up I thought oh no, it’s a math puzzle. Prejudice on my part to assume that just because a puzzle involves numbers it’s also going to involve math. Math and I don’t get along very well. At all.  But I decided to give the puzzle a try and I’m glad I did. It doesn’t involve addition or subtraction or any thing of that sort. What you do is attempt to arrange the numbers 1 to 25 on a 5×5 grid in such a way that they all fit in the puzzle and are connected by a line. The line can go sideways, up and down or diagonally. The numbers are on red arrows around the puzzle and these arrows are your clue as to where to put the numbers. This puzzle also has a wonderful “purge” button. If you press it you’ll see which numbers are in the wrong spot and you can attempt to fix your mistake. When you finish a puzzle another one unlocks.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this puzzle. I’ve got a daughter who’s brain thrives on this kind of thing and it’s nice to have another “thinking” app for her on my phone. By the way – the picture above was taken just before I tapped “Purge” and discovered that all my numbers were in the wrong spot, except for the number one. Did I mention I really liked that purge button?

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: 123 Syndicated Puzzles