mobile puzzle games

How to Train Your Dragon

Here’s another phone game based on a popular movie, but this one would have been better called “How to train your brain”. The mobile game version of How to Train Your Dragon is in fact not particulary action packed but rather a top down puzzle / adventure game with a snappy sense of humor.

After falling a dragon from the sky using a net, Hiccup, our lead hero and playable character, turns from trying to slay it, per viking ways, to helping the poor creature get back to health, thus trying to escape the “dragon killing viking” future his father had planned for him. In doing so, most of the time you will be collecting items, opening doors and figuring out the inner workings of all manner of contraptions (lighting pots on fire in a certain order anyone?), following penguins over icy death traps and that sort of thing. The adventure part kicks in when you have to deal with the occasional enemy creature of the forest like carnivorous plants, bears, bees and wild pigs. Your main weapon is your trusty sling shot so it’s all fun until a bear looses an eye!

The game is rather tedious and long, each stage involving more and more thinking and retracing one’s steps, with little reward between them except of course the occasional good one liners from a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are also minigames and a few flying levels but they don’t bring a lot of diversion or anything spectacular, still I thought they are worth a mention. The music and game colors are nice, and I suppose the cartoonish design fits the game well.

Snake reloaded – gameplay video

Check out this fresh gameplay video of Snake Reloaded, the mobile phone game that puts a tactical twist on an old classic.

Snake Reloaded

Snake Reloaded is the mobile game that puts a new strategic spin on the fun task of getting your snake to epic proportions while making sure not to bang your head against a wall.

If you think they couldn’t improve on a classic, then take a look at this strategic puzzle game for cell phones. Besides the usual goal of growing your snake a certain size, the Reloaded mode of this game offers other interesting challenges like collecting jewels for bonus points, powerups that let you break certain walls, keys to unlock areas or bonus stages, and all that while playing on a multi-area playing field full of traps to avoid or outmaneuver. Reflexes are not the only things that matter, knowing the level is key to completing it in this game so don’t think you can finish a harder level in the first try! The game offers at least 16 levels, not counting bonus stages, and the level designers have even come up with some pretty nasty and deceiving traps for you, always going for those nice shiny jewels can get you in a pretty tight spot as you will soon find out. Of course the java game also offers the classic snake mode which can be fun to play after you’ve completed Reloaded mode. Here’s a tip: remember strategy is key here, careful not to step on those squares that disappear after you walk on them once unless you really really have to!

Rubiks Numbolution

Go mad for math with Rubiks Numbolution! Select the correct numbered blocks to add up to a goal number – but watch out for those pesky Power Blocks, as they try to ruin your sum success. It all adds up to addictive number fun!

This looks to me like one of those educational games you should have your kids play to teach them basic maths and counting, or if you’re an adult it might help you work on your short term memory a bit. Besides that this game will entertain you for a while but it becomes rather dull after the first few levels.

The graphics in the game look ok, nothing fancy, but the loading screen and some of the backgrounds look pretty weird and not polished enough. The music and sounds aren’t really important in this type of game.

As for the gameplay, well the whole game revolves around adding up the correct number blocks to get the result equal to the goal number, and after that the goal number changes. The more blocks you use in a sum the more points you get. The game’s over when you run out of time or when the play area fills up with blocks. Each level new and “exciting” kind of blocks are added to make the game less repetitive, and each fourth level is a “boss level”, that just means that instead of having to earn points you need to answer a question like “6+3=?”.

A nice game for your kids, but as a grown-up you might find it a little boring unless you’re really into puzzle games or numbers.