Four puzzle apps to give your brain a workout

THE frustration of solving a puzzle can also be the most gratifying part. Here are some of the newest puzzle apps.

THE trick to instantly identifying a puzzle app worth buying is that it won’t look like anything else you’ve seen.

THE frustration of solving a puzzle can also be the most gratifying part. Tom Cutrofello, a New York City middle school maths teacher and a puzzle fanatic, knows this all too well. Over the past two decades, he’s worked on thousands of puzzles and since 2009 has documented his feats — and fizzles — on his blog, Gottasolveit. In his view, a good puzzle must have “a certain novel appearance, a certain amount of challenge and it should have this magical element that will just draw people in”. We had a go at some of the newest puzzle apps, testing them for their level of difficulty and addiction.

Quetzalcoatl

THE trick to instantly identifying a puzzle app worth buying is that it won’t look like anything else you’ve seen — or previously been addicted to. One example: 1 Button’s Quetzalcoatl. Launched in November and named after the serpent in Aztec mythology, it will instantly bite you. The aim is simple: drag the “snake” — a black line spotted with coloured dots — around the space until you match the spots to their coloured tile counterpart. What starts off as an easy score turns into a challenge as the snakes and backgrounds multiply. There are 180 levels. I’m currently fighting it out with level seven of world two — but it’s engaging and tough to stop.

Score: 9/10; itunes.com

Zeko

IT sounds simple enough: place the white dot in the outlined circle. But there’s a hitch. You have to tap on other coloured circles on the screen — each with a different speed and sound — to create ripples that move the white dot to the desired spot. Zeko has 45 levels to keep even the most advanced puzzler puzzling. And with a black background framing its colourful mix of circles, KipTouch’s game is almost like a piece of art. And like all the best art, it’s hard to look away.

Score: 7/10; itunes.com

Striped and Swiped. Seriously? Yup!

LAUNCHED in December, this is one of the most frustrating puzzle apps I’ve come across. The name — it’s known as Sassy — makes sense when you start playing. Like the other apps here, it starts with an easy task: follow the direction of the arrow on the screen swipe. The fun starts when striped arrows are introduced and you have to swipe the opposite direction. Add to that the pressure of the clock. So frustrating it’s good. Just make sure you keep an eye on the clock — it’s easy to waste a whole afternoon being Sassy.

Score: 8/10; itunes.com

Match the Pattern

I DON’T think my brain is quite developed enough to play this puzzle. My head was hurting at level 25. There are 160. The task in Gravity Software’s brainy app is to push moving green balls into patterns that shapeshift across your screen, using your finger to guide a black dot that acts as the shepherd dog corralling your green sheep into ever-changing pens. Warning: have an aspirin handy.

Score: 8/10; itunes.com and googleplay.com

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