Looking for a new iPhone game a little more mentally stimulating than Angry Birds? Try one of these five puzzle games, sure to confound and delight you.
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Ones
Ones is essentially a maddening version of 2048. Combine three or more identical blocks in order to create the next block. The goal is the mash enough blocks together and align them well enough so that you can reach the highest numbered block possible. You will spend hours trying to top your high score, and then, once you do, will spend hours more trying to do the same again.
Ones is $0.99 in the App Store
Deeply Absurd Chain
I am immediately fond of any game that embraces its own absurdity on the most superficial level. At first, this plays like most match games—the basic principle of which is to line up as many similar items in a row. But in Deeply Absurd Chain, matching items only reveals the next link in the chain, allowing for far more complicated moves. It’s a game that sends you down a rabbit hole of cartoonish puzzling with an archeological theme.
Atomas
One of the best-designed games this month, Atomas is a puzzle game based in chemistry. Start with very basic elements and then try to get them to bond to one another to form precious metals like gold from your collection of bonded atoms. But don’t let your screen get too crowded with elements. You’ll learn about the periodic table, but you won’t become the next Walter White.
Atomas is free in the App Store
Under the Sun
In Under the Sun, the goal is to lead your character through a series of puzzle-based desert island maps. In this 3D puzzle game, try to navigate natural obstacles such as trees and rocks in order to get to reach your fire before it gets dark. But every move you make alters the map just a bit. Thankfully, you can tinker with time and go backwards if you make a mistake.
Under the Sun is free in the App Store
TWIST3D
Somewhere between a game of Tetris and a frustrating few hours spent with a Rubik’s Cube, TWIST3D is a puzzle game in which you must twist a 3D cube-like map in order to reveal patterns and match gems that only reveal themselves once a pattern is detected. You can use boosters to help you sort out the cube, but this game is only for those who are exceptionally skilled puzzle-solvers — those quick to anger should steer clear.
