iPhone Review: Spooky Spirits: Puzzle Drop
by Chris Nitz
Developer/Publisher: Innogiant Ltd.
Genre: Puzzle
Price: $1.99
Verdict: Challenging and addictive. Recommended for puzzle fans
Acquired: Developer Provided Review Copy
Pros: Good challenge, easy to pick up, more than 1 mode
Cons: Unbalanced puzzle difficulties, controls get cornfused from time to time.
Halloween might have come and gone, but there are still great spooky games to be played. Spooky Spirits: Puzzle Drop is one of these games. It is yet another puzzle game, but it is one with ghosts!
Spooky Spirits is a simple game; match a block with a ghost of its corresponding color to eliminate it. Ridding the game board of all colored blocks is the goal. It sounds simple until it has to be done in a restricted amount of moves. This forces you to start looking for combos and judging how the blocks will all play off of one another. It is a candy bowl of fun and frustration. The controls are simple: swipe left and right to move the block selector, swipe up to flip the blocks back and forth, and swipe down to drop the blocks. For the most part this works great, but I did have an issue with the game reading my finger swipes incorrectly from time to time. This was a rare occasion, though.
The game has a cartoony presentation that works well. Ghosts float up the screen when they are freed from their block jails. The backgrounds are detailed and entertaining. The game’s sound is also enjoyable to experience.
There are three game modes. Puzzle mode has a small storyline, and the mode’s object is to work through stages solving puzzles in an allotted amount of moves. Panic mode will have players filling a bottle with ghosts. The game board slowly moves up and the player must think fast to beat fill the bottle. Lastly, Eternity mode will have players playing a Tetris-style game that just keeps going until the player loses, or throws their device in frustration. Tack on an online leader board and there is a challenge for all to enjoy.
The only complaint I have with this game is that the puzzle difficulty gets all scatterbrained at times. One puzzle left me trying over and over again, while the one directly after it was solved on my first try. It’s a minor complaint though, as the puzzles were fun. I really enjoy this game. Outside of the unbalanced puzzles, I found the challenge enjoyable. The three game modes provide plenty of entertainment while I pretend to do things like work.
