Enigmo for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Going back, this game was new in August so I’m not exactly keeping up with the releases.  Besides that, it was still in the “Top Paid Apps” section of the App store and after investigating it a bit further I thought I’d join the trend and buy it.  Lucky for me it was on sale at just £2.99 instead of the last price of £3.49 or when it first came out at £5.99 -- maybe you deserve to wait a bit then.

The basic principle of the game is to collect water droplets in a container. Simple idea but hard to implement. Using objects (tins,water guns,sponges) it is up to you how you change the direction of the droplets and get them to their final destination. Building on the successful Mac game, Pangea Software have recreated it for the iPhone and iPod Touch specifically to take advantage of the touch screen interface.  The controls, as you’d expect, are fairly simple to use and easy drag and drop gestures are all that’s required.  Finger gestures like zooming in and out, similar to the Photos App, can help get the objects in the exact right place to bounce off the water droplets. Although there is no tutorial you will get the controls and basic premise of the game within the first level so don’t worry about it.

There are 50 levels in Enigmo, some people see this as a disadvantage compared to the 100 on the Mac version but the developers have added the capability to download add on levels if you require.  One thing you’ll find is that the difficulty rises up pretty quickly in the game with levels 1-4 for beginners and anything after 7 will require a bit of thinking.  If you want the bonus points you’ll definitely be replaying this and its nearly impossible to get it first time.  With this in mind this game will take you ages to complete and by the end of it you’ll be pulling out your hair -- in a good way.

You get your moneys worth in the complexity of the levels and if you’re someone who has very little patience I don’t think this game suits you entirely as there will be many a moment when you go “Well if that sponge doesn’t work how am I going to get this water over there??” If you can get past that challenging frustration you’ll find Enigmo a well built game and I think I’ll be revisiting it very often.