You know the feeling. You've been wracking your head for what seems like ages trying to solve a puzzle, but nothing sticks. After a while you just want to smash it to pieces just to break the state of mental stagnation. Thankfully there's Woozzle, an iPhone game for those who like solving spacial puzzles, but get restless going too long without any action.
Woozzle (also available as Woozzle HD for the iPad) is a puzzler about marshaling color-coded marbles into circular trays that can hold four apiece. Marbles drop from a row on top (with an indicator showing what colors are coming next) and slot into a tray. From there you can rotate trays and flick marbles along the various pathways connecting them. A level is cleared once every tray is filled with the correct assortment of marbles.
It starts off dull, with obvious solutions where it's simply a matter of going through the motions and waiting for the right piece. This feeling doesn't last long, however, as new elements are introduced. Teleporters, rotating turnstyles, one-way tunnels, and paint stations that change a marble's color help transform the puzzles from rote to devious.
Moving at your own speed elevates Woozzle above the standard puzzler. You can take it slow, pondering each move like a Bond villain, or you can let loose a gaggle of marbles and rely on your reflexes, spinning trays around to make room for incoming marbles. Generally, you'll have to stop and think, but with no fail state, the option to use brute force can help loosen the mental knot you're untangling. The 1-to-3 rating system is based on how fast you complete a level, which encourages replays and a firmer understanding of Woozzle's deceptively tricky layouts. Unfortunately, the game doesn't tell you what the time requirements are for specific ratings.
Elsewhere, the Viva Pinata-like jungle aesthetic is appealing at first, but a little more visual diversity would be appreciated as the game's 60 levels all have similar backgrounds.
The bottom line. Woozzle may get off to a slow start, and it can get irritating when you know what to do, yet have to spend too much time performing perfunctory tasks to execute it, but this is a small price to pay. Its tactile nature grants malleability in how to suss out a solution, allowing you to wrestle these brain-busters at your own pace before attempting time-based rankings. Ultimately, Woozzle is an expertly crafted puzzle game that rewards crafty plotting, but doesn't punish mindless fiddling.
of 5
iPhone or iPod touch, running iOS 3.0 or later. (iPad-native version Woozzle HD is $1.99 at press time.)
Puzzles can be solved in different ways. Requires both cerebral planning and quick reflexes.
Sometimes it takes too long to put a solution into practice after you've solved it, backgrounds could use more variety.
