PUZZLE COSMOS Review

By , on August 18, 2010


PUZZLE COSMOS
Download on the AppStore
3 out of 5

PROS

  • Unique arcade puzzler style.
  • Intense, shiny visuals.
  • Unlockable game modes with varied gameplay.

CONS

  • Hard to progress.
  • Basic gameplay lacks depth.

VERDICT

Puzzle Cosmos is a fun new idea that fans of arcade puzzlers can enjoy, but it feels too random to really appreciate.


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Puzzle Cosmos by PONOS is a flashy new arcade puzzler that certainly defies simple description, but if Lumines decided to do away with the drag and drop gameplay and replaced it with a cube that you can roll around the tiles then you'd be coming close.

Perhaps the reason it's so hard to define is, in part, due to a lack of any help in the form of a tutorial or text guide. Players are dumped straight in to the game with three controls and it's up to them to work out what's going on. Thankfully the game is fairly intuitive and the basic gameplay consists of a randomly generated bed of gems that can be matched with those on your rotating square. So far so easy, but as you progress the gems will slowly rise, bringing you closer to a game over and if you start matching gems too far down a hole you'll find it difficult to climb out again.

Puzzle Cosmos really punches players in the face with visuals packed with bright rainbow colors and fluorescent backgrounds, so it's great to see an alternate scheme also being available to tone things down a bit (albeit making things a bit too dull in the process). The lack of gameplay guides starts to really hurt when attempting to unlock further modes as it's quite difficult to reach the required scores, but persistence will eventually win out.

Puzzle Cosmos is more show than substance, but it's still fun to try your hands at a new style of arcade puzzler and it definitely has enough legs to keep some puzzle fans after a unique challenge busy, at least for a while.

Screenshots

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