Our Verdict
One of my favourite thing about the iPhone and the App Store is the plethora of inexpensive time - killer usable . For just a clam or two — and oftentimes for liberal — I can download an entertaining biz that will keep me occupied while waiting in line or remove the gearing to the office . For the retiring calendar month or so , my preferred such deflection has been the system of logic gameMarple . harmonise to its developer , Marplewas inspire by the Palm type O gameHercule , although Marple takes reward of the iPhone ’s touchscreen to volunteer far better graphics and a better interface .
Marple ’s playing board consists of four rows and five pillar . Each quarrel hosts a unlike type of tile : alphabetic character ( A , B , C , D , E ) ; numbers ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) ; die - side numbers ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) ; or shapes ( square , arrow , circle , virtuoso , and plus ) . At the source of a puzzle , each column incorporate one of every potential roofing tile , grouped by tile type ( five roofing tile per dustup for a total of 20 tiles per column ) . The objective of the game is to figure out which of each type of tile belong to in each column ; each roofing tile can look only once on the board .
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Before and After: A new Marple puzzle (left) and the same puzzle finished (right)
Before and After : A new Marple puzzle ( go out ) and the same mystifier terminate ( right )
For each group , you choose a special tile by knock the group to enlarge it and then advert and holding the hope roofing tile . instead — and much more usefully , give how you determine which roofing tile pass away where — you could quickly solicit item-by-item tiles in the grouping to eliminate them . You restore an single tile by tapping it again . Tapping out of doors of the exaggerated tile group “ shut down ” it .
And how do you determine which tile goes where ? By using your exponent of logical system . At the bottom of the screen , Marple provides several types of clew ( not every puzzler will have every character of clue ):
Guess Again: Use the clues in Marple to eliminating possible tile values.
approximate Again : Use the clues in Marple to excrete potential tile values .
You practice these clues and some clever logical system first to eliminate potential tile values , and then to limit which roofing tile go where . For example , because the middle tile in an in - between clue must be positioned between two other tile , it ca n’t come out in the left - most ( first ) or justly - most ( 5th ) column . you could similarly use leave - of and same - column hint to specify down the possibilities for each chemical group of tiles , making the in - between and next - to clew more meaningful . Clues can be dragged to reposition them ; for example , to put hint relating to a standardised tile together . And if you no longer need a clue , you may tap it to dim it ( another pat undims it ) . This may vocalize complicated , but you get the bent of it after a few games . And if you get stuck , the developer provides some tips for beginner in the secret plan ’s splendid Help screen , and a Hint clitoris spotlight the clue that will be the most helpful at that moment .
Once you ’ve chosen a value for every roofing tile group , Marple either congratulates you , if the solvent is right , or tells you you ’ve made a error ; in the latter case , a restart button lets you bulge the puzzle over . Every puzzle has a single unique solution , and every puzzler can be solved using only the provided clue .
Time Stops for No One: As you progress with your puzzle, a timer on the bottom of the screen calculates how long it takes you to come up with a solution.
Marple is a challenging and addictive plot , and with 1 million unequaled puzzles , you wo n’t run out anytime soon . ( It ’s worth noting that I ’ve bring more than 120 mystifier so far , and the trouble level has n’t changed substantially ; I ’ve just gotten quicker at solving them . This may be well or bad , depending on your point of aspect . ) It also offer several gameplay options in its options screen . you could enable Warnings , which alert you whenever you choose or obviate the wrong tile ; Auto Deduce , which auto - prefer a roofing tile when you eliminate all other instances of that roofing tile , or eliminates all other example when you select a special tile ; and Auto Sort Clues , which sorts clues by type . you’re able to also make the game easier by enabling the Give Away Two Tiles selection , which solves two tile for you when begin a novel puzzle . Finally , you could manually jump directly to a specific puzzle by provide the teaser number .
Time Stops for No One : As you progress with your mystifier , a timer on the bottom of the screen calculates how long it takes you to come up with a solution .
Since every puzzle has a solution , your attainment at Marple is ground on the clock time it takes you to solve each puzzle . Your 10 best times , along with the puzzle phone number , routine of error , and telephone number of steer used for each , are saved to game ’s Top 10 screen . ( This screen also exhibit your total games played , entire meter played , and ordinary fourth dimension per puzzle . ) Because each puzzle has a unique puzzle number , you could compare your metre on a particular puzzle with those of your friends . Unfortunately , there ’s no pause feature of speech and the game ’s timer does n’t stop if you get at its setting , Help , or Top 10 screens . Similarly , if Marple is break away and you iron out the iPhone ’s Sleep push , Marple ’s timer carry on to run ; I ’ve woken my iPhone to discover a puzzle with a two - time of day — and running — timekeeper . These inflated times also affect your average - meter statistics . The timer should lead only when you ’re actively fiddle the secret plan .
The other feature of speech I ’d care to see is Undo . I occasionally bug the unseasonable roofing tile accidently , but if I ’m not ante up close aid I do n’t screw which , so I ca n’t reinstate that roofing tile group to its previous state . Similarly , if you have Auto Deduce enable , accidentally tapping the wrong tile may mechanically deduce the states of other tile , so even if you correctly restore the original tile , the auto - infer tiles are n’t restored .
But these are minor complaints about an otherwise fantabulous game . If you ’re a fan of Sudoku - corresponding biz of system of logic , but you ’re trite of looking at 9 - by-9 grids , give Marple a attempt . But be warned : Once you begin playing Marple , you may not be able to stop .
Marple is compatible with any iPhone or iPod ghost running the iPhone 2.x software update .
[ fourth-year editor Dan Frakes reviews low - cost software for the Mac Gems web log . ]
