If puzzle games are you forte then you should enjoy solving the Mayan mysteries found within infeCCt.
It may have one of the silliest titles I’ve ever seen but this is no novelty game. This game poses a serious challenge which should give your brain a severe workout.
It’s actually billed as a brain training exercise but that sounds too much like work to me so I prefer to think of it as a puzzler instead.
infeCCt is one of those games, much like Sudoku, which looks easy on first impression, but appearances can be deceiving.
Its concept is very simple to understand, the mechanics take just minutes to grasp and yet the solutions can be fiendishly tough.
infeCCt from HandyGames is a huge game, boasting more than 300 puzzles.
It has an ancient, mystical Latin American theme but employs most modern practices, using vibrant graphics to present the puzzles and touch controls to crack them.
Each level takes place in a temple ruins. You are given a grid of tiles and a start point. From the start point you must drag your finger around the grid, drawing a line which passes through every tile only once.
As you complete a level your line blooms into a lovely chain of flowers.
It sounds easy, and it is to begin with, but then it starts getting much tougher when obstacles are thrown in.
The first obstruction is blocked tiles. These must be bypassed, meaning you must use creative thinking to plot a route around the board. This can be very tricky because these impassable tiles interrupt drawing straight lines, usually resulting in some clever backtracking or twisting and turning to find the correct complete path.
Another complication which comes into play is tunnels. When your line enters a tunnel it pops out at a corresponding exit elsewhere on the grid, adding more complexity to the route drawing.
There are also intersection tiles. These are the only tiles which can passed through twice, as you must draw a line through them one way and then cross them again the other direction at some stage.
infeCCt requires forward thinking for two reasons. Firstly, if you start your line without some planning ahead then chances are you’ll get in a tangle and won’t be able to reach some tiles. Secondly, points are docked from your final score for each level based on how many steps you need to undo.
There can’t be too much thought put into a stage, however, as time bonuses also count towards your score.
Online leaderboards let players compare performances against other infeCCt challengers around the world.
This game is fun to play, mentally stimulating and can also become quite addictive. I’ve found myself doggedly trying some levels again and again refusing to give up or cheat by pulling up the solution. Then suddenly the eureka moment comes and it’s very satisfying.
The game’s one big problem is that the gameplay varies very little other than the introduction of the limited number of obstacles. If you don’t click with the format right at the beginning then it’s unlikely to grow on you.
That said, if finding solutions to tricky logic puzzles is your thing then you’ll love the format and won’t mind it getting samey.
The game’s other problem is that at £5.99 it is one of the very highest priced games for the iPhone and iPod. I’m not sure it deserves to be quite so expensive whether it’s a puzzle game or dressed up as a more serious brainpower improvement application. I also think the current high price point may hold the game back from winning the popularity it might otherwise achieve.
Overall, infeCCt is a challenging, intelligent and polished game which offers hours of problem solving fun, or work, depending on your point of view. If you have patience, determination and a keen eye for navigation then this puzzler is worth getting infeCCted for.
Verdict: 7 out of 10 – Not quite premium enough to justify its premium price tag, but infeCCt is a simple concept with hundreds of levels to work through and a classy style – you will be engrossed if this is your kind of thing. Like working through pages of similar multiplication sums in a maths lesson, the format can get slightly repetitive.
Watch the infeCCt trailer:
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