iPhone App: Trism

December 2nd, 2008

= 5 stars

Trism is a puzzle game for the iPhone that falls into that simple to learn, lifetime to master category. Just use your finger to slide rows and columns of triangles to match their colors. When a match of three triangles or more is made, the triangles disappear, and the remaining triangles fall to fill the holes created, in the direction your iPhone is titled.

The Good

• The use of multitouch and the “tilt” technique are surprisingly satisfying. The added bonus is a game that can only exist on the iPhone. I don’t think it would be nearly as fun to play using a console controller.
• Simple graphics with just enough embellishment to add pleasing pizazz — the glossy triangles beg to be touched, and the sounds and animations of falling and vanishing pieces are pitch perfect.
• Additional elements add polish and reflect further, inventive thought by the creator — bombs and locks appear on triangles for additional challenge, special triangles that allow you more movement options, bonus points for different patterns and numbers of triangles removed at once, and a slew of special awards that unlock after certain achievements.
• The app includes tutorials and three different games. Infinism is the game described above. Terminism has increasing numbers of bombs and blocks that limit the game to a short time frame, and Syllogism involves many layers containing different patterns of triangles that you simply tilt the iPhone to remove.
• The game loads fast and remembers the last game you were at, allowing it to be that ideal iPhone game one can whip out in any situation to be entertained for a few minutes.
• There’s an online community forming where you can trade strategies or compare high scores to realize how much you suck.

The Bad

• The game slows noticeably when there are few moves available. Maybe I missed it, but a “reshuffle” option with a loss of points would be welcome.
• You might play Trism while walking and run into a pole, or your wife will yell at you for playing too much Trism and not cleaning the kitty litter.

Conclusion

I first heard about Trism through a Wired article saying the game has been surprisingly popular. Well, there’s a good reason for it — it’s a darned addicting, high quality iPhone app that is a total steal at the current, sale price of $2.99. I’ve played it way more than some games I paid ten bucks for, created by a very large game company (cough, EA). Definitely check it out.

iTunes App Store Link: