iPhone App: Enigmo

January 11th, 2009

= 5 stars

Enigmo is a game where you guide dripping water between jars and a maze-like environment using a variety of tools.

The Good

• Intuitive controls based on the iPhone’s multitouch. You drag “parts” from a tool bar on the left side of the screen and arrange them throughout the maze. Rotate them by touching and dragging on a ring that appears around a part.
• Amusing variety of parts. There are “bumpers” which bounce the water drops in different ways, slides, a particle accelerator that acts like a gun, and a sponge that collects water drops and guides them into one drip-stream.
• Amusing variety of obstacles: doors which open when drops are guided through an associated keyhole, jars that turn the water drops into oil or lava (which must then be guided into particular jars of their own), and just walls in general which must be navigated around.

Each level feels like this:

1. Crap, this level looks impossible, I’ll never pass it!
2. Experimenting with the parts and making a complete mess of everything.
3. Nearly abandoning the game entirely.
4. Eureka moment where insight is gained and level solved.

Number 4 is very satisfying and keeps me playing. At the “eureka” moment, you have created an amusingly complex, Rube Goldberg type contraption. The balance between 3 and 4 is tricky, but on the levels I’ve completed so far, Enigmo has achieved it.

The Bad

• As you might infer from the description above, I don’t consider this a casual game which can be played short increments (like Chopper or Trism). Enigmo calls for a particular sort of concentration and contemplation, not available when riding a MUNI bus with someone’s baby stroller stabbing my armpit.
• Would be amusing if gravity was determined by the iPhone’s rotation, or if the drops responded to shaking the iPhone, but both would make this into a completely different game.

Conclusion

Enigmo is a mental, brain game as opposed to an action one. While occasionally frustrating, I feel that it’s making my head work in a good way. Thumbs up.

iTunes App Store Link: