A nice mixture of games this month! A word game, an all-in-one puzzle game, and a classic incremental. All very relaxed, all light entertainment, and all reasonably monetised. Wahoo!

The games are in descending order of “fun”, and might contain mild spoilers:

#1: Puzzlerama

Puzzlerama is just a well implemented collection of various types of puzzles. I’ve had it installed since at least 2018 on various devices, and it’s a loyal friend that I’ll get into for a week or two, drop it for 6 months, and repeat.

Review

If you like any kind of puzzles, you’ll enjoy the game. No time pressures, very few in-app purchase opportunities, just solid puzzling gameplay.

The game features 15+ different styles of puzzle, with each containing hundreds of puzzles across multiple difficulties. Most puzzle styles also have a “variant” mode, adding some extra variety.

Puzzlerama isn’t a game I’d actively play for hours, but it is perhaps my all-time favourite game for short, 1-minute play sessions. This is especially true without internet, or when in public, since there are no sounds, no flashing lights, and it’s fine to just lock the screen whenever.

Although all the included puzzles are traditional classics (Tangram, Pipes, Lines, etc) that you might have played elsewhere, having them all in one place without any predatory monetisation really boosts the appeal of each. Additionally, it’s interesting how challenging these puzzles can get, I never thought I’d be stumped by a Tangram!

Completing the game 100% is extremely time-consuming, my stats say I’ve completed 1671/5000 in around 20 hours of gameplay, but obviously this is all easier levels! As is typical with puzzle games, there is a “hint” system that will help ease you past tricky parts. However, since these are limited and require adverts / payment to get more, I essentially never use them.

Finally, there’s no concept of “lives” or “energy”, you can play for as long as you want, and undo / redo moves.

Monetisation

There are no pop-up ads, but you can watch optional adverts for additional hints, or purchase more. These are completely optional, and are arguably “cheating” since all puzzles can be solved with logic!

The game states that purchasing hints also removes adverts, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever done this. Having a game installed for 6+ years makes you forgetful. Either way, the monetisation is very fair considering the massive amounts of time that can be spent.

I think types of puzzles can be purchased, as I can see “Matches & Math” on sale for ~$10. This might seem expensive, but each has 500+ levels so is likely worth it for a likely best-in-Play-Store experience of that puzzle style. I actually ended up purchasing it after initially writing this review, and it’s what you’d expect: well implemented puzzling.

Tips

There’s too many puzzle types to offer any tips! As with any puzzle game, just change puzzle if you’re stuck, sometimes a harder one will turn out to actually be easier.

Screenshots

Level select All levels Expert difficulty Pipes

#2: Wordathlon

A game recommended by the Play Store that I didn’t hate! Wordathlon is all about making 5-letter words to solve the grid, excellent if you like anagrams.

Review

The gameplay of Wordathlon is extremely simple, and the first level plays identically to the 50th. You have a pool of letters, and need to solve the 4 “edges” using words that form a loop.

These correct words are predetermined, so there’s not much strategy (although there is a bit, see “Tips”). Whilst it could get frustrating trying to guess words with no clues, the game makes the clever decision to reward you for incorrect guesses. So long as you spell a valid word, you’ll solve one of the letters around the edge. This means you could technically solve an entire puzzle without getting any of the 4 words!

Similar to Wordiest, Wordathlon also has a kind of very casual multiplayer. Upon loading each puzzle, you’ll be told what percentage of players got this far. This is surprisingly high, with only around 0.2-0.5% of users stopping at each puzzle!

For example, 76.15% of players reached level 42, with each level taking a couple of minutes. It’s nice seeing this percentage slowly go down, although I am a little scared of how many puzzles it will take to get in the top 10%… my guess is at least 1000.

There’s also a daily changing puzzle that rewards a few clues for completion. It’s a simple game, but if you enjoy the gameplay I assume it goes on for a very long time.

Monetisation

Unfortunately the game has adverts. You’ll receive a 5-10 second advert after every puzzle, and sometimes even have them at the bottom of the screen. The adverts at the bottom specifically really jar with the relaxing, laid back vibe of the game, and are far too distracting.

Usually I would purchase the ad-free upgrade, especially as it seems to be the only purchase available, but it’s £7 ($9)! That’s far too much, and around twice what I’d expect from a game, especially one as simple as this.

Additionally, purchasing the “ad free” option still includes watching adverts for extra hints, so it’s actually “no forced ads”. I might end up buying it, but if it was cheaper I would have bought it already.

Tips

  • If you can think of a word, just play it even if it can’t fit. You’ll get a free letter.
  • On especially tricky puzzles, you might want to avoid playing a correct word if it uses up a letter. For example, if a word uses the last F, you can no longer make incorrect guesses with F.
  • Make sure to pay attention to the number of each letter available. If there’s already an F in an unfinished word around the edge, and there is only one F available, it can’t be used anywhere else!
  • Some of the words used are absurdly obscure, so I suspect the levels are automatically generated to some degree. Sometimes you need to just try random letter combinations

Screenshots

Hidden word Multiplayer Guessing

#3: Grimoire Incremental

Grimoire is nothing crazy, it’s just a straightforward incremental. Well, straightforward in gameplay, not in mechanics!

Review

I originally found Grimoire via an ignored comment on r/incremental_games, and it rang a faint bell. I’m pretty sure I tried this once before, but didn’t have the achievement you earn ~10 minutes in, so obviously didn’t get very far in.

Anyway, the game is all about unlocking the secrets within a book. Each “prestige” is the book being put away, and someone else picking it up in the future. “Notes” are passed between owners of the book, and this metaphor applies to all the currencies / progression systems (Comprehension, Followers, Runes, Spells, Proficiency, etc).

Interestingly, most systems within the game let you prioritise either idle or active gameplay. This starts very early on, with the 2 first upgrades being “Proficiency” (runes per tap) and “Flow” (runes per second). Both are pretty rewarding and can be upgraded regularly, whilst working towards the more advanced mechanics. Additionally, there are “achievements” for specific feats (e.g. completing the initial gameplay loop within 10 seconds) that unlock permanent perks.

Every 10-20 minutes of active gameplay, or few hours of idle gameplay, a new feature or decision will unlock. This adds a nice bit of variety to the gameplay, instead of just spam clicking upgrade buttons. This is helped by a slowly evolving story revealed as you progress, that can be reread at any time.

The game’s navigation system can be a little disorientating at first, with each tab appearing as a simple letter square at the bottom of the screen. New tabs will unlock, and it’s quite easy to miss them entirely. Similarly, I still find myself having to cycle through them all to find the one we’re after.

I’m only a couple of days in, but I can definitely see myself progressing through and getting a large amount of the game completed.

Monetisation

There is very fair monetisation, with a single advert watching providing 2.5x all rune gains for 4 hours. This is very generous, and one of the best I’ve seen in incremental games!

There is also a $5 payment to permanently earn 2.5x runes. Unfortunately this is undermined by the generosity of the advert boost, but I’ll probably pay this if I continue playing for a couple of weeks.

Tips

  • If you can, active gameplay can be very rewarding.
  • Make sure your “setup” is ready for your upcoming gameplay style. For example, all your options should be idle based if you’re about to go to sleep.
  • “Retire” (Prestige) when you have at least 2x your previous notes, or have hit a wall.

Screenshots

Guide Society Statistics