PUFF: Beautiful, Simple and Slow Paced Puzzle Game

PUFF Rating: ★★★½☆

Some people are scared of spiders, some of birds, water or heights and then there are those that have globophobia, the fear of balloons! Don’t laugh, it’s a real fear, just Google it, if you don’t believe me and so if there are any globophobics reading this you may want to stop now as this game is full of them and I don’t want to be responsible for anyone hyperventilating!

Puff is another puzzle game in the match items to make them disappear style only this time the items that you need to match are balloons, beautiful balloons floating in a marshmallow sky with presents hanging beneath them as they float. So you get the picture right, this app looks great, the balloons fill the screen with color and style and each level the balloons form a range of different shapes from simple geometric patterns to elaborate items such as chairs and even wrenches.

PUFF iPhone_2Some of the shapes may not be obvious at first but using the iPhone/iPod touch screen you can zoom in and out as well as spin round and round. While it may look pretty it also serves a purpose as I finally get around to talking about the game!

The aim of the game is to pop the aforementioned balloons so that the presents hanging below can be released. Popping the balloons is a simple task of tapping a balloon that you want to pop, however balloons must be in groups of two or more before you can pop them. As you pop them the balloons beneath will float up and join with other balloons creating more opportunity for balloon popping fun. You don’t need to clear the whole screen of balloons but you will get bonus points if you do, all you need to do is clear enough balloons that are set to clear each stage. You can also earn points with each puzzle and these points can be increased with the range special balloons with multipliers and bonus points making your target much more achievable.

What’s not clear though is how the presents, points and category’s all contribute to leveling up and what leveling up gets you other than more difficult levels. Some of the later levels are particularly tricky but with the help of the unlimited undo’s it is possible to go back and correct a mistake. However the undo is no get out of jail free card as each undo will reduce your points and potentially prevent you from moving up through the levels.

The game is a single player game only although you can challenge a friend to beat your score via email. High scores are published online so you can compare yourself to the best players out there. Unfortunately when I uploaded my scores it was clearly evident that I have a long way to go to reach the top players out there!

Puff looks beautiful throughout the game, however the game play is a little monotonous with the various levels just being more and more of the same. If you are after a simple, slow paced puzzle game then PUFF is simply great, however there’s not enough of a challenge to this game.

official-app-store-badge_touch_4Price: $.99

The Good

  • Looks beautiful
  • Simple controls

The Not So Good

  • No structure
  • Levels are repetitive
  • No multi player

Reviewed By: Craig Willis

PUFF – iPhone Game

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