Warehouse51 for iPhone: Challenging Sokoban Brain Puzzler

Warehouse51

Warehouse51_Game

Warehouse51 [rating: 4/5]

My Dad used to always tell me that you learn something new everyday. Well the thing that I learnt today was the meaning of the word Sokoban. It turns out that I already knew, but I just didn’t know it. A Sokoban is a genre of puzzle where the the aim of the game is to push boxes around to designated areas. There are variations of the theme of course and Warehouse51 is one of those variations for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Warehouse51, yes it’s a play on the infamous Area51, is a super secret government facility and you’ve been hired to move a series of crates to their special consignment areas, together with their mysterious contents. You are helped in your process with the aid of a bulldozer to push the crates around.

The game is split over three different levels of Alpha, Bravo and Charlie, each of which offer more levels both in terms of quantity and challenge. Starting with the Alpha levels you will be introduced to the main concepts of the game including the controls and and the various types of crates and their unique movements.

Warehouse51_iPhone

The controls are nice and simple. A d-pad allows you to move your bulldozer vertically and horizontally around the grid based area and if you next to one of the crates at the time you will push that too, presuming it’s not blocked by any of the various obstacles. In addition you can double tap any location on the screen and your bulldozer will automatically zoom to that location. This is a nice addition and allows you to move around the screen quickly and accurately.

You’ll probably complete the 8 Alpha levels pretty quickly but the 30 levels of Bravo definitely crank up the difficulty level and you’ll soon find yourself putting a lot of thought into the potential solution even before you start moving any of the boxes around. As you move through the levels new types of crates will be introduced, ice crates will zoom across the screen only stopping when they hit another obstacle while ghost crates will mysteriously transfer through other crates.

The biggest challenge comes with the alien crates though which not only move but also move corresponding crates in a variety of ways. There’s no time limit on any of the levels, instead Warehouse51 is a relaxed brain teasing puzzle game which entertains and challenges.

However, while at first glimpse all this seems like great value at just 99 cents the game uses in app purchases to make up for the initial bargain price. Once you’ve completed the Alpha and Bravo levels you will be keen to try the challenge of the Charlie levels, however before you can do that you’ll need to spend another 99 cents to access them.

Warehouse51_Game

The game also promises the option of a level editor where you can design and build your own levels to share with your friends, however just like the access to the Charlie levels you’ll also need to shell out an additional 99 cents for that too. I’m not saying it’s not worth it and I guess it does give each user the option of buying just what they want/need but I was left wanting for more when I clicked on the links only to find out that it was going to cost me more.

With that said Warehouse51 is still a fun challenging game and definitely worth the initial 99 cents, whether or not you decide to shell out the additional $1.98 for the extra levels and the game editor is up to you.

Pros

  • Simple and accurate controls
  • 38 brain teasing puzzles
  • Configurable controls

Cons

  • Not as great value as initially thought

Price: $0.99 (iTunes Store)
Category: Games
Released: Jun 10, 2010
Reviewed Version: 1.0
Size: 4.9 MB
Language: English
Seller: Shengli Zhou
© 2010 Ronin Software, LLC
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later.

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