Spinzizzle Review: Frantic Spinning Fun

App Name:	Spinzizzle
Platforms:	iPhone, iPod Touch
Publisher(s):	Press OK Entertainment
Version Reviewed:	1.0
Genre(s):	puzzle
Release Date:	May 21, 2010
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I love a good puzzle game with simple design and infinite variety. As such, I was a sucker for Spinzizzle, the newest puzzler from Press OK Entertainment.

Spinzizzle’s concept is very simple. Each level presents you with a round board with demarcated spaces, on which drop colored balls. Your job is to spin the board like a dial back and forth, causing the balls to drop and tumble until they form locked color chains of three or more balls. Pause for a second, and the color chains pop, letting new balls drop in.

The variety comes from both the level-by-level board design–different shapes, different blockers–and the random ball drops. There’s no one solution to any board; you just have to work with what you’re given, spinning the board this way and that until the colors come together the way you want them. There are also special balls, like wild card balls and exploding balls, to shake things up and make bigger combos. You will find yourself praying for these things to drop, especially in later levels where you’re dealing with 5 colors and need to clear the board fast.

It can get very hectic. You start with a minute per board, but you earn extra seconds for making big combos. It’s all about going back and forth, getting the balls to drop the way you want them to. The physics of the whole thing work great, which means that you can focus on plotting out the moves it takes to get the big combos. A level ends either when time runs out, or when you’ve reached a certain score. Once you’ve completed a level, you can go back and replay it.

I have been enjoying the heck out of this game. For these sorts of puzzle games, a big factor in my review is always how much I want to pull it out and play it, and Spinzizzle is one of those games that I keep coming back to. Each game level takes only a couple of minutes, so its perfect for those casual play moments that come throughout the day. And with the large number of levels, replayability is rich. You can always find one that fits the challege you crave–a lower level with only two or three colors, or the vicious,  challenging 5-color final level–and try to best your own best score, or the scores of others on Open Feint.

Visually, the game is very crisp and colorful. I will confess that I don’t quite get the background aesthetic–it’s like a carboard prop diorama of a rocket landing on the Moon–but its cute and it doesn’t distract from the game. Sound effects are minimal and, again, don’t distract. More importantly, this game lets you listen tyo your own music, always something I like in these kinds of games.

Spinzizzle is a fun and frantic game, and it’s certainly worth a look. In fact, since there’s a free version available as well, there’s no reason not to give it a try.

Our Score: 4.5/5.

Spinzizzle (App Store Link) is available for $0.99 in the App Store at the time of this review.  Spinzizzle Free is available for free in the App Store.

About the Author

Writer@Large Brian P. Hudson is an educator and freelance writer currently living in Dearborn, MI.

 

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