Ghost Puzzle: Puyo Puyo for your Android phone! Hours of fun challenging puzzles!
Every day we get multiple emails from developers asking us to review their game. It’s our job to scan through their emails and often we need to judge their game by the screenshots. So we’ve had a lot of experience in picking out good games based on still images… however there’s always the odd occasion when this method just fails us. Ghost puzzle is one of those games… their screenshots look very childish and offputting, however it’s actually an old classic puzzle game which has been revitalised…
Gameplay: This is very similar to the Japanese puzzle game Puyo Puyo, but reskinned with a ghost manga theme. So it’s a bit like Tetris mixed with Dr Mario where colored blocks drop from the top of the screen, you can rotate pieces and make them fall faster. Once four or more of the same color touching, then the blocks are cleared away. Scattered on the screen are ghosts which are kind of like the viruses in Dr Mario… the aim is to eliminate all the ghosts. If there are the same colored ghosts which are horizontally or vertically adjacent to your line of blocks then they’ll be zapped. You need to be cunning and place the blocks strategically to create chain reactions in order to clear away the ghosts.
Quirky story: Wrapped around this classic game is a story where the Grim Reaper is getting old and needs to find a successor. (Death getting old is a bit of ironic humour which we found funny!) As he hunts ghosts, he meets Angela, who agrees to take Death’s test to become the successor. So Angela is an avatar which represents you in this game.
Initial thoughts: I think I’m quite biased towards this game because I’ve had hours of fun playing Puyo Puyo with my Japanese friend. I’m also a Manga freak, which is probably why I downloaded this game in the first place! But honestly, perhaps the screenshots don’t look appealing, but the game itself is quite enjoyable.
Putting my bias aside… you have to put effort in to understand how the game works. If you don’t like puzzles, then this is not your game. Even if you like puzzles, you’ll need to enjoy games similar to Tetris and Dr Mario. Only if you are inclined in this way would you really appreciate this game and be willing to rack your brain in these puzzles.
Tough Puzzles: There are some pretty challenging levels in this cutesy game. To put this into scale, I very rarely use hints unless I get totally stuck… I had to use several to pass a level! Just from playing the Lite version I encountered some really tricky stages. They were so difficult that I had to put the phone down and come back to it in another gaming session. (On that note, perhaps some of you would be happy to just play the Lite version!)
The overall package: The sound and animations are really clean and clear. Very little things like pressing menu buttons, transitioning away from the menu, and animations within the game are all pretty fab. The manga drawings are pretty good too! Sound and graphics are uplifting and light… they’re stylised like the old Gameboy music – so almost midi like… but very fitting for the cutesy theme. The quirky story is just enough to set the scene and you can just skip it if you’re not bothered.
Rating: 3.5/5 Lovers of puzzle games must try Ghost Puzzle, and old school gamers should check out this reskinned Puyo Puyo. Definitely try out the free version which may be enough enjoyment for most people. But if you’re hardcore, then get the full version which should have an Endless Mode and a Score Attack Mode.
In case you didn’t know what Puyo Puyo is, it’s still played online, and if you’re interested then check out this forum.
Ghost Puzzle Promotional Trailer
Ghost Puzzle Tips from Android Games Review
- Try the lite version first to make sure the game works on your device.
- If you get really stuck… then don’t get frustrated. Just put the game and come back when you’re fresh. Your latent mind can solve puzzles really well.
- Think in terms of chaining reactions up (or cascaded 4 colour matchups). The whole point of this game is that the chains are satisfying and so you’re meant to set off chains to feel the pleasure of playing.
Ghost Puzzle QR Code
(Click on the image or scan the barcode with your Android phone to goto Google Play)
Developers: Hei Games
