Puzzled? 2
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| Puzzled? 2

When we first approached Puzzled? 2's predecessor it struck us as a piece of old skool game design, in that making a mistake was met with an unforgiving restart regardless of your progress.

And while Puzzled? 2 does pack a new hints feature, it's still a relatively unforgiving puzzle game. The patience that it demands of you occasionally tips it from the 'head-scratcher' category into the 'head-banged-against-the-wall' one.

Tetris, this is not…

In Puzzled? 2 you're tasked with matching up groups of coloured blocks by sliding them around a variety of different grids.

Doing so will make said blocks vanish, and fully clearing each stage is the aim of the game.

However, this is made more difficult by gravity, which causes those blocks left behind to fall down the grid.

Fools rush in

Each block you do shift off the grid will earn you in-game dollars, which you can use to purchase hints should you get stuck on later levels. It's notable that the lack of a hint system was something we found particularly irksome in the original game.

It provides an excellent incentive to progress through stages, and you might find yourself going back to previous arenas to grind a bit more cash to help you with a more advanced level.

In some games this would be a major pitfall, but in Puzzled? 2 the nature of the level mechanic means that you're hardly likely to remember every last move in levels you've already cleared, so going back and re-doing stages isn't always the walk in the park you might expect.

The levels themselves are meticulously designed, but the visuals aren't as mind bending. Each stage looks much the same as the last, and while the level number indicator goes up there's little else to let you know about your progression besides the carefully paced, though very occasionally spiked, rise in difficulty.

Puzzled? 2 is a brainteaser in every sense of the word. It forces you to stop and think about every move you make, and while its particular brand of patience-requiring gameplay may not cater to everyone's tastes, it's nonetheless a refined and enjoyable exercise in how to take your time.

Puzzled? 2

Not much has changed in Puzzled? 2, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a deeply challenging mind teaser which will either have you salivating with the anticipation of completion, or throwing your phone down a pit in impatient fury
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Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
Matt Sakuraoka-Gilman
When Matt was 7 years old he didn't write to Santa like the other little boys and girls. He wrote to Mario. When the rotund plumber replied, Matt's dedication to a life of gaming was established. Like an otaku David Carradine, he wandered the planet until becoming a writer at Pocket Gamer.