SiL
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| SIL

In SiL you rotate a series of random objects until you match them up with a silhouette of their required final position.

The game runs against the clock; the faster you get the objects in place right, the more points you earn. And if you can position the object using the minimum number of possible moves, you'll trigger a 'perfect' bonus that multiplies across successive rounds. Simple enough, surely?

The puzzle element of the game stems from the complexity of some of the objects (the obliquely juxtaposed knife and fork get us every damned time!) and the fact that the target positions are sometimes off the perpendicular (that is, not 90-degrees to your view).

Other tricky buggers to watch out for include jumbled up skis, a scuba mask and snorkel, and the easel and paintbrushes. Oh, and the pelican. (See what we meant by 'random'?)

Although the core idea is pretty simple, SiL offers a few different modes in order to increase its longevity. You can choose between Arcade (a series of increasingly difficult stages to complete), Frantic (position each object in a limited amount of time), and Minute Rush (complete as many as possible in 60 seconds).

On top of that, there are a series of trophies granted for completing various targets, such as hitting 15 perfects in a row – but these targets are set so high that you'd have to be pretty addicted to achieve them.

The items themselves are nicely drawn in 3D and are simple yet clear. This enables the game to run fast enough on our Nokia 6680 to offer decently responsive controls. There are a couple of stages where the backdrops are a little more complex and they cause the gameplay to slow down a touch, but not enough to ruin the responsiveness of the controls.

At least on the 6680, keypad support isn't included, but that's okay because the thumbstick feels fine; on other handsets this might be an issue.

SiL's overall presentation and interface are nicely done, with appealingly colourful (but not too 'cutesy') backdrops, well-chosen menu fonts, and a simple help section that pretty much tells you all you need to know to play.

Audio settings for both sound effects and music are included, which is handy because the cheery-but-repetitive background track could start to drive you insane after a while (although this is a mobile game, so that's pretty much par for the course).

On the one hand, SiL's look and feel are hard to resist – it's a nicely made, good-looking game. Coupled with that, the initial intrigue of playing a reasonably novel puzzle mechanic will certainly pull you in for a while, with the added bonus that the length of a puzzle is great for a quick game on the bus.

However there isn't enough complexity to SiL's core idea to keep you coming back for more. Once you've positioned one object, you don't get any more satisfaction from positioning another. And that's why we can only admire, but not love, this game.

SiL

Novel concept that's just slightly too simple to keep you coming back for more
Score