Blip Blup

Why someone hasn't built a game around the concept of a pinging radar system before, I don't know. Maybe they have, and I'm showing my ignorance.

Either way, it's a great and underused idea, as evidenced by Blip Blup.

Here we have another cool, confidently executed abstract puzzler with a unique direction all of its own. File it alongside Hundreds and Stickets.

While the screenshots might put you in mind of a weirdly elaborate crossword puzzle or some minimalistic Rogue-a-like, Blip Blup is really a very simple spatial puzzler with the aforementioned radar system at its core.

Tap on an area of the schematic-like levels and a wave will ping out from the point of contact in eight directions, colouring the tiles it touches. The spread of colour will only stop when it meets a wall, though the diagonals will deflect and continue along at a 135-degree angle.

Using these basic rules, it's up to you to fill in each level in as few 'blips' as possible.

Additional elements are fed into the mix throughout each of the ten colour-coded level packs.

You'll encounter arrow tiles that force the wave along in a certain direction, tiles that flip between being normal tiles and solid walls when hit, and even tiles that spell instant failure if hit.

But it's the level design that really keeps you on your toes. Flitting between easy-yet-gratifying one-touch solutions and mind-bogglingly tough-to-ace conundrums, developer ustwo does well to keep you interested.

Some of the tougher levels do grow a little frustrating, prompting bouts of impatient trial-and-error guesswork. It would have been advisable to feature a level-skip system so that you could progress and come back later, but for the most part you'll still be happy to come back for another crack.

Blip Blup's only other annoyance will come if you opt for the free version. It's ad-funded, which really isn't a problem at all - a developer's got to eat, and you're getting the vast majority of content here for nothing.

But the way these adverts separate every level does break the game's icy-cool atmosphere somewhat, and when you're forced to watch a 30-second trailer of a bombastic war game for the sixth time... well, let's just say it just jars a little.

So do yourself a favour and splash out for the paid version of Blip Blup. This is one puzzler that definitely deserves to be on your radar.