Super Hexagon meets Tetris in new retro puzzler Rotolla
6 is the magic number
The team behind merciless shooter Sine Mora has released the first of its "microgame" projects for iOS: Rotolla.
For this retro puzzler, indie studio Prior Games has taken the block-arranging gameplay of Tetris and pushed it in a new direction.
Well, six new directions, to be precise.
Yes, it seems that ever since a certain super-addictive Terry Cavanagh game was released, hexagons are the new rectangles.
In Rotolla, you must distribute differently coloured blocks emerging from the centre of a hexagon to its perimeter.
Match coloured blocks together, and they will vanish, freeing up valuable screen real estate.
What makes Rotolla especially tricky is the fact that you have to deal with several blocks at a time. To compound things, each group of blocks spawns in a different configuration.
Geometry warsAccording to Prior Games, Rotolla marks the studio's first attempt at honouring the visuals and mechanics of Nintendo's bit Generations series (which itself paid tribute to retro games from the '70s and '80s).
Speaking of old games, survival-horror fans may recognise the synth stylings of ex-Silent Hill composer Akira Yamaoka on Rotolla's soundtrack.
In addition to Rotolla, we can expect three more "microgames" from Prior Games this year, with three more to follow in 2014.
To discover whether this release schedule is worth getting excited about, you'll have to download Rotolla from the App Store. It'll cost you £1.49 / $1.99, incidentally.