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Crooked Path ($1.99) by Ruvix is a puzzle runner that serves as an analogy for life itself. If you are looking for a true challenge and like to test out your reflexive skills, then Crooked Path is a game to check out. Be warned though — this one is clearly not for the faint of heart (or the easily frustrated).

If there is anything that mobile games have taught us from the past few years, it is that puzzles and runners are pretty popular. I mean, who doesn’t like to sit down with a relaxing puzzle or just kill some time seeing how far they can go? But what if you combine the two into a single game, and turn the difficulty level to 11? Well, that’s pretty much Crooked Path in a nutshell. It’s also has a rather transformative message about life, though it may get lost in the difficulty of the game.

Visually, Crooked Path is beautiful with a simple and clean aesthetic. In fact, it reminds me a bit of Monument Valley due to the pseudo optical illusions. The colors in Crooked Path are gorgeous, as the game features a nice range of soft pastels to bright and vibrant hues, as well as some fun light particle effects. Animations in the game are smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 6s Plus, which is important because you have to be quick on your feet in this game. There is also an ambient, atmospheric soundtrack that is rather immersive, so I recommend using your best headphones. And while the gameplay itself can be a bit frustrating, the soundtrack can help you focus on the game itself and get you to solve the puzzles…as long as you don’t throw your phone.

Crooked Path is a level-based game, so you will have to solve each stage before you can gain access to the next chapter. The objective of the game is simple: guide your runner to the light, glowing portal at the end of a labyrinth. However, this is much harder than it looks, and since the controls just require one touch, you have to figure out the turn patterns and where you need to go while collecting the white orbs. It’s a puzzle that you must solve in order to reach the end and advance to the next level. And if you think that the game starts off easy enough, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but it’s insanely difficult right from the get-go. As I mentioned at the very start — this is not for those who give up easily.

The controls in Crooked Path are easy enough: just tap on the screen at the right moment to turn left or right, since your guy runs automatically. However, the trick is that your runner can only turn one way when you reach certain forks in the road. I was confused by this at first, but then I realized that this is part of the puzzle aspect — observe and memorize the turns that you take at those forks, and remember them for the next attempt, because you’ll be failing a lot. Once you get the pattern down and time your turns for the correct moment, you should be able to reach the end goal, though it will take you numerous attempts for each stage. And new mechanics are introduced as you go, like buttons that extend certain paths, so it only gets more interesting as you go, if you can make it, anyway. Fortunately, you aren’t penalized for falling and failing, and there is no time limit, so you can go at your own pace.

So how does Crooked Path relate to life itself? It’s pretty straightforward: the path to your destiny is not going to be a straight one. As cheesy as the line sounds, it’s true. The game presents you with many different routes that you could take, but you have to use your head and reflexes to find the right one. And like life, the game is not easy. Life is all about experience and learning from your mistakes, and that is just what you can expect from this game. I can only imagine what the rest of the game will be like after spending about 30 minutes trying to complete the first stage.

After my testing of the game for this review, I have some thoughts. First, I love the visual style of the game, because it’s nice and clean, so it doesn’t look too busy and distracting when you have to focus. The music is soothing, immersive, and helps you focus. I enjoy puzzles and runners, so the mix of both of these genres is interesting and refreshing from the typical App Store fare these days.

However, I think the difficulty level of the game is set way too high right now, because it feels almost impossible right from the get-go. I was persistent enough to complete the first stage, but I can see many others (especially casual gamers) giving up rather quickly. I know that the game is to serve as a metaphor for life, but I don’t think it’s fair to start it off so hard. The game moves super quickly, giving you just a split second to react to turns, and it’s rather frustrating after a while. Honestly I think the game would be better if it started off a tad slower, or at least give you a way to practice before going in to the real stage. Either way, I just think the game is brutally difficult right now and rather unforgiving, so it could definitely use some tweaks in game balance.

If you’re a casual gamer who just wants something fun and relaxing, then I do not recommend Crooked Path. But if you are a hardcore gamer who wants a real test and is up for the challenge, then by all means, grab Crooked Path. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Crooked Path is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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Linia ($1.99) by Yari D'areglia is a colorful puzzle game that’s all about finding sequences and being in rhythm. If you enjoyed other recent games like Polyforge and The Little Fox, then Linia is another game that is right up your alley.

While it seems that a lot of my gaming lately involves hunting (either Pokémon Go or Monster Hunter Generations on my 3DS), sometimes I just want to take a break from both and relax but challenge myself at the same time. This is when I like to turn to the many puzzle games I have on my iPhone. Even though it seems like I have almost every puzzle game out on the App Store, I’m always looking for new ones to check out, especially if they have gameplay mechanics that differentiate themselves from the crowd. So when I laid my eyes on Linia on the App Store, I had to try it for myself.

In terms of visuals, Linia is rather stunning with the clean, minimalistic style. Everything you see will be flat and 2-D, but the animations are buttery smooth and rather hypnotic at times. The game is rather colorful with hues that range from soft pastels to bright and vibrant tones. Linia has an atmospheric and ambient background track that helps you relax, despite the rather unforgiving gameplay. The game also has some whimsical sound effects that serve as nice audible feedback when you correctly get the sequence or not, so I recommend playing the game with the sound on, as well as a good pair of headphones if you truly want to immerse yourself.

Linia, like many other puzzle games, is level based, and you’re going to have to go through them one-by-one in order to move forward. However, the goal is simple enough that anyone can understand it: match the color sequences that you see at the top by tracing a line through colored shapes. Easy peasy, right? Well yeah, the game starts out with shapes that stay put right where they are, but then you’ll find more colors, more shapes, rotating and moving shapes, shapes that change colors, shapes that fade in and out, and much more. The puzzles become much more intricate, complex, and harder to solve. Fortunately, though, there are no time limits or move restrictions, so you can take as long as you want on a stage. And if you make mistakes, you don’t get penalized — you just restart and try again. In a time where so many games seem to impose limits on you to solve puzzles, it’s nice to see more lenient ones like Linia, though the game itself is rather challenging.

Controls in Linia are straightforward — connect the colored shapes together by drawing a line through them, with the intent to match the sequence that is displayed at the top of the screen. However, you have to think fast while memorizing the pattern because as things start moving around and changing colors, things get tricky. When the line is drawn, you’ll see circles that magnify the colors that the line touched, indicating whether or not you matched the correct sequence. Checkmarks also tell you when you’ve matched something, while X’s show mistakes, also meaning you’ll have to try again. And if there are two blocks of the same color consecutively, it counts as one part of the sequence, so keep that in mind.

I am not too far into Linia, but I’m enjoying it so far, despite the increasing difficulty levels. The game starts out simple enough, but once you have changing colors, fading in and out, and rotating shapes, you truly have to pay attention and be on your toes to get the sequences correct. Focus is super important, because you’ll want to learn the movement patterns and then get into the rhythm of things before you try to connect. It’s a relaxing game but still stimulating, plus the minimalistic aesthetics and ambient music is a great touch. I did get a bit flustered at some levels at times, but through persistence, I managed to persevere.

I recommend checking out Linia if you’re into challenging puzzle games with a twist. Linia can be found on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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