Light Up the Shapes in the Puzzling Glowish

Visually, Glowish carries a super minimalistic aesthetic that is pleasing on the eyes. Everything is rendered in a 2D fashion, but there's a bit of depth with the shadowing on the blocks, so they pop out a bit. Glowish features a nice mix of soft pastels and bright, vibrant hues that create nice eye candy. There are several different color themes that you can pick from if the default isn't your cup of tea.

The thick, glowing white outline on the various shaped blocks is noticeable from the get-go and makes it easy to recognize which blocks get turned on. Though the animations are soft and subtle, they're smooth and fluid with no issues of lag on my iPhone 7. The game has a tranquil, zen-like soundtrack in the background, and the sound effects are quirky and fun. Overall, the audio creates an excellent atmosphere for the type of brain-teasing puzzles that Glowish offers.

Like other puzzle games, Glowish is level-based, and players must go through the stages in chronological order. At the moment, Glowish has over 100 preset levels, so there's a lot of content for your money.

The goal of the game is simple: get all of the various colored shapes to light up. When you touch a shape, all other switches that share the same shape or color light up as well. While it sounds easy enough, it's much harder than it looks on the surface.

If you aren't in the mood to go in a linear fashion, there's also a Random Mode, where you get randomly generated puzzles thrown at you. This is perfect for those who prefer an infinite experience, because the possibilities are endless here.

Controls in Glowish are as simple as they come. Just tap on the shapes to toggle them on or off. As mentioned earlier, tapping on one also lights up any other blocks that are either the same shape or color. Because of this, you'll end up turning previous ones off because you tapped another shape that shared a similarity to the first one. The key to Glowish is finding out the correct sequence to push in order to get them all lit up. Patience is key to the game, though sometimes you can also solve them through trial-and-error.

Glowish is perfect for those times when you want challenging puzzles but don't want to get too frustrated. There's no penalty, move restrictions, and stars to worry about. Just some critical thinking. If you're stuck, there are hints that you can use, and the restart button wipes everything clean for you to start over.

Glowish is a great addition to anyone's puzzle game collection. The game features a simple and clean design that is appealing, and it's complete with atmospheric music and sounds. The addition of different color themes available from the get-go (no in-app purchase required) is nice, as it adds variety and everyone should find a theme they like. The puzzles are challenging and the random mode is a great way to just unwind.

While Glowish is a great game, it bothers me slightly that it sells hints through in-app purchase even though it's a paid download. This has always bothered me, but I suppose it's just how the mobile game market is now. Personally, I would rather just keep trying to solve the puzzles on my own, so the hints are completely optional.

Glowish is a fantastic brain teaser puzzle that I've fallen in love with over the past few days. The design is bubbly and cute, and the music is soothing. While there's no tutorial to show you how to play, it's not needed and fairly straightforward. The puzzles definitely make me think, and having randomly generated ones is a nice addition. As a big fan of puzzle games, Glowish is one that I'll be returning to time and time again for some relaxation time.

I recommend giving Glowish a try if you're looking for a challenging sequential logic puzzle game. Glowish is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are in-app purchases for more hints if needed.