Workout Your Brain With Pattern Tumbler

Pattern Tumbler ($0.99) by Alen Kralj is beautiful in its simplicity.

This is a simple tile game with one challenge; match the puzzle tiles to the one provided at the beginning of the level. Gameplay takes place on a 3 x 3 grid, with one of the tile spaces empty.

The original pattern is shown, prompting you to memorize how it looks. Next thing all of the tiles are shuffled.

Each tile changes color between green and blue as they move into the empty space (a movement is called a “shot”). The goal is to slide the tiles enough that the colors and the empty space match up with the original.

Even from the first one, your brain is sure to give pause as you try to solve the problem. This is just like another simple, yet complex app called ON/OFF.

But unlike ON/OFF, all of the levels are provided within the game, without the need to download more content packs.

With 48 levels total, the thinking is all uphill from there. Careful consideration and methodic problem solving may eventually give in to random shuffling around until something seems to stick.

Once you’ve solved a puzzle, the number of shots you took is recorded as your personal best, inviting you to revisit it and solve it in fewer shots.

This is your standard tile game, which in itself can be a tricky thing, but the addition of color-changing tiles knocks the difficulty up a notch (or ten).

The only change I would like to see is either the ability to skip ahead to any puzzle you’d like, or to at least have a “pass” button to move on to the next one.

This app will certainly challenge your cortex, so those looking for a mental exercise have found the right app.

Ponder if you’d like to grab this one from the App Store.