Rainmaker - The Beautiful Flood is a puzzle game about rainfall

Rainmaker - The Beautiful Flood ($3.99) by SweatyChair Pty. Ltd. is a minimalistic puzzle game with a rather intricate little story. If you enjoyed games like Stay, Mum, then chances are high that you will enjoy Rainmaker – The Beautiful Flood.

I’ve mentioned it many times here on AppAdvice, but even though I’ve gone through hundreds of iOS games over the years, one of my favorite genres is still the good old-fashioned puzzle. After a long day, I just want to unwind and relax, but I prefer to keep my mind stimulated somehow, and puzzle games do a great job of that since I’m having fun while trying to solve a problem. Despite trying pretty much all of the puzzle games on the App Store, I’m still always on the lookout for more, especially interesting ones, and Rainmaker happened to catch my eye this week.

The visuals in Rainmaker are minimalistic with a simple and clean aesthetic that will appeal to everyone. It seems that the minimal art style was made extremely popular on iOS ever since Monument Valley, and with good reason — less is more nowadays. In Rainmaker, players are greeted with flat graphics that show a little girl surrounded by water and stunning backdrops. As the game goes on, a story unfolds, which takes you on a journey to discover what is causing a mysterious rainfall. Animations are smooth and fluid, and I did not experience any lag on my iPhone 6s Plus. I did find that the text appeared a bit fuzzy at times, so I’m sure that some optimization can be improved as far as the typography goes, but other than that, the game looks great. The ambient soundtrack is atmospheric and soothing, so it helps get you in a relaxed and focused state.

As with other puzzle games, Rainmaker is level-based, though it does not follow the traditional method of having a level selection screen, nor can you go back and replay stages that you’ve already solved. Instead, Rainmaker takes you seamlessly through the story one puzzle at a time (a total of 60 puzzles await), with the goal of helping the girl named Tian reach her destination on each stage in the form of a door. However, sometimes the door is in a place high above, or there are obstacles that stand in the way of reaching it — your job is to help her get past these obstructions with the power of a magical medallion that allows her to turn into three different forms: a heavy rock, a weightless bubble, or a bouncy basketball.

The controls in Rainmaker are simple and intuitive, even allowing players to enjoy the game with one hand if desired. To change Tian’s forms, all you have to do is tap anywhere on the screen. The order of forms remains the same: rock, bubble, and then basketball, so it’s fairly easy to remember. However, sometimes you’ll get in a level that only permits two of those forms, which adds an interesting twist to the game mechanics, since you never know what you’ll end up with. Since the levels transition into each other, Tian may already be in motion at the start of the puzzle, so you have to be quick to react. Timing matters a lot in the game, as you have to switch into the correct form at just the right moment in order to reach the door. While the game starts out pretty simple, things do get a bit more complex at a gradual pace as the game introduces things like waterfalls and levers to open passageways. You can always reset the puzzle if you want to start over, but there is no penalty if Tian “dies,” as you just need to try again.

I’m still pretty early on in Rainmaker, but so far I’m enjoying the interesting gameplay mechanic, as it is different from most puzzle games out there. Plus, I’m a fan of the minimal art style, the music is calming, and the puzzles themselves can be rather challenging, which is great as it makes you think. I just wish that there was a way to see what levels you’ve completed, or even a way to replay puzzles you really liked. Maybe the developer can consider it in the future, but it’s not a big deal, just a nitpicky detail.

I recommend giving Rainmaker – The Beautiful Flood if you like challenging puzzles with a bit of depth to them. You can find Rainmaker – The Beautiful Flood on the App Store as a universal download for just $3.99.