Kombine

At first glance, Kombine doesn't appear to offer much of a challenge. 40 levels, and the ability to “time trial” each bracket of 10 looks like it could be easily accomplished in a matter of hours. And that is how this little game gets you. Kombine doesn't have a tutorial, and deciphering how the game operates is perhaps part of the charm. If you can't work it out by puzzle 4, then the game is probably not really aimed for your entertainment. The concept is simple – activate a colour by clicking on it, then try to ‘combine’ tiles you create into removing that colour's target from the board. Do this with 1, 2 or 3 colours per board and you are onto the next. Kombine eases you into a false sense of security within levels 1-10, but by level 18 you are seeing how the game taunts you with deceptively simple looking arrangements. By the time you have clicked restart on a single board for the 7th time though, you realise just how clever the game is. You are now trapped, and determined to finish the bracket, or at the very least the board you are stuck on. There really isn ‘t much to complain about with a game like this. It is designed to appeal to puzzle enthusiasts and gives you the least amount of visual fuss in graphics. There is music you can turn off, and the colours are bold, bright and nonthreatening to the senses. The boards get progressively harder, and there is a definite sense of accomplishment when you trigger an achievement, or finish a board. The game saves at your current opened board, so there isn’t any unnecessary frustration at having to complete each one over again.