Blueprint 3D Review

"Exploding" an image into lots of tiny pieces and scattering them all over a 3D space in order to be realigned isn't exactly as popular a "genre" as, say, something involving physics. Or the word "doodle." Actually, LostPixels is the only other game/app that I know of that uses the same concept. That doesn't make it any less interesting of an idea and no less fun to play around with.

And it better be, as it encompasses the entirety of Blueprint 3D's gameplay. Each of the over 240 puzzles (240!), split between seven themes (i.e. architecture, electronics, etc...) is completely spinning/rotating-focused. A timer starts ticking as soon as players are given control, indicated by a trio of stars that begin to disappear as time passes rather than an overt clock. It's a clever way of giving players a concept of their time as well as their chances of netting a perfect 3-star score.

I have to admit I'm impressed with the small visual details on display here. Namely how the look and overall style of the blueprints changes based on the theme. Architecture drafts have a blue tinge to them and look for all intents and purposes like real blueprints for real buildings while those for electronic devices seem more like... well... electronic diagrams. Along with the surprisingly solid visuals, Blueprint 3D also sports equally solid controls. They're not super-complicated, but they're very effective in their simplicity. Swiping will turn the cluster of bits in a given direction, while twisting two fingers around will rotate everything clockwise or counter-clockwise.

Aside from the theoretical redundancy of the gameplay, I can't really think of anything to complain about. Although that's not really a fair complaint anyway, since it's the central theme of... well, everything. And sure the tiny bits of picture can sometimes be difficult to make sense of, but it also keeps things from getting too easy. There were a few moments where I'd miss out on that third star because I hadn't rotated the image enough, but that just gives me an excuse to replay the level.

With more than 240 different puzzles that generally last all of 15 seconds, it's incredibly easy to get caught up playing Blueprint 3D. It's another one of those "Just one more..." games that's bound to please. It's somewhat of a one-trick pony as its mechanics don't really allow for any gameplay variation, but it's a great time waster in short bursts that can easily turn into long hauls.