Briquid Review

It’s so hard to find a challenging puzzler lately. The ones I’ve downloaded tend to focus more on other aspects like graphics and extra perks instead of head-scratching gameplay. When I discovered Briquid, I knew I finally found the game I had been searching for in the App Store.

Briquid is kind of like Where’s My Water? for adults. There aren’t any adorable creatures or cartoon-like graphics. It’s classic puzzle solving fun. This physics-puzzler requires gamers to move water from one area to another with only a limited number of swipes on the screen. Players can build bricks or break them and alter gravity in order to get the highest percentage of water into the dotted green outlines.

The catch is that each level only has a certain number of moves that can be made, so players must use all their brainpower to figure out the best way to achieve this. Along with building and breaking bricks, there is also a tilt option. The levels only continue to get harder as new elements are introduced like vertical levels, yellow arrows that indicate one direction of gravity and complex maze-like puzzles with only a handful of moves that can be made.

Gamers don’t have to get a score of 100 percent to move on to the next level, but it is always possible to achieve this in each level. The level menu shows how much each score contributes to the overall progress so players may have to go back and replay the ones with a low percentage in order to move onto the next set of levels. There are a total of 100 challenging levels to complete.

What stands out the most about Briquid is its retro appeal. It has a pixelated style and fun soundtrack that are a throwback to classic arcade games. Another great aspect is that players can go into setting and adjust the tilt gravity and tilt calibration as needed.

There isn’t anything not to like about Briquid, but it could use some minor improvements. For one, I didn’t see any Game Center achievements or leaderboards. Also, I thought it would be neat to have a level editor to let gamers create their own crazy and intense levels so the challenging puzzle solving never ends.

Briquid is a solid puzzler that really challenges the brain cells. The levels are quite challenging and the retro appeal works well. It's definitely at the top of my recommendation list for the year. Those who like to try before they buy can check out Briquid Free.