PZL Review

PZL is a 3D puzzle game where the objective is to keep climbing higher to make it through all 10 challenging levels. It’s a mixture between a maze and a Rubik's cube, and each level adds more challenges to the gameplay while players work toward earning the highest score possible.

The start of the game provides a quick tutorial, but it’s essential to explore the game to understand the basics. To play, it’s vital to rotate the rows of blocks to clear a path for the orb. The glowing orb is guided with a swipe in the desired direction. Players will find themselves rotating the rows from left to right above and below them to find openings to climb higher in the sky. It’s even possible to travel inside tunnels to the other side of a level.

Once at the top of a puzzle, players simply swipe across the opening to the next puzzle. Each puzzle offers a clue as to what needs to be accomplished - like "Stride" or "Down to Go Up." As the orb climbs higher, the sky goes from daybreak to nightfall to daybreak again. Players can also view their score at the top of the level, along with the number of moves and the amount of prizes collected. Prizes are glowing orbs that are collected in each level. While there’s no Game Center integration, high scores are stored inside the game in an arcade-like fashion.

PZL has impressive graphics and provides a unique gameplay, however there are a few downsides worth noting. For one, I found myself accidentally rotating rows when trying to move the orb. This was rather annoying and on the verge of frustrating at times. Additionally, the game went by quickly. I was able to climb up to the 10th level in just around 30 minutes. Granted, I didn’t capture all the orbs or earn the highest score possible. Players can go back and try to beat their previous score, but it is disappointing that there aren’t more levels to enjoy. I didn’t really find things very challenging until I reached the Monsters level.

Overall, PZL provides a unique gaming experience that’s different from many other puzzlers available in the App Store. There are nice surprises thrown into the gameplay that help to keep one interested, and the puzzles provide different levels of difficulty for players of all ages and types. Hopefully a future update addresses the controls. For now, it’s still fun to play and worth exploring.