Rules! Review

Combining the need for speed with accuracy and good memory skills comes Rules!, a simple puzzle game that's sure to test your intellectual abilities.

Think Simon Says and you're on the right track. Each level of Rules! requires you to follow a rule. Each rule is simple enough, such as tap on all the green tiles or select all of the animals. The tricky part comes in how these rules pile up. Each level adds a new rule, and you have to remember the earlier ones - up to 10 in all before the game resets.

Suddenly, Rules! isn't as easy as it sounds. Remembering each rule takes practice and good memory skills. Speed is of the essence too, given the pretty tight time limit involved. It's immensely useful that multi-touch works so well here. Rules! follows a set pattern but it's surprising how soon you forget slight changes to the rules as you progress. That's where the fun comes into it, though. Rules! doesn't take long to complete a session, given the time limit, so the fun comes in returning for more to try to increase that Game Center backed high score.

However Rules! is really quite tough, which can be off putting. Weaker players are unlikely to see the later levels/rules (there are 100) because the game is laid out in a set order. This is where a randomizing option would have been useful.

Despite the difficulty curve though, Rules! is quite beguiling. It's so simple that it's going to appeal to people who rarely game, and you'll find yourself chipping away at that high score eventually. Just don't expect to see the end for a very long time. If ever.