"Welcome to BALANZZE," croons the soothing robotic voice at the start of this physics-based puzzle game from Synthek Design. (Also available for Android and iOS, though not free!) She's going to be your guide through this little experiment and trust us, you're going to need her. BALANZZE is about "moving green onto blue" through a series of strategic clicks. The screen is populated by circles and squares, each with various behaviors indicated by their color. You have to get the green shapes onto the blue shapes by deleting, launching, or dropping the various blocks hither and thither. The red ones disappear when you click them, the yellow ones fly in one direction, the grey ones obscure you, seriously, these blocks do everything except pay your taxes. Some levels also feature wind, adding another layer of complication to the whole affair. Add to that an infectiously groovy backing track and you've got a winning time waster.
BALANZZE is a well-oiled machine of gameplay. For the most part. The game is a bit fond of fake-outs at times, leaving big chunks of blocks unused on certain levels just to confuse you. Once in a while you'll find yourself clicking idly around the level making blocks fall on each other and then suddenly realize you've won. It's not a deal breaker but it does suggest a little more playtesting could have been ideal. And this is a petty gripe but the [R] key does NOT reset the level. You've got to move the mouse allllll the way over to the reset icon in the top right corner of the screen whenever you want a do-over. Seriously, time is precious BALANZZE! But none of this should distract from the fact that BALANZZE is just what it claims to be: simple, modern and addictive. Three "episodes" with fifty levels apiece guarantee that BALANZZE will keep you clicking for quite some time.
BALANZZE (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)
Android:
Get BALANZZE
This game seems seriously puzzling at the outset - and not the good way. Round pieces rolling on totally level gorund, pushing down pieces of about the same dimensions without effort... Piece description could do with some more work too...
Oh look, a game that's too big for my screen and doesn't scale when I zoom out. Wonderful.
On a positive note, this makes me think of some weird combo of Red Remover and The I of It. Actually, a few different games I know of use that interesting voice modulator but for some reason I of It springs to mind first. I like it!
I gave up on the second level. trying to figure out how to get those blocks to stop perfectly on those tiny blocks, with zero hints? confusing as heck.
I like it. And that Brazilian/Portuguese voice.
On level 2,
I managed to get the green blocks to stop in the middle by making the left and right towers topple at the same time (full height).
But after that, I wasn't sure how to get one of them to touch the blue square below without losing them both - which is what I assume must be done to complete that level.
There wasn't any real explanation on how to play the game.
And like somebody else said, the circles roll on a flat surface, but also manage to pick up speed
since on the first level, the only way to make sure you don't knock the square off is to slow down the ball's momentum by removing the obstacles one at a time
It is confusing at first, but after about two levels it is very easy to follow. I zipped through the first 43 levels, but had to skip 44. It would likely be easier to play on a tablet.
I have a 13 inch screen and this fit just fine.
Level 2
Click yellow block, click left bottom red block of right stack of blocks.
Click red block to remove yellow block.
Remove 2 red blocks below left stack, then remove right bottom red block. Now it lands flat instead of flying.
Stylish, interesting and the tutorial gives all the explanation needed.
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