Your Eyes Will Need a Break
It’s no secret that I have very little experience with puzzle games. It’s not because they don’t interest me, but life gets in the way and I just forget. I wish I had more time to complete levels before I am pulled away from them to do something else. I enjoy a challenge, and games like Thomas Was Alone deserve much more of my time than they have received. However, Black Robot Games’ new mobile puzzle game, Linia, is no different as it has managed to catch my eye and force my focus on all of its moving parts.
The gameplay directions to Linia is simple, even if the game is not. You will have a batch of colors that will show up on the top of the screen at the start of each board, and the player will have to draw a straight line through a group of shapes that contain said colors in the order that is specified. To give you a visual of what Linia has in store, I created a GIF to help explain below.
On the surface this may seem like a simple task, but this is only part of the challenge. As you start off with Linia, the puzzles are fairly simple as you will have three colors and a few shapes on the screen that move a little. In time, those shapes will change to the point where they will start to disappear and then reappear on the screen, and move different directions. Linia is all about finding the sweet spot as you will have to use the trial and error method, and have good timing to advance to the next stage. This is the genius of the game, but it could also be what takes away from the experience for many.
Some stages are so difficult at times that it’s a wonder why they were not put in later levels. At one point I just started swiping my finger across the screen in hopes that I hit the sweet area by luck. While this was not a consistent method to play the game, I can see how some may want to apply it to their playing habits with Linia, along with using the “pause” feature to find their move. Overall, the level difficulty seems to be uneven in the game. Also, Linia has a very tranquil soundtrack that I found very nice to listen to, which is good because that is the only track the game seems to have. If there was anything I could suggest in later updates of the game, more music tracks would be it.
In spite of that, Linia is an excellent puzzle game for Apple and Android devices that will have you obsessively playing until you get the satisfaction of completing a stage that you have had trouble with. While the game is good to pick up when you have down time, some of the difficulty seems uneven. Some of the earlier stages, at least in my opinion, are much harder than the later ones. Like other mobile games, Linia is scheduled to have updates that will continue the experience for a while to come, so the couple of dollars that will be spent is well worth purchasing Linia for your portable device.
Linia is a lot of fun. Black Robot Games has managed to release one of the most original puzzle games in the past few years, if not more. The vast array of colors, shapes, and all the moving parts within the levels will keep players engaged as they attempt to find the sweet spots to pass them. From the time that was spent with Linia, I wish that the developers changed the tranquil music track throughout the different levels, and put some earlier stages in later areas. Overall, Linia is worth your time, and the small amount of money it will cost to download it. I can easily see this game being some gamers new obsession.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Available on: iOS, Android (Reviewed); Publisher &Developer: Black Robot Games; Players: 1 ; Released: July 18th, 2016 ; ESRB: E for Everyone ; MSRP: $1.99
Full disclosure: This review is based on a review copy of Linia given to HeyPoorPlayer by the publisher.
