Simian Interface Just Throws You In And Tells You To Swim [Review]

By

Simian Interface

If you’re used to games taking time to explain what they are and how you play them, then Simian Interface may not be for you.

Simian Interface by Vested Interest
Category: iOS Games
Works With: iPhone, iPad
Price: $0.99

But you should play it anyway, wuss, because you don’t need that much instruction to understand this one. The game leaves it up to you to figure out what it wants and how to do it, but it’s really not that hard to figure out.

And if you put the time in and go along for the short time it takes to play through it, you’ll get a unique, entirely satisfying experience.

Simian Interface
What are you supposed to do with these? I dunno, figure it out.

Interface started as a Flash game on the web, and the iOS port adds tilt controls to the existing click-and-drag setup. The tilt controls really add something to the game, probably because when you’re sitting there trying your darnedest to get things to line up, you really feel like an ape trying to figure out a mysterious piece of technology. Kinda like the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but don’t throw your phone or iPad up into the air because I can assure you that we have no spaceships to match-cut to.

The easiest way to describe this game is that it’s a spatial puzzler, which means that you’re trying to line shapes up in a particular way to clear levels. But how you match them up — both conceptually and mechanically — is up to you to determine. Sometimes, you’re just dragging a square into an outline. Later on, you’re trying to reconfigure masses of shapes into simple and orderly patterns.

It’s really not that hard to figure out.

The game really leaves its goals and purpose up to you, and that’s part of the fun. It plays a bit like a series of levels from Nintendo’s WarioWare franchise without the stressful time limits.

It also has a weird kinda-plot involving a cat, but I haven’t quite figured that out yet. I beat the game, though, so that’s about as smart as I need to feel for these purposes.

Simian InterfaceGame Name: : Simian Interface
The Good: Clever puzzles that trust you to figure them out. Awesome chiptune music.
The Bad: Feels kinda short, but that’s mostly because I enjoyed playing it so much.
The Verdict: Play it. It’s different.
Buy from: App Store

[rating=game5]

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