Whether you play it fast or slow, Quadrantic might become your new puzzling obsession.
The newly released game, which is available for a mere $0.99, takes the time-honored puzzle-game tradition of arranging things in groups of three and throws in some strategy and a surprisingly intense timed mode just to keep things interesting.
But the concept is simple, and once you start playing it, it’s really hard to put down.
Quadrantic tosses out different-colored blocks, one at a time, and you swipe to sort them into piles on all four sides of your screen. You have seven colors of pieces: red, green, blue, white-bordered variations of those three, and gold. They also come in four different lengths, and your job is to keep your stacks from reaching the white box in the center of the screen.
You have three ways to clear out space; your two main ways are to stack three blocks that match in either color or size. The third way is to match two same-hued blocks with one of the more rare golden pieces, which will remove every block of that color from the board.
Gameplay comes in two varieties. Classic mode gives you a steadily decreasing time limit in which to place your blocks, and Relax lets you play at your own pace. The timed version is obviously the more challenging, and it doesn’t take long to get super intense.
That creates one of Quadrantic‘s minor issues: Classic mode feels too hard, and Relax feels too easy. When you have all the time you need, it’s actually really tough to lose. And that’s probably the point, but I’ve had “quick” games go on so long that I actually had to sabotage myself. So for short bursts, you’re better off going with the more demanding Classic version because you won’t last too long there.
Another quibble, possibly due to years of gaming finally catching up with my eyes, is that it’s occasionally hard to tell piece width when you’re going to place one on the side. The block you’re playing shows up horizontally, but it flips to a vertical orientation when you place it left or right. Several times, I’ve misjudged the length of the piece because of this and missed some critical matches.
I’m not sure what the solution is here; having an option to rotate the piece before you place it would help, but it would also eat up valuable seconds in Classic mode. I suppose my only choice is to get better at seeing.
These are some pretty minor issues, however, and the game is fun and addictive as it is. It’s definitely one you want to check out if you need a reminder that matching three doesn’t always have to be App Store garbage.
