I’m not a fan of abstract puzzle games, which makes it quite a surprise how much I’m enjoying twofold inc., a fairly abstract puzzle game that challenges you to match colors with a bit of math.
Did I mention I don’t like math games, either? What gives?
Firstly, twofold inc. is utterly adorable, from its cute little one-eyed robot character to its charmingly hip musical score. The animations are smooth and deliciously tactile, too, making it a joy to play.
Secondly, the game feels deep and complex while still remaining accessible. You simply swipe your fingers across colored blocks to match them up; each block is worth double the one before, with the first worth two points. Drag across two yellow squares, for example, and you clear four points. Three squares gives you eight points, four gives you 16, and so on. You’ll be working for the cuddly robot, trying to clear a certain number of each color requested within a given number of moves. You can also reposition the rows and columns one block at a time, taking up one move in the process.
Here’s what it looks like.
The tutorial that opens the game is delightful, with all sorts of engaging ideas on how to play the game. Once that’s over with, however, you’re on your own with an even bigger grid of squares. The trick is to be as economical with your movements and to clear the right number of blocks for the requests that drop from above. If you get stuck, there’s a way to drag one of the blocks you need up into the puzzle, making things even more interesting. There’s even a color-blind mode that drops shapes into the various colored blocks–how thoughtful.
twofold inc. was made by Martin Jonasson, the guy behind one of my favorites, Rymdkapsel, a fantastic game with a similarly relaxing take on gameplay. This one came as kind of a happy accident.
“I never quite intended to make a puzzle game,” says Jonasson, “it’s certainly not a super easy place to stand out. It sort of just happened that way. One day I decided I wanted to prototype out some nice, solid match three interactions and the game grew slowly from there.”
As for me, I’ve spent way too long playing this game the last few days; I really should put it down to try some others, but the compelling twofold inc. keeps me coming back for just one more round, just one more request.
Chances are, even if you do enjoy puzzles like this, you’ll love whiling away the hours swiping along various colored blocks to fill all of that dashing young robot’s requests.
