Pocket Gamer's recommendation-a-day advent calendar: Shibuya Grandmaster
One more addictive game from 2015
Every day, as we count down to Christmas, we'll be sharing a brilliant and essential game from 2015 that didn't quite make our game of the year list. We'll reveal the very best iOS and Android games of the last 12 months on Christmas Day
December 20th - Shibuya Grandmaster
iOS (Free) - Android (Free)
We could have believed that action puzzling was a dead genre. Killed by suffocation after getting smothered in so many weak copycat games. But Shibuya Grandmaster proved there was an awful lot of life left in it.
Like every successful game in this family, it's built on a simple concept. Blocks of colour drop from the top of the screen, and you have to arrange them on the fly into matching groups. Bigger groups net bigger combo bonuses. Easy.
Except, like every successful game in this family, it isn't. After the first few difficultly levels, Shibuya Grandmaster becomes a raging fiend. Blocks pour down in a chromatic waterfall, your brain freezes and your fingers stab at the screen in desperation. It's brilliant.
The challenge level makes it super addictive. It feels like it should be easy so you try, try and try again. And when you eventually make it, it feels like conquering the world.
The bright colours, stylish background and groovy soundtrack help propel this into our top 25. If that were not enough, it's free and fair, funded only by cosmetic IAPs. So try it and, if you like it, consider buying one.