Game Reviews

Tangrams

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Tangrams
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| Tangrams

It's amazing how often the games we played as children come back into our lives years later, when we're supposedly adults. Back when I was just a wee boy in short trousers, far too often the present at the bottom of Santa's yuletide sack would end up being a jigsaw puzzle - an activity that I would reluctantly engage in once I'd exhausted all of my other gifts. Even now, muddling my way through a jigsaw isn't something I'd automatically think of tackling in a spare moment.

No, it's far more likely that I'd turn to my iPhone, firing up something new on the App Store. Yet, in some kind of perverse time warp, a fair chunk of the games on Apple's platform are in fact interpretations of games we all played in years gone by. Those very tasks that bored me as a kid are now some of the most palatable games out there, and Tangrams, though not strictly like those jigsaw puzzles of old, has a concept that is just as easy to grasp: fit this shape into that one.

Tangrams, of course, already exists in the real world - Brian Wurster here serving up a version of the Chinese game of the same name. Your job is to fit a set collection of shapes (or tans, as the Chinese call them) perfectly into a silhouette. Such a simple concept couldn't have found a better home than on iPhone.

Without turning this into a trigonometry lesson, the shapes at your service are identical in each game: one square, two small triangles, one medium sized triangle, two large triangles and a nameless odd shape that looks a little like a rectangle gone wrong. The silhouettes you have to fit them in change each game, however, and it's your job to make the tans match with the overall shape without any gaps or overlaps.

Simple in its conviction, Tangrams is equally simple in terms of control. With the shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen and the silhouette taking up the the bulk in the middle, moving said shapes into their new home requires nothing more than a tap of the finger to bring them up onto the screen, and then a drag to position them where you'd like. You can rotate them every which way you want - again, just by giving the shape a tap - and it's also possible to move them about once you've placed them.

The game gives a helping hand, neatly snapping your pieces directly into the shape when they're not quite placed properly, and also offering a hint or two by revealing a piece of the puzzle if and when you tap the hint key. In fact, so accommodating is Tangrams that you can tap the game for as many hints as you like. There's no penalty, because there's no timer or score system.

Rather than tempting further play by drumming up a scoreboard, this is a game born out of the desire to test yourself. Ranking your talents in a global league table or having your experience validated by 'achievements' or gold stars appearing on the screen has no place here. This is the kind of game you can turn to for a light challenge in a quiet moment alone, with a mug of tea and a biscuit on the side.

There's no attempt o change the original Chinese game itself or mess with its appeal. Tangrams is simply a recreation and, as such, it's hard to imagine just how Brian Wurster could have mucked it up. Thankfully we'll never find out, as this take on Tangram is the only one you'll ever need if indulging in the casual charms of a Chinese shape-shifting classic is your bag.

Tangrams

Smart, casual take on the Chinese game of Tangram that ticks all the boxes it needs to without being spectacular.
Score
Keith Andrew
Keith Andrew
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font. He's also Pocket Gamer's resident football gaming expert and, thanks to his work on PG.biz, monitors the market share of all mobile OSes on a daily basis.