This game does feel odd to me. In some ways it’s very clear little to no thought went into this game and yet it does seem to have given rise to some interesting ideas. The ideas certainly aren’t enough to carry the game however. Connect ‘em isn’t alone in choosing poor design decisions. In many ways, Connect ‘em is a fine example of exactly how not to make a puzzle game.
Connect ‘em is a free game by Magma Mobile for android. It probably goes without saying that it is a free game with adverts. Not even Adblock Plus will stop them. It seems to have mostly positive, 5 star reviews on Google Play Store. It also hints at being a form of brain training (which as you may know doesn’t work).
It seems to be mostly based off the Japanese newspaper puzzle “Hashiwokakero” (or “Bridges” in English). In bridges you are presented with a set of islands which need bridges built between them. These are the rules:
Bridges is not a difficult puzzle game. In even the most difficult puzzles you can usually solve it by looking for small patterns covering only a few islands. Now I said you can usually solve it like that because sometimes nearing the end of a game the requirement to be able to reach any island from any other will come into play on a larger scale. This can make the puzzle more challenging. However it’s normally a choice between two options and easy to work out.
Connect ‘em has the same rules as bridges but with one difference: you do not need to be able to reach any island from any other. This seems to have the knock on effect of causing there to be more than one solution for most puzzles. This does have some interesting effects, but removes far more. If you’ve never played either I’d certainly recommend playing bridges first. If you have played bridges there is a little bit more logic worth looking at in Connect 'em pertaining to whether to connect two groups or not. This should keep you entertained for about three levels.
On first glance the concept for Connect ‘em seems to make it an incredibly easy game, easier even than bridges. However this might not be the case. It might just look like that due to the awful execution. For example most levels conform to a grid, rarely making use of the no crossing bridges constraint. But let's be more specific about the awful execution. Here’s a break down of the three game modes and what they did wrong:
So they have ten thousand levels. Obviously no one has sat down and made these levels, they’ve had a computer generate them. Hell it’s not like it would be hard. They could have taken and adapted the bridges source code from Simon Tatham’s (excellent) puzzle kit.
The problem with computer generated levels is you can tell they’re computer generated. By the time you have finished this game you’d have put more time and effort into it than the developers did making it. Without a strong sense of human input it‘s hard to feel like you’re being shown the interesting parts of this puzzle.
Connect ‘em also does something which a lot of puzzle games do for next to no reason. Adds a timer and star system. It’s the sort of thing which makes sense in a game like Snapshot, as it adds a heavy platform element to the puzzle game. In connect 'em however you can immediately restart the level and enter in the solution you just worked out, only faster for three stars, making the whole thing completely pointless.
The star system is confusing in itself. Instead of negatively marking the amount of time you took and number of unnecessary moves, it’s based entirely off your moves per second. In other words it penalises actually thinking about what you’re doing. As long as you're doing something you can take as long as you want.
So those are the modes. There’s a lot wrong with it, and I can’t help but feel that after writing this I have put more effort and thought into the game than they ever did. It does give the players something though: something to do. It’s doesn’t offer any new insight to an abstract concept. It’s like Sudoku, lets face it, it’s not an interesting puzzle, the logic you can actually apply is very limited unless you want to mark up each square with the possible numbers, which takes longer than most people have patience for. As a result most people just do the easy ones, but they still enjoy it. Not because it’s interesting but because it’s something to do and something they can get better at. People play this because they want to occupy themselves at a bus stop. If this is all you want from a puzzle game, go for it. If you want to occupy yourself with something more interesting Simon Tatham’s puzzle kit has been ported to android.
Connect ‘em is a free game by Magma Mobile for android. It probably goes without saying that it is a free game with adverts. Not even Adblock Plus will stop them. It seems to have mostly positive, 5 star reviews on Google Play Store. It also hints at being a form of brain training (which as you may know doesn’t work).
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| I feel this accurately sums up the game |
It seems to be mostly based off the Japanese newspaper puzzle “Hashiwokakero” (or “Bridges” in English). In bridges you are presented with a set of islands which need bridges built between them. These are the rules:
- You can build bridges either horizontally or vertically between islands.
- Two islands can be connected by either one or two bridges.
- Bridges can not cross each other.
- Each island is given a number which corresponds to the number of bridges that needs to be connected to it.
- In the solved puzzle you must be able to reach any island from any other island.
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| A completed game of Bridges |
Bridges is not a difficult puzzle game. In even the most difficult puzzles you can usually solve it by looking for small patterns covering only a few islands. Now I said you can usually solve it like that because sometimes nearing the end of a game the requirement to be able to reach any island from any other will come into play on a larger scale. This can make the puzzle more challenging. However it’s normally a choice between two options and easy to work out.
Connect ‘em has the same rules as bridges but with one difference: you do not need to be able to reach any island from any other. This seems to have the knock on effect of causing there to be more than one solution for most puzzles. This does have some interesting effects, but removes far more. If you’ve never played either I’d certainly recommend playing bridges first. If you have played bridges there is a little bit more logic worth looking at in Connect 'em pertaining to whether to connect two groups or not. This should keep you entertained for about three levels.
On first glance the concept for Connect ‘em seems to make it an incredibly easy game, easier even than bridges. However this might not be the case. It might just look like that due to the awful execution. For example most levels conform to a grid, rarely making use of the no crossing bridges constraint. But let's be more specific about the awful execution. Here’s a break down of the three game modes and what they did wrong:
Challenge
This is where you get to play pre-set puzzles. There are a lot of puzzles, one hundred in each world in fact. There are also one hundred worlds. It might not surprise you to hear that I did not complete this game before reviewing it, though I did get to world two to check if it gets any harder. It doesn’t.So they have ten thousand levels. Obviously no one has sat down and made these levels, they’ve had a computer generate them. Hell it’s not like it would be hard. They could have taken and adapted the bridges source code from Simon Tatham’s (excellent) puzzle kit.
The problem with computer generated levels is you can tell they’re computer generated. By the time you have finished this game you’d have put more time and effort into it than the developers did making it. Without a strong sense of human input it‘s hard to feel like you’re being shown the interesting parts of this puzzle.
Connect ‘em also does something which a lot of puzzle games do for next to no reason. Adds a timer and star system. It’s the sort of thing which makes sense in a game like Snapshot, as it adds a heavy platform element to the puzzle game. In connect 'em however you can immediately restart the level and enter in the solution you just worked out, only faster for three stars, making the whole thing completely pointless.
The star system is confusing in itself. Instead of negatively marking the amount of time you took and number of unnecessary moves, it’s based entirely off your moves per second. In other words it penalises actually thinking about what you’re doing. As long as you're doing something you can take as long as you want.
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| Jackpot! |
Arcade
Arcade is an endless stream of computer generated levels, making it almost exactly like challenge mode, only you get a running total of your number of points and you get to choose what size grid you want to play on. For the later reason I would say it was better than challenge mode.Time Attack
If you’re familiar with bridges this mode is unsurprisingly hard to lose at. Each puzzle you solve gives you more time, which carries over to the next level. As the levels progress the larger the grid becomes (up to a relatively small maximum size). Despite only playing it once, if I had to pick a favourite mode, this would be it because you set your own challenge, which could make it more difficult.So those are the modes. There’s a lot wrong with it, and I can’t help but feel that after writing this I have put more effort and thought into the game than they ever did. It does give the players something though: something to do. It’s doesn’t offer any new insight to an abstract concept. It’s like Sudoku, lets face it, it’s not an interesting puzzle, the logic you can actually apply is very limited unless you want to mark up each square with the possible numbers, which takes longer than most people have patience for. As a result most people just do the easy ones, but they still enjoy it. Not because it’s interesting but because it’s something to do and something they can get better at. People play this because they want to occupy themselves at a bus stop. If this is all you want from a puzzle game, go for it. If you want to occupy yourself with something more interesting Simon Tatham’s puzzle kit has been ported to android.
