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The games I play most often on my iPhone are those I can easily pick up for a few minutes and set back down without needing to get too heavily involved. I also very much enjoy a game that makes me think a bit by figuring out some elaborate puzzle. The puzzle adventure game Aurora for iPhone or iPad combines both of those in an adorable game that asks you look at things from all different perspectives. Here’s what this game is all about and why we love it.
Related: 8 Best iPhone Apps You've (Probably) Never Heard Of
Aurora — Puzzle Adventure ($1.99)
About the Game
In Aurora, a young girl’s cats are all suddenly snatched away from her. She has to traverse over 200 puzzles to get them all back. The adorable animations and pleasant music make it relaxing but the increasingly complex puzzles are a challenge for the brain.
In each puzzle, a 3D course is floating in the clouds with Aurora at the beginning and one of her cats waiting for her on the other side. But there are a lot of differently colored blocks standing in her way. You can only get blocks to disappear when there appears to be three or more of them together in a single color. Your job is to twist and rotate the course left, right, up, and down until all the blocks appear to align correctly, allowing you to make them disappear.
If that all sounds a little confusing to you, don’t worry. It’s rather straightforward in application, and the game does a great job of showing you how to play.
Why We Love It
This is a game you can easily play one handed while you’re on the subway or waiting in line. But it’s also complex enough to get lost in while playing, if that’s the mood you’re in. For just under two dollars, the game provides a lot of different levels and has no in-app purchases that try to upsell you once you’ve bought it.
We don’t often feature games, but I think this one deserves some love. If you’re a fan of the game Monument Valley, this is the adorable cousin of that game, except your character isn’t walking around at all. You’re simply twisting and turning the course in order to get rid of the blocks in your path. But it has a similar charm and ease of play, plus cats. What more could you ask for?
