Puzzle games can be irritating. Either they’re too easy and you zip through them or you get stuck on a seemingly impossible level and you never want to play it again. Not with Boom Blox. This clever little game – a 2D version of the 3D Wii title - does have the traditional, increasingly difficult puzzle levels but also lets you design your own levels in a matter of minutes.

Boom Blox’s gameplay presents a pretty shallow learning curve. You fire your cannon at various items on the screen, attempting to knock prize off their platforms, while avoiding the nasty old skull blocks. You only have a certain number of shots to reach your target score. The fun bit comes with all the accessories that Boom Blox throws in: bombs that push blocks all over the place; magnets that pull them; and portals that teleport objects around the screen.

The game plays quickly and efficiently, with the minimum of fannying around between levels. The graphics are bright and basic but none the worse for that, and neither the cheerful music and appropriately cartoony sound effects outstay their welcome.

The level designer is a touch of genius. It’s an 11x12 grid that you can fill with any of the game’s pieces and set the number of shots to pass it. You’ll soon be creating crazy levels with multiple teleportations and huge quantities of bombs – it’s a lot of fun. You can save your levels to try again later, although I couldn’t find a way to export them to other Boom Blox’ers.

Boom Blox is deceptively easy to pick and play, but with (just) enough variety to keep you gaming – especially with the straightforward level designer. However, it may prove too easy for hard-core puzzlers.

Details

Price: £6

Rating: 3+

Download: N-Gage