Puzzles, puzzles and more puzzles. Yet this one will have you going around in circles at no small rate. Loopz is the name and making loops is the game, with three different formats to choose from and varying difficulty levels from easy-peasy to take me away now, please.
Yep, real brain-bashing stuff here, but it all seems so harmless to start off with.
Set the difficulty level to 0 on game A and you start off with the smallest of loop sections. All you have to do is manoeuvre it around the playing board until you've found a pretty spot for it, twist it around, using the joystick, and then add other bits to it to form connecting loops. Piece of cake.
Not surprisingly, the pieces do become a little more irregular as you play and the time you are allowed to mess around with each piece gets smaller, so put in plenty of practice before you challenge a friend.
Obviously, the larger the loop you create, the more points you score. Indeed, there are numerous Bonus games interwoven into each of the different stages, which will give you handy top-up lives as well as extra points.
A staggering 100,000 points can be earned if you manage to complete a loop covering all 126 tiles on the board at level 9. Sound impossible? Well, it sure ain't easy. Clearing the board completely will also give you extra points, which vary on the target set by the multiplier in the bottom left hand corner.
In game B, the level you play at will increase for every 10 loopz you complete. Tricky, but if you manage to complete a loop filling 63 tiles, you can qualify for another bonus game which takes a random puzzle from Game C and gives you a set time to complete to earn the goodies.
As you might have guessed, Game 3 consists of 50 screens of random loopz. Each time you see one, certain parts of it will disappear, leaving you to carefully reconstruct it within the allotted time.
Playing Loopz on your own is a reward in itself, just as long as you don't panic when things start hotting up. The graphics are clean and the neat background music won't drive you to distraction.
However, for a real humdinger of a battle, you'll certainly get the best out of Loopz by playing it with a friend.
Taking alternative turns in Games A and C and battling together in Game B to create your masterpieces is superb fun and enfuriatingly addictive.
The more you play, the more you will become accustomed to the playing pieces, so you'll know just where to leave gaps and what sizes to put aside. Don't rely too much on luck, though. It does you no good to have too many spare pieces lying around taking up valuable space and clogging up your playing area.
Make good use of the Gophers that come up from time to time. They'll help to correct any mistakes you've made and enable you to go on to even better things in this excellent offering.