Shapes Up Nicely

One of the many perks of the Wii U eShop is that it enables single developers to release games which may not previously have seen the light of day. Issues such as physical copies, manuals and high production costs are negated by the eShop, allowing all kinds of games to enter its online shelves; good or bad. Thankfully, GEOM fits nicely into the 'good' category; created solely by Pablo Millian GEOM is a simple puzzle game which delivers on what it was designed to do.
As you load up GEOM, you are presented with three options, plainly named Mode 1, 2 and 3. This is essentially the entirety of the game, with each mode providing a different take on quick action filled puzzle solving. While each mode manages to provide a separate challenge to the player, they each have their individual issues to deal with as well, which prevents them from ever truly becoming great.
Mode 1 is by far the simplest of the available options, essentially presenting you with a 8 by 8 square of tiles, each of which features one of eleven different shapes (hence the name, the first four letters of the word Geometry). These shapes are all color coded and randomized, from a circle to an X and a sun. Using the stylus on the gamepad, the only control scheme available, you can switch tiles around by tapping two blocks to move them. You can move them anywhere on the board as you try to line up at least three similar shapes, which you then trace over to remove from play. This earns you points, and you can keep this up for Two, Five or Ten minutes per round. Tracing is where the issue comes in for this mode; if you don't hold the stylus down for a beat on the first tile, it will occasionally not be included in the group. For a game focused on speed, and which does well everywhere else, we are not sure if this is intentional or a glitch, but it manages to break the flow if you are moving quickly.
Mode 2 is even more frantic, displaying squares of tiles with increasing sizes as you clear them. Clearing tiles is different here though, as you are forced to go one shape at a time; and the current shapevis displayed in the upper left hand corner. This mode works fairly well, but points out one flaw in game design, the coloring of the shapes. Many shapes have bright colors which are easy to spot when compared to the softer variety. The issue lies in the fact that some of the lighter colored shapes are nearly identical, and difficult to find in the midst of the louder colors. It can be frustrating to be missing one star simply because it is difficult to find. While this mode provides great fun, a streak can easily be broken by this coloring, but it is no reason to ever stop playing, and the Mode provides a "One more go" feeling.
As you venture into the final mode available, you are thrown into what is not a grid, but rather a random sequence of passing tiles. The tiles are all scrolling up at differing speeds based on the point value they are worth. Logically, the faster blocks are the most difficult to tap to gain the points, sometimes almost too fast. The faster moon and sun tiles move so fast that they are near impossible to stop. When going for these, you have to frantically tap ahead of the tile in hopes of it registering before it disappears. Whether you correctly tap the tile or not, you must then try to get back into the groove of tapping the upcoming blocks again. This constant breaking and starting of the motion is difficult to do, and you are better off just going for the slower moving tiles. This mode more than the others shows off the graphics of the tiles, which are actually 3D cubes, and they all look nice, almost like a 3D game with their depth.
Across the modes, there isn't much to do besides go for a high score. There are trophies to gather based on your score, and they are nearly impossible to get; this reviewer hasn't even managed a single Gold rank yet. This provides the perfect opportunity for an online leaderboard, which is notably absent. GEOM lacks any reason to play besides playing against your own high scores, which for many can get tiring quickly, and any way to share scores or compete wou'd have helped increase the game's longevity nicely.
GEOM is a puzzle game which sets out to offer you three basic puzzles, and does so in a neat and orderly, if not simple, way. As a bite sized puzzle game, GEOM has the potential to be an addicitive game, but due to the lack of content it settles for only being fun. What the game does right, shines through and helps to make GEOM one of the most enjoyable single developer offerings available on the eShop.


Review Copy Provided by: Pablo Millan