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"Geared", a game by Bryan Mitchell, is available for 99 US cents at the App Store.
Having played a few games from a lot of different genres on the iPhone, my own prejudices have become more apparent to me. I just don't like playing certain types of games on this platform, even types of games I usually enjoy on a PC or console. First-person shooters are too difficult to control, for example, and acting like the all-controlling lord of the universe in a game like "SimCity" or "Civilization: Revolution" just isn't the same when your only view of the world is through a tiny, hand-held screen.
It seems that the games that really seem to shine on the iPhone, for me anyway, are these simple, casual little minute-burners most suitable for dinking around with for a few moments at a time. I keep coming back to "Hanoi," "Tetris," "Snood" and "Solitair." "Star Defense" might be the exception to the rule, but it's still not a very complex game.
I think I may have found my next go-to app for light, momentary amusement: "Geared," by Bryan Mitchell.
Spinning Wheel Gotta Go 'Round
The concept's simple: You're presented with (usually) two gears. The yellow one is spinning; the blue one (sometimes more than one) is idle. You have at your disposal a limited set of additional gears of various sizes, which you must place at various points around the screen to make the blue gear or gears turn; once you do, it's on to the next level. Sound easy? Sometimes it is, sometimes not so much.
There's a total of 60 levels, each with a different starting arrangement and each with a different set of gears to work with. Sometimes you can place gears anywhere on the board; other times you have to work around obstacles. Thing get more complicated as you get further, and you can start on any level that you've already beaten. This is the kind of game that in-app sales would be great for. Once the 80th level is beaten, drop in with an ad to buy 80 all-new levels for a buck or two, something like that.
There are some physics involved. Down is down, and gravity is a factor. Drop a gear onto nothing, and it'll fall until it hits the bottom of the screen. Sometimes this is a hindrance; other times it's part of the winning strategy.
It doesn't look like you're dealing with high-torque mechanics. A misplaced gear will never grind or shed cogs, though the gears can get jammed if you stack three against each other so that two are going in opposite directions. For some reason, this triggers the same internal revulsion I feel when I don't use the clutch right on a stickshift car. Strange.
Frustration is just part of the masochistic fun of puzzle games. However, the only needless frustration I get when playing "Geared" is that when you have to place the smaller gears just so in order to get the blue gear turning, it's hard to see where you're placing it because your finger gets in the way. Just a slight annoyance, though; not really a deal-breaker.
"Geared" isn't exactly a pretty game. It's design is kind of cartoony, and it looks like it was drawn on graph paper. But with the kind of game we're talking about, that's hardly a major drawback. Does it work? Is it fun as a puzzle game? Yes and yes.
Bottom Line
"Geared" is an example of the kind of dead-simple, short-attention-span, casual puzzle game that I think works best on the small screen.
If that's the kind of game you find yourself playing most often on the iPhone, give "Geared" a try. There's a free version with fewer levels available, but I think the paid version is well worth the buck.
