A new Chillingo puzzle game? You don’t say. Well, if there’s one thing we can expect from Chillingo, it’s a certain level of quality that all of their games exhibit. They may not blow us out of the water, but what they give us is normally a pretty solid product. Light the Flower [$0.99] falls squarely into this category, presenting an interesting puzzler that keeps you thinking, but doesn’t present too much frustration — usually a winning formula for iOS titles.
Most iOS games have fairly simple plots, but Light the Flower is even more pared down than the usual title, which I personally like (reminds me of old school gaming, in fact). Each level consists of a room with a happy flower inside (sometimes more than one).
Your job is to bring the flower back to life by directing a beam of light from a nearby window with your finger and making sure it hits the flower. While you are doing so, you can also aim carefully to make sure that the beam of light also lights up stars that are randomly scattered around the room. The number of stars you are able to capture dictates your score at the end of each level.
In the beginning, things will be simple, but Chillingo gives us plenty more to do as the game progresses. Later levels present colored filters for you to direct your light through, which you will have to match with the color of the flower you are trying to revive. You’ll learn that mirrors you use to direct the light are double sided, so that’s to your advantage. Throwing switches and splitting beams will also become part of your strategy to move forward.
Five “houses" of rooms are available to play, each with a dozen levels hiding inside. That’s a total of sixty levels to play, which should keep you busy for some time. You can unlock the houses as you progress, or if you are feeling impatient and want to see what later levels have to offer, you can skip the effort and unlock them all by paying a $0.99 fee. If Light the Flower was a harder game, I’d say this might be worth it, but I think it’s just challenging enough to keep you playing, but not to the point where it makes you miserable to try to get further.
Light the Flower has a cheerful, cartoon-inspired look, and it does present some replayability if you want to try to snag all the stars in every level or improve your time. It’s also compatible with Crystal and Game Center, so you have achievements to aim for. I also noticed that there is an extra house with a ‘Coming Soon’ slapped on it, so apparently Chillingo is planning to release another dozen levels later down the line.
Some user reviews mentioned issues with the game crashing, but I never had the problem pop up once. Apparently, if you do, a delete and reinstall will fix it up just fine. Either way, I suspect you’ll be brightening up some poor flower’s day in no time. And people said you didn’t have a green thumb!
