Aztec Quest, Clickgamer’s new Rube Goldberg-type puzzle game, has been released in the app store. While its internal content won’t take long to complete, the user-created content will give you reason to keep coming back for more mind-bending fun.
Aztec Quest contains 50 internal levels of puzzling fun. The object is to get the marble from the dragon’s mouth to the diamond by placing game elements upon the board in the designated spaces. The instruction section explains how to do this and visually shows you all of the game elements and what they do. Game elements include conveyor belts, hammers, catapults, warp pads, curved pipes, and more. Each level contains a grid foundation and marked squares where game elements can be placed. Along the screen bottom are a finite number of elements which must all be placed on the board to achieve the desired outcome. This is done by dragging the elements onto the grid and releasing when the circular outline is green, indicating a valid, though not necessarily correct, placement. Completing levels requires placing all pieces in the manner intended by the level’s creator, regardless of whether you found a more efficient way to hit the diamond. The game will actually indicate that you’ve completed the objective, but will not allow you to move on until you do it the developer’s way.
While 50 levels sounds like a lot of content, the initial levels were very easy to complete. We blew through the first 15 before we really needed to exercise our brains. The next several levels did challenge us a bit. Where this game will really shine is through its level editor, which allows you to create your own complex levels and upload them for the user community to play and rate. This requires registration, which simply consists of choosing a user name from the Options menu. This was our favorite aspect of the game, which allowed us to use our creativity even more than the internal levels did.
Graphically, the game has a clean, appealing interface. The game elements are fun to use and easy to distinguish. There is a fun soundtrack to entertain you as your brain churns away. If you don’t care for it, you can play tracks from your own library, as well. The controls are all touch-based. Drag your finger from an element to the game board and release to place. The catapult has three strength settings, which can be changed by tapping on the image until the level is in the desired strength position. There is a button to rotate the board 90 degrees, allowing you to view the gaming area from multiple angles. A clue button is available if you get really stuck, which will place a single piece in the correct location, but will cost you some points. At any time, you can hit the start button in the upper right corner to test your progress. The game is simple enough for young kids to understand and play, yet challenging enough to perplex adults from time to time.
Replay value is very high, as the level editor and user community allow for fresh content all the time. Even the internal levels can provide enough challenge that repeated playthroughs will stump you all over again. This is one of the better versions of this game type that we’ve seen in the app store, with a beautiful editor and easy-to-download online levels. For $0.99, it’s hard to find fault with this game, other than the overly easy beginning levels. The user community levels more than make up for that. Aztec Quest flings a 5-Dimple marble into the diamond for the win.
Aztec Quest gets our AppSmile 5-Dimple rating:
