When my world starts to spin out of control, one thing I like to do to calm down is play simple casual games. The more Zen-like, the better. These games help distract me from the issue at hand, while giving me a moment to collect my thoughts.
Box It! is a casual game that includes all of the calming themes I like. The game isn’t too hard. The design is simple and the colors are muted. The music is relaxing. The puzzles offer a challenge, but won’t make you pull your hair out…
This game’s developer, C2C Apps has another similar game called Chain Reaction. I love that game because it makes you feel like you’re blowing stuff up. I recommend downloading both of these games, since they are very similar, but have different mechanics.
In this game, players create boxes to block out portions of the screen. It sounds simple, but there are plenty of elements to make the game more complex than you may realize at first.
The goal of the game is to capture at least 70 percent of the area by drawing boxes. New levels include new obstacles and challenges, while increasing the number of balls that players must avoid.
There is a “trace” ball that moves around the exterior of the screen. Inside the screen, little balls float around. To draw a box, swipe the trace ball in the direction you want it to go. It will draw a straight line in that direction. Then, swipe your finger again in a direction opposite of the first. For example, if you swiped you finger from up to down on the first run, swipe it from left to right or right to left on your second run. This will create the box.
Everything inside the box will freeze and disappear. If you’ve trapped any little balls inside the box, it will help you succeed because there will be less of them to get in your way.
If a ball collides with your trace ball or the line it is drawing before the box is finished, the line will disappear and your trace ball will restart on the edge of the screen.
Some of the little balls have special powers that you want use to your advantage. To activate those powers, trap the ball inside a box. If you successfully draw a box with the bonus ball inside, it will freeze and trigger its power. Some bonus balls slow other balls. Some freeze everything but your trace ball.
You can only collide with another ball three times before you fail to meet the goal for a level. So, be sure to watch out for those little guys.
Box It! is free and available on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This version is not advertisement supported. However, you can purchase coins that can be used to buy bonus balls if you would like to help support the game’s developer. Download it in the App Store today.
What do you think of Box It!? Is this the type of game you enjoy playing?