Pixel art is great. From the basic to the monolithic, you can do some great things with those tiny dots. Imagine my excitement when I was given a puzzle game where you crafted such masterpieces. Tappingo 2 is the second iteration of the Tappingo series, hence the number 2 on the end. It adds loads more puzzles, 104 to be precise. Oh, and it is excellent.
Each picture you make will start as a few scattered dots. Eventually you will make this random points into a carrot or a sphinx or a 3DS. You do this by looking at the number on each pixel. This indicates how many spaces it is supposed to extend. However, each point will keep moving until it crashes into another block. So, you need to figure out how to ensure that each line is the correct length and are heading in the right direction. And that is the puzzle. It isn’t necessarily a difficult puzzle, but it’s always a satisfying one.
Here is how a puzzle will play out. You will move a pixel 2 spaces and this will let you move another pixel 1 space so it crashes into the previous line. And that is how each level of Tappingo 2 will play out. Each move that you make plays into the next move and the next move and before you know it you’ve finished. You just make a pixel 3DS. Well done. Oh that took you 10 minutes. Maybe you should try again and try to beat that score. Trying to beat your last time keeps each puzzle replayable and extends Tappingo 2’s life on your 3DS.
It is great to see your pixel art get coloured in on the top screen, but once you finish it the picture doesn’t hang about for very long. This is really annoying and there is no gallery to check them out at a later date. This is all very disappointing. What is also disappointing is that while the puzzles get bigger they don’t actually get any harder or much more complicated. You will use the same techniques to make some scissors as you will for the sphinx. Adding some differing puzzles would have been a nice addition, but Tappingo 2 is still thoroughly enjoyable.
Tappingo 2’s ambient soundtrack is nice to listen to, but it is unlikely you will be tugging our your headphones in a hurry to plug them in your 3DS. You didn’t pick this game up for the soundtrack, you got it for the puzzles. Puzzles that in Tappingo 2 hve a zoom function so you need not strain your eyes on the larger and more detailed pictures. This is a welcomed edition as the game can be a bit fiddly when trying to tap on one specific pixel.
Graphically, well, it is a pixel game so unsuprisingly the graphs are pixely. You will start with very basic artwork such as a coin before progressing onwards. Each image difintely looks like what you would expect and it is often fun to take a guess at what you are making before seeing it completed. The interface and menu screen work to the expected level, but as I’ve mentioned before having some kind of gallery would have been a welcomed addition.
Having seen what it is possible to create with these pixels I would have liked more complicated artwork to draw. However, Tappingo 2 is an excellent colouring book puzzle that will having you sticking around for a while. It’s very small and cheap so it is great to have on your 3DS to play between games or just a quick 5 minute puzzle when you feel like it. I think it is great and you should definitely give it a go.
REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo 3DS code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.
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