Spb Software, one of our sponsors, has introduced their latest Symbian title, Spb Puzzle. This is, without question, one of my top 5 games to ever play on an S60-powered smartphone. The graphics, extras, and experience rank right up there with SkyForce and Creatures of the Deep. Spb Puzzle creates a jigsaw puzzle out of any graphic you’ve got, with a really smooth touch interface that will keep you glued for hours.
There are three different sources you can use for graphics to make the puzzles out of. First up, there are a handful of well-known pieces of art included. However, as with any great game, you don’t get access to all of them initially - you have to progress through by completing each puzzle before the next is unlocked. Since these are works of art, there is also a bit of information included, giving you some of the history, such as who painted it, when, and other such information.
The second source for graphics is from Spb itself. They have setup a website that you can access from within the application to download free puzzle packs, each loaded with a set of different graphics. Initially, there are 2 packs available - flowers and crazy, and each brings different challenges.
The third source for graphics is by far my favorite feature of the game, because you can choose any photograph from your phone’s gallery. This could be a photo that you’ve downloaded from the internet, or one that you’ve taken with your phone’s camera. Creating the puzzle from your own image only takes a few minutes, and you can save them, as well.
When creating a puzzle, you can choose a difficulty level. This affects both the number of pieces and the size of the overall puzzle. As shown in the video below, the puzzle is typically larger than the screen, which again adds a new level of difficulty, as the pieces are scattered all over the place.
The SPB team made great use of the touchscreen, as well as the haptic feedback. You can grab a puzzle piece and drag it across the screen, and when you connect two pieces correctly, there is a congratulatory vibrate to confirm that you got it right, as well as a visual indicator.
Two things to note, though, are the game’s size, and the way that you exit. The installed game registers as a whopping 7MB, which means you’ll definitely want to install this one to your memory card, and not your internal storage. Also, to exit the game and save your progress, you simply press the red ‘end’ key on your phone. This is a bit disconcerting at first, as we’ve been taught not to use this method to exit an application.
You can purchase Spb Puzzle directly from the Symbian-Guru Software Store, though there is a free trial available. Note this is only available for S60v5-powered smartphones such as the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, N97, or Samsung i8910, at this time. Below is a video walkthrough showing some in-game action.
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