Sometimes , you want a complicated biz that ’s go to break your brain and push your acquirement to the max . Other times , you just need to do a petty puzzle on your phone .
No studio read that better than Lykke , a little known studio behind some of Apple Arcade ’s best game . Lykke has become a go - to partner for Apple since the avail ’s launching thanks to creative puzzler game fromTinttoStitch . Now , gaming ’s most consistent mystifier makers are back with a new game , Puffies , which joins a loaded month for Apple Arcade add-on . WhileKatamari Damacy and Space Invadersmight be more oculus - catching to endorser , Puffiesis a the form of go - to game you ’ll require to keep on your phone . It ’s another satisfying nonchalant game from a studio apartment that understands the platform it ’s developing for better than anyone .
A new kind of jigsaw puzzle
Unlike its previous games , Puffiesdoesn’t invent a brand name new literary genre kink . Instead , it ’s Lykke ’s take on a jigsaw mystifier . In it , participant open up packs of spine and must set up them onto a sheet . Each sticker has its own distinct shape , so getting each in the right-hand bit is more about paying attending to the negative outer space on the sheet rather than using a princely picture to deduce what goes where . Each spikelet snaps into place when I trail it to the right-hand smirch , with a a nice adhesive effectual effect that yield each placement some satisfying tactile feedback .
well-situated puzzle have me aim a fistful of stickers at a time before moving on to a different part of the screen door , exchangeable to howStitchworks . Others have me fill up in much larger sheets that take 10 minute to clear . There are some more traditional puzzle too that just give me every composition at once and has me slot them into the full sheet without guidance . It ’s a good range of short and sweet puzzles to longer ones that role player can clean at over a few sessions .
What give this all a little superfluous spice is its aesthetical . To start a puzzle , I pull open a pack of stickers , not unlike the booster packs I spread inPokémon Trading Card Game Pocket . Each one is full of delightful spikelet that play along a silly theme , from rockstar capybaras to Van Gogh goats . It ’s puny and playful , filled with bright stickers to collect as I unlock more packs through weekly challenge and ongoing tasks .
If that sounds mere , it is — and that ’s a good affair . This is Lykke ’s quaternary Apple Arcade biz , and another that demonstrate how much the studio apartment has casual Mobile River nonplus down to a skill . It knows how to make a game that ’s built to be played for a few minutes while curled up on a lounge . Its biz are all tactual , satisfying , and not too thought-provoking .
It feel like the studio learn a small bit more about how to turn a play puzzle approximation into a long - term come-on too , asPuffiesfeatures a layer of role player patterned advance and weekly challenges that ’ll ensure players keep it installed . In an email interview , I call for studio apartment founder Jakob Lykkegaard about how its learnings from former secret plan shapedPuffies .
“ Ideally we have players consistently pick up our title a few times a calendar week as their way to unstrain , ” Lykkegaard secern Digital Trends . “ This intend we try out to contrive a more relaxed progression that allows for some tractability but never progress to you feel stuck . InStitch , we now have over 500 hoop , and we would have handle the progression a bit other than if we had known that at launch . That ’s one of the thing we ’ve tried to improve inPuffies . Instead of overwhelming you with 500 pick of what to play next , we present you with ~5 at a time . ”
That change make a big departure , as I ’m never overwhelmed by options and always drawn into one more teaser on my tilt . As someone who never deletedStitchoff my last iPhone , I imaginePuffieswill likewise be on in opprobrium in a home screen leaflet next toBalatro .
Lykke’s puzzle empire
As I was act as , I recognize that I get it on virtually nothing about Lykke . That surprised me given that I ’ve now played and love four of its games . How did the small squad become such a go - yo cooperator for Apple anyhow , to the compass point that it was tapped to bringStitchtoApple Vision Proas one of its first game . Lykkegaard give me the squad ’s lineage story and how it came to team up up with Apple .
“ After the majority of our team spent several years working in liberal - to - play prior to founding Lykke Studios , we had grown stock of designing ‘ monetisation - first ’ game and just dreamt of creating premium feeling experiences . ” Lykkegaard says . “ Our first title of respect , Amon , base on ARKit , caught Apple ’s optic and became a launch statute title for the iPhone X , which proved to us that Apple ’s and our manner of guess about experience were very aligned . This head us to later get involved in Arcade when we demonstrate themTintback in 2019 , and without exaggeration , that was the first time in our gaming life history that we could just focus on creating a not bad experience for the players without worrying about user acquisition , advertizing integrations , and paid changeover ratio . ”
We believably would n’t be bring in games any longer if it were n’t for a platform like Apple Arcade .
Apple Arcade is n’t just a good mountain for a little studio like Lykke ; it ’s a bit of a requisite . produce gamey - calibre teaser games like this is a tall task when you simply do n’t know if they ’re going to ascertain an audience . Not having to vex about that part takes some tension off the team , allowing them to center on what they do best . The validation is in the pudding view that all of its Apple Arcade game are among the good oblation on the political program .
“ We in all probability would n’t be making games anymore if it were n’t for a platform like Apple Arcade , ” Lykkegaard says . “ Our type of puzzles seems to conform to really well with the ordinary Arcade histrion . It would be severe to drop as much fourth dimension as we do on create that degree of polish and detail in our games anywhere else , it ’s just more fun for everyone that agency . ”
Puffieslaunches on April 3 for iOS devices viaApple Arcade .
