TileTap review

TileTap is a matching tile Word/Letter/Shape game where 3 rows of tile scroll around with a large amount of options, a huge amount of gameplay styles, and different tiles to challenge your brain in tile tapping. Released by Agfonzo, TileTap is available on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad for $0.99. This game is compatible with OpenFeint and is designed for iPhone4 and iPad with high-res graphics.

This is a word game of epic scale. There are 3 Game Types: Standard, where you have 2 minutes to pair together as many tiles as possible; Challenge, where you pair tiles to increase your time and you try to last as long as possible; and Practice, where you can just play infinitely. From there, you have 7 tile sets with 3 simple tiles and 4 complex tiles. The simple tiles include numbers, letters, and shapes while complex involve scrambled words that you have to match letters with, basic math problems, average math problems, and ridiculously complicated hard math problems. Every mode feels different, changes your pacing, and gives a great amount of challenge in each of them. That is a lot of modes.

The graphics are surprisingly good. The background image is a beautiful art design, the tiles are clear and easy to read, and the overall design is absolutely solid. It makes matching the tiles easy and only challenging because of your own reaction time rather than odd colors or illegibility. The sound is strangely retro, but fits well enough. Sound effects are basic and fit the job to tell you that you matched correctly or incorrectly and it gives you notification once you unlock certain achievements.

I have to say, TileTap really does push your brain. The math tiles are insanely difficult under pressure and pretty much establishes that TileTap is extremely effective to improve your math skills. If you have ever played Brain Age, this is almost the same type of teaching tool. In practice mode, I had a heck of a time with the hard-mode math game, but the most fun is with the simple selection of tiles since it didn’t feel like a grade school/high school math test.

I love this game for its options, easy to use controls, simple concept, and immense challenge. I couldn’t be happier to recommend this game because of its perfect execution, excellent in-game explanation of each mode and tile set, and it’s very good color scheme to allow for easy reading and comfort during long term playing.

As for recommendations, I would like the ability to change the colors of the tiles, text, and backgrounds to whatever I want. Maybe different skins or color pickers. Besides that, I think the game is an excellent example of simple to learn, hard to master. Pick this one up. You will get as addicted to it as I have.

AppSafari Rating: 5/5

AppSafari review of TileTap was written by Joseph Ho on October 6th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Featured, Games, iPad apps, Universal, Word Games. Page viewed 4624 times, 2 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.