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brain:code – tricksy code-based logic games

These are some of the most challenging, frustrating, and satisfying brain workouts you can find

Price: Free (with IAPs)
Version: 1.0.8
Size: 69 MB
Seller: Kirill Kartukov
Platform: iPhone

brain:code

“Think outside the box.” That’s the tagline for brain:code, a recent release on the App Store that offers some of the most frustrating – yet satisfying – brain workouts you can find on iPhone. If you’re looking for logic puzzles to challenge and stretch you, this may be the app for you.

In brain:code, you’re presented with various enigmatic scenarios which you’re challenged to “solve” by inputting commands using the on-screen keyboard. In truth, the game doesn’t give you much in the way of an introduction or tutorial: instead, it’s over to you. Take a good look at the puzzle, and when you type the correct command, you move on to the next level.

Turn 9 into six.

Commands can do all sorts of things, and there are 15 altogether. For instance, typing “/text:” followed by a word or phrase will print text on the screen, while “/rotate” lets you spin the object currently in focus by a set number of degrees. You can also animate objects, move them, select them, or switch between a light and dark theme. Fortunately, the “/help” command also reveals a full list of brain:code commands for users to check through.

If only we could change the background to white, the cage would effectively disappear…

What you end up doing, then, is spending a lot of time puzzling over each level, thinking outside of the box in as many different ways as you can, and trialing different command phrases. For some, this might be immensely frustrating; for others, it could be hugely satisfying. Or, like me, you may fall somewhere in between.

The app also gifts you a bunch of “tips” to spend, which unlock pointers if you get stuck. A small tip (which costs a single token) will provide a subtle hint – brain:code might tell you that the current level involves a word problem, or it’ll suggest a particular type of command. A big tip (for five tokens) gives you a full-level solution. And for three tokens, you can skip the level out completely.

What’s significant about these words?

Most of us may resort to using tips every now and then. While you can buy them, brain:code also gives away single tips if you watch a video ad in-app. This is a nice compromise, as users can get a lot from the game without having to spend real cash.

What kind of puzzle is this?

There are 40 levels in total for players to work through and these are a good mix of different puzzle styles – word-based, logic, and mathematical. You can be sure of an all-round brain workout here. One of the only problems is that brain:code doesn’t order its puzzles in terms of difficulty: they start hard, and remain hard. This makes the app a little inaccessible to anyone lacking in patience – various difficulty settings might be a nice addition in this respect to ease players in slowly.

Thank goodness for tips.

So for a thorough brain workout that could challenge and frustrate you in equal measure, take a look at brain:code. It’s a free download for iPhone that’s supported by optional in-app purchases.