iPhone/iPad review of the day: Beyond Ynth – the cutesy, bug-walking puzzle game

For iPhone/iPod
Game:
Beyond Ynth
Price: $1.99 / %26pound;1.19 (sale)
Size: 81.3 MB
Get it now at the Apple store:US/UK

For iPad
Game:
Beyond Ynth HD
Price: $2.99 / %26pound;1.79 (sale)
Size: 61.2 MB
Get it now at the Apple store:US/UK


Above: All screens are from the iPhoneversion

Beyond Ynth has one of the wackiest theme songs ever %26ndash; singing ladybug dudes explaining how to play the game over a grooved-out backdrop of funk. It%26rsquo;s actually pretty catchy (it%26rsquo;s stuck in our heads). Oh yeah, and the cute and challenging puzzler it introduces is rad too.

Beyond Ynth stars a ladybug knight named Kribl who%26rsquo;s called upon by the queen to recover missing magical diamonds located around the kingdom. The four dark spiders of the apocalypse nabbed the crucial resources and scattered them across the four %26ldquo;terrible territories of terror.%26rdquo; Recovering these precious gems requires that you scuttle your little carapace through dozens of stages filled with puzzle blocks which must be navigated through and tilted from the inside to progress.

Pushing against the outer wall of a block you%26rsquo;re in flops it onto its side, which can enable you to climb around inside and access openings and objects. Each of the four %26ldquo;terrible territories%26rdquo; has its own unique visual theme and habitat that affects gameplay. For example, the desert has sunbeams that cook your little bug within a split second of exposure, and the arctic mountains have ice patches that impede movement. Beyond Ynth is no push-over in the difficulty department. Though the going can get tough at times, there are plenty of branching levels to explore if you get stuck.

And charisma? It had us at %26ldquo;singing ladybugs%26rdquo;.

Jan. 13, 2011