Square Valley 4+

It’s a deceptively simple premise. Each tile has different rules governing where it can be placed and how it scores points. You are given a small selection from a random deck and must find the best place to play a tile. But the interlocking and competing requirements of all the different tiles quickly ramp up the challenge and the available spots shrink the further the game progresses. Add every few turns you have to consider how best to place a road or a river or a wall or a fence. Each will have a different set of implications for the tiles on the board and those you have yet to place.

The art is simple but pleasing, the UI is very intuitive and any thought that the gameplay might get repetitive is quickly dispelled by the huge set of levels that gradually unlock more and more buildings, rules and challenges.

All this and no in-app purchases or irritating adverts? This - this! - is how mobile games should be.

This is an excellent puzzle game. It strikes the perfect balance between challenge and simplicity. Every level is different and some of the random features mean you never know what sort of challenge you’ll face each round. The tile characteristics are sometimes a little difficult to interpret, but after a few tries and seeing the final scoring it makes more sense. Otherwise it’s quite brilliant. The experience of playing is actually quite relaxing when listening to the pleasant music too. Thoroughly enjoying it and worth the small cost of the app. Five star game.

Although this wasn’t the game I thought it was going to be I’m really enjoying it so far, from the lovely art direction, the different challenges each level provides and beautifully soothing soundtrack makes it a game I keep going back to when I have time to kill!

*Note* I was going to mention how sometimes the game makes it a bit tedious with the somewhat random tile generation for where you can place and how some of the requirements are a bit confusing to understand (I’m looking at you The Jewelry Shop) but it looks like the devs have already started rolling out updates to fix these issues so kudos to them and thank you!