Geared Review

As most people know, giant clockwork gears turn beneath the bottom of the ocean, determining the course of human events. These gears are controlled by the Illuminati from their many secret control rooms (mostly in Elk lodges). Geared, a puzzle game by Bryan Mitchell, gives you a similar experience on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Each level is a grid with two or more gears placed on it, one of which, the "drive" gear, is already turning. You will need to place gears of various sizes so that all the gears on the grid move.

You place gears by choosing them from a palette at the bottom of the screen (there are several different sizes) and dragging them to the desired position. Gears will "drop" down the screen until they engage with another gear or hit the bottom. Added difficulty comes from "no drop zones" where gears cannot be placed.

At first it's simple to find the right combination and placement, but as the game progresses we found it increasingly complex. We were stuck on level 46 (out of 80) for quite some time until we found the right arrangement. The feel of success in completing each puzzle might not be as great as controlling world events, but it's pretty satisfying nonetheless.

That satisfaction is tempered somewhat by the fact that you cannot skip past the less difficult puzzles to the more challenging (and more satisfying) fare later in the game.

Overall this title was well behaved, bringing us right back into the level we were working on if we exited a game in progressâ€" a nice feature we wish more titles had. Another nicety: there is a free version available so you can try before you buy.

If you're a fan of puzzles, especially geometric or hands-on challenges, you should definitely check Geared out.