Daily Puzzle Hands-On

Most people who are familiar with mobile games will agree that puzzle games are an ideal fit for phone handsets. Good puzzle games that possess low-impact gameplay and quick play sessions can appeal to huge audiences. And if you throw in a competitive aspect and regularly updated content, you get an even more appealing prospect. Sorrent is trying to fill this niche with its new brainteaser, entitled Daily Puzzle. We had a chance to test our mettle against a few of the beta's puzzles at CTIA, and we came away from the experience both humbled and impressed.

To stock its game with puzzles, Sorrent has retained the services of visual puzzle maestro Scott Kim. Kim is apparently quite famous in brain-game circles for his intricately constructed, math-heavy puzzles, which are frequently based upon spatial reasoning and wordplay. Kim already has a number of computer-based puzzle games under his belt, including experience working on Bejeweled and Collapse, as well as a Brainteasers Page-a-Day calendar for 2005.

Sorrent's contract with Kim covers a fresh puzzle every day that will be automatically disseminated to Daily Puzzle players via a quick download. The puzzles range widely in terms of subject. Two puzzles that we experienced firsthand included a linked-ring puzzle (in which you must cut only two to separate all five) and a word puzzle that asked for a common, 11-letter word with the sequence "UFA" in it. The puzzles will be coded according to difficulty, and when you supply your answer, you'll immediately receive feedback telling you what percentage of players answered similarly. The game will also feature an online leaderboard, although it is still unclear how online competition will be implemented.

Daily Puzzle will hit handsets before the end of the year. We'll have more details as they become available. And, by the way, the answer is "manufacture."