[Update 26.09.08 @ 14.21pm] – Added more game-play screen shots.
Last week, Steve Demeter of Demiforce LLC announced that in just 9 weeks, his popular iPhone puzzler Trism had garnered him over $250.000 (Yes, that’s just over 2 months).
I’m about to review it to show just what all the fuss is really about …
$250.000. That’s the amount of revenue Steve Demeter’s iPhone ‘hobby’ made him after submitting it to the store less than 2 months ago. We first saw Trism on the jailbreak scene. It was available as a demo, and as with other titles from Cydia and Installer, the idea was there, but the UI and game play needed enhancing. It’s safe to say when Apple announced the App Store, Steve Demeter started drumming up hype for the game by posting a video demo of the ‘native’ version on YouTube.
This worked exceptionally well, and hype of the game grew out of control, generating Steve a pre-user base he could have only dreamed. So when the game did finally hit just after July 11th, it completely flew of the shelve (.. yes I bought it too :D). I’m now here to review the game 2 months on, looking at the good, the bad, and the desperately-needs-improving (ok … maybe not the last one).
The Aim
For anyone who has played the phenomenon known only as ‘Bejeweled‘ you’ll be right at home, but that’s not to say Trism is a cheap rip of Bejeweled, oh no .. Trism comes from a unique concept and has a few twists and turns on the way. Bright, colourful and pleasing, your aim is to simply match different triangular playing pieces, of different colours, to each other. The minimum number of tiles you can match together is 3. You must have 3 tiles matched at any point in the game to pick up points.
Gameplay Features
Tiles come in rows. To move these titles you simply touch and drag. The rows slide in all directions allowing you to reach tiles which otherwise would not be accessible. If a match is found when sliding a row, the row becomes sticky to match the tiles you wish. Once a match has disappeared, you can chose the direction that the tiles fall, by using the built in accelerometer. If no matches are found, the row snaps back into it’s original position waiting for your next move. There are three playing modes offered in Trism, and two of those modes offer one or two difficult obstacles along the way:
- Infinism Mode
The first mode of Trism, this is mode is for the hardcore fans. Infinism has no limits, it’s just you and the Trism board for however long you want to play.
- Terminism Mode
This is a mode which progressively gets harder throughout the level tree. Firstly, your timed. Oh yes – a clock, to add to your pulsating adrenaline. Also, each time the board realises your getting better, it’ll throw a bomb into the mix. A bomb is represented as a black glossed circular device which appears of top of a coloured tile. You get no warning, and bombs are timed. To defuse a bomb you must match 3 or more corresponding coloured tiles together. Failure to do so in a certain amount of moves, will result in you losing the game.
- Syllogism Mode
The final gaming mode currently offered in the latest version of Trism, is very simple. Clear the trisms by tilting your device to match them up. If you fail to match the trism tiles up in a given amount of moves, you fail.
Combos
Combos are achievable in almost every aspect of Trism, apart from Syllogism mode. A combo is achieved when you successfully match a set of 3 or more trisms, consecutively, with another set of 3 or more trims. The more chain matches you get, the more you score with combos.
Achievements
This adds to the competitive nature of Trism. Achievements. These are gained when a certain goal or required task is completed within a any level of Trism. For example, if you successfully disarm a bomb, you’ll get an achievement saying ‘You disarmed a bomb successfully’. There are currently about 50-90 achievements, so you won’t get bored just yet …
Obstacles
Throughout this review we’ve mentioned most of the obstacles Trism offers up, but some we haven’t, some I’d just like to recap:
- Bombs
Timed and fierce. To defuse a bomb you must match 3 or more corresponding coloured tiles together. If you fail to disarm one in a certain amount of moves, it’s game over for you.
- Locks
As you progress through Trism, one of the obstacles it will throw at you are locks. Locks are just that, Trism screws down a tile making it impossible to move that certain row of tiles. To unlock the row, just like a bomb you must match 3 or more corresponding coloured tiles together. Hurry though, the more locks that appear on the board, the harder it is to gain points.
- Time
Ahhh, the invisible one. Numerous levels and game modes of Trism are timed.
Once that clock reaches zero, it’s game over matey.
Extras
There are a few things which set Trism apart from the competition though:
- Sound!
I can’t tell you the amount of gaming titles currently on the store which don’t have sound! – It’s illogical. Luckily Steve realised this, and Trism is packed with sound!
- Colourblind Mode
Steve recognised the need for colourblind users to be able to play trism. He went through two ways of implementing this, the first was just implementing the first letter of the colour onto the coloured title. Of course he got backlash for this as people still couldn’t see the colour properly. In this update, 1.1 he added a new colourblind method. By placing a distinctive pattern on each tile, colours were now irrelevant. You have the option to turn colourblind mode on and off in settings.
Price
Trism entered the store priced at a graceful £1.79, and today it’s still £1.79. As I’ve said with our other reviews, if Steve wanted it to literally fly off the shelve, without dips in sales, this could be lowered slightly. It’s still not low enough for impulse buys, but to be honest this game doesn’t need them, it excels. It really is the first true iPhone classic.
Overall
I’m making this sound perfect aren’t I? – Well honestly, it is. Trism, with it’s enchanting game play, clever obstacles, and varying game modes, it really is an iPhone title to reckon with. As the figures suggest, Trism is popular. So popular in fact, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibly that this title could surpass 1M in sales before year end. Now that’s impressive.
Rating: 9.4/10 (Highly recommended, Well designed, A pleasure)
Grab it: Here
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