I’ve reviewed Daily Shady for the iPhone before but now comes an enhanced stand alone application from the developers called Shady Puzzle. A better experience is helped by a clean enjoyable interface as well as some challenges and achievements on the way. But will it keep your attention for long?

Now the interface is designed in a type of sketch book/school book type of way and it brings a new type of experience to the iPhone with nice visual elements providing a smooth transition between menu screens.  I really like it and find sets it apart from other apps however the key is how the game itself works.  But don’t worry about that. Shady Puzzle does what the Daily Shady app does but 10x better.  A constructed level improvement gives increased difficulty to the game and an improved colour marking system makes the screen seem less dry.  As you make your way up the levels you gain achivements, but don’t expect for them to be like on the Xbox 360 yet they still add an extra dimension to an otherwise linear game.  Definite thumbs up here and I think other apps should try and go down the reward/achievement route for games like Shady Puzzle has done.

On the other hand Shady Puzzle does have its limitations and this is particularly clear if you spend a lot of time on this app.  Once you finish the main levels, which can albeit take a long time, all you can do is replay those levels.  It would be nice if the developer could somehow create a random game generator to mix it up a bit and provide an (in theory) infinite playing time. Don’t fear if you don’t have a clue how to play it either, as there is a more than satisfactory tutorial in place to help you get in the swing of things!

So Shady Puzzle builds on the unique puzzle game and provides a very enjoyable experience making you play countless levels before realising where the time has gone.  If you like playing the free Daily Shady app then I recommend picking up Shady Puzzle for the promotional price of 59p but be quick, it’s only promotional now!