I’ve been hesitant to turn my iPhone into a portable gaming platform. I haven’t really bought into the interface controls for a lot of the games on mobile platforms because they just seem a little strange. For example, a virtual joystick that usually sits in the corner of the screen with accompanying buttons on the opposite side. Or way too much tapping. I used to watch/help my sister play Mystery Manor on her iPad, which she played with a stylus because she got tired of cleaning the screen of fingerprints. But sometimes, mobile games leverage the capabilities of the mobile platforms they live on and it’s not so bad. Quell was my first mobile phone game.

Quell is a relaxing puzzler. The concept is quite simple. You are in control of a raindrop and you need to pick up pearls on each map. The only motion to control the raindrop is swiping and it determines which direction (up, down, left, right) the raindrop will move. The raindrop will keep moving until it runs into an obstacle or picks up the last pearl on the map. There are a few different obstacles, notably blocks which are harmless and spikes which can “kill” you. Edges of the map loop around (ala old arcade games), so it is possible to get your raindrop into an infinite loop.

What I really like about this game is it doesn’t matter where on the screen you swipe. This means your finger (and by extension your hand) doesn’t block the screen. Although it is a laid back game, I’ve found swiping in other, more high-activity games to be a little frustrating when my finger/hand inadvertently blocks my view of the screen (e.g., Fruit Ninja). I also find if you slowly drag your finger, the raindrop will stretch in the same direction. It’s a small little animation feature that I like when I’m thinking through my solution.

I generally don’t play with the sound on, but I have listened to the soundtrack of the game on a few occasions. The relaxed soundtrack adds to the ambient nature of the game and complements the art, which, unfortunately you don’t get to see much of because the map sits on top of it. The general atmosphere I get from playing the game is being inside on a lazy rainy day, just relaxing and solving some puzzles. Some people like to read, others like to play crossword puzzles. And others like to play FPSs, watch TV, .. none of these are “quiet” or “reflective” which are the keywords I’m going for.

I have been playing off and on for the past month or so and I just finished it yesterday. I’m still going for the “perfect” solutions so it’s not quite complete, but the game can be finished in a short amount of time. Finding the perfect solutions may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when you need to relax, unwind, and/or focus your thoughts on something else, this is a good outlet for that. Also, I’ve noticed the game has helped me with my problem of running simulations in my head. The generally simple mechanics make mental simulations easy. Coupled with the short amount of moves to find a solution, repetition can also help short-term memory and rather than keeping track of entire simulations, just keep track of the moves you want to make and link to the short-term memory to fill in the gaps.

This is a game I’d keep on my phone as something to pass the time. I’m still a little hesitant about turning my phone into a mobile games library (as my sister seems to have no troubles with), but perhaps I’m just being picky and quality is something someone would find in my rather tiny (at the moment) games library.