Windows Phone puzzle games can be an enjoyable way to pass the time. Some games are fast paced to challenge your reflexes and sense of timing. Then other games require a little more thought in finding a solution. Rote is a relatively new Windows Phone game that falls more into the latter category.
The puzzle game has you guiding a ball down a path that is blocked by a series of boxes. You will have to shuffle the boxes around to create a path the ball can use to continue its travels. The concept is simple but as you will find, the solutions are not. Available for low-memory Windows Phones, Rote comes across as a quality addition to the Windows Phone puzzle game genre.
The menu for Rote is a little on the unique side. Navigating around the menu requires you to move a ball across a pathway to the gaming level map. You also have a pathway the runs down the screen that will lead you to the game's settings.
Settings are minimal with an option to mute the music and an option to reset your gaming progress.
Rote has thirty levels of play that are progressively unlocked and progressively get more difficult to solve. The gaming concept has your ball sitting on one side of a path with a series of boxes blocking the way to the other side.
You can move the boxes by rolling your ball into them and swiping the screen to move them around. Each row of boxes will move in unison and you will have to create a path that allows your ball to weave its way through.
The first few levels are relatively easy and have tutorial messages to guide you through game play. Again, the concept sounds easy but once you hit level four, the game can kick you in the butt and laugh out loud about it.
There is no timer involved or a move limit to the puzzles. You do have a reset button that will… well… reset the puzzle should you move the blocks into a corner and cannot move them back.
Rote has a casual feel to it but does not lack challenge. A challenge that can be a real head scratcher at times.
Overall Impression
Rote, by definition means memorization through repetition. I'm not sure what can be memorized with this game but there is a chance that through repetition a solution could come to light.
Rote will challenge your patience, evaluative skills and strategery. The only downside to the game is that it only has thirty levels of play. Hopefully, the developer will update the game in the future to add more levels to the mix. Until then, unless you just have an uncanny skill at solving these puzzles, the thirty levels should keep you busy for a little while.
Let us know in the comments below what you think of Rote, should you try the game, and remember to rate Rote in the Windows Phone Store. It is the easiest way to send your feedback to the developer.
