Review

Gameplay 91%

Yellow is an innovative puzzle game that has a very simple presentation, but a very complex way of solving each level, which is always cleared by making all the screen yellow, but the way to do it changes every single time.   The fun of the game is figuring out how the controls work on each puzzle. Most of the time you just have to do some random tapping until you realize you activate something. Other times there will be buttons that work as switches, or black squares that affect the other figures surrounding them and so on. Besides just tapping, sometimes dragging or touching something, letting go, and touch it again is the way to go. A few levels are pretty much obvious from the start, but others really don’t give you any indication of what to do. In that case, in a corner of the screen there’s a lightbulb icon that gives you a hint when you press it. You can press it up to 3 times, but what’s actually entertaining about Yellow is trying to solve all of the levels by yourself. If you already started trying to solve a puzzle and got confused about what to do, you can tap the re-do icon to start over and this time try to see what to do from a fresh start. The overall objective of the game is just to beat all of the 50 stages, and if you leave the game in the middle, you can go back and continue where you left off.

Graphics 40%

Yellow graphics are extremely simple and you will seem to be looking at a caution sign on the road or n’s shirt, since everything is black and yellow and most of the time there aren’t even geometric figures on the screen or shapes you can recognize.   Given the gameplay, the visuals featured in Yellow work just right, and most people won’t complain since this is actually one of the most originals casual puzzle games of this year, but it could offer a much better experience to the players if it had more than black, yellow, text and a few figures.

Production Quality 87%

Yellow has 50 original puzzles to keep you entertained for about an hour if you manage to solve each one of them in a minute or so. Actually, some levels will take you just a few seconds to beat, but other will put your brain to work in ways you never tought a game will make you.   The music is OK, and it has a few sound effects where needed, but nothing too fancy. It also doesn’t have achievements or anything else besides the core gameplay, as it tries to be as minimalistic as posible in presentation and just make the player wonder what to do; and for puzzle enthusiasts looking for a game that really tries to innovate, it is enough, since the gameplay mechanics here are very different than in most games of the genre.

Value for your Money 94%

Yellow is free on Google Play and the Apple App Store. You will see advertising every time you have to use a hint, but that’s to be expected from games like this, and there’s a premium version with no ads. At least plaing for free you never run out of tips, and unlike similar games, where you have limited hints and then you must pay to use them.

Launch Video

Summary

Yellow has a very simple presentation at first sight, and may not get the attention of the average player given its name and minimal design, but you just need to try out a few levels to realize this is one of the most clever and innovative puzzle games available today. Check it out if you want to exercise your brain, here you will find a very original brain workout. Pros

• One of the most original recent games in the puzzle genre
• 3 Hints per level so anybody can beat it

Cons

• The visuals are way too simplistic, you only see black and yellow and a few shapes
• There could’ve been better music to improve concentration

Game Help Guru Rating 83%