Keep Calm And Play On: Huebrix Is A Serene, Colourful, Brain-Bending Puzzler

Puzzle games not only help to entertain you, but also give your brain cells a workout to keep you sharp. They are great when you want to waste time in the office, and Huebrix is one of the best in this department.

What makes Huebrix so accessible is that it’s not bound to one platform. You get to play it on a browser, on an Android or iOS device. Chances are, you can always access one of those so Huebrix is just what you need for some brain-bending fun.

What’s Huebrix All About?

There’s something about Huebrix that will remind you of Flow Free, the addictive puzzle game that jogs your brain cells. In Huebrix, you have a grid of squares and a few coloured blocks on it. Each coloured block has a number. That number denotes the number of squares you can move the block, colouring each square as you go. The objective is to fill the grid with coloured squares.

But of course, it’s never going to be that simple, is it? Huebrix throws many twists in the game that will make your life a lot more challenging. There are:

• Multiple coloured blocks.
• Greyed squares that you can’t move to.
• Coloured squares need the corresponding coloured block to pass through them.
• Squares with an arrow, and the direction of that arrow is the only way you can move out of the square.
• Squares with a big cross, which stop your coloured block from moving any further.
• Squares with a grey plus sign and a number, which adds that many steps to your coloured block.
• Squares with a grey minus sign and a number, which subtracts that many steps from your coloured block.
• Portals to go from one side to another.

The good part about Huebrix is that it never bombards you with too many of those elements in one level. Each puzzle seems difficult when you first glance at it, but you are able to figure it out soon enough and move on to the next one. Just in case you do get stuck, the developers have thrown in limited hints that you can tap to get through.

On mobile, it’s as simple as tracing with your finger. On a browser, it’s click-and-hold to move. Such simple controls are the hallmark of a good puzzle game, much like these three popular free logic games.

It’s The Little Things

Granted, the gameplay is fun, but what really draws the player back to Huebrix are the other elements. The design is easy on the eyes with its bright colours contrasted against a stark white board.

This is backed up by a soothing background score, accentuated by the little blips of your moving block. The entire effect of the game is calming, while you are actually still exercising your mind.

The developers also throw in a bit of humour at the end of each level, where you are awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal depending upon the time you needed, with snarky commentary like “Whatever” or “Impressive, for you.”

Not Everything Is Equal

So given all this, you would think Huebrix is a game you should grab right now and start playing, yes? Well, it depends on what platform you are looking at. For some reason, the pricing of the game and the ad insertion isn’t consistent.

On the browser, you can play it smoothly and there are no ads breaking up your flow. It’s a perfect experience.

Play Huebrix Free In Your Browser

On Android, there are two versions of Huebrix. There’s a free version that is riddled with ads, with a full-screen ad popping up after each level, and a paid version for $1 that removes them, and you need to pay another dollar to unlock all the levels. I’d say it’s worth it, but if you can still try out the free version first to see if you want to pay that. But be warned, those ads are incredibly annoying.

Download for Android: Huebrix Free / Huebrix ($1)

On iOS, Huebrix costs $1.99 and there’s no free version available, but all the levels are unlocked. You can try out the web version, because the mobile app looks and behaves the same, only it’s a bit smoother on the iPhone. But if you feel hard done by that price difference, then there are three free and addictive puzzle games on the iPhone you can check out instead.

Download for iOS: Huebrix ($1.99)

As someone who uses both iOS and Android, I often feel cheated when a game is priced higher on iOS than on Android, or a free version is made available only for Android. But I wonder if that’s just me. What’s your take on paying more on one platform than another?