Mobile Game of the Week: Watercolors (iOS)
Simple is better. That’s the maxim behind Watercolors, a puzzle game based on the rudimentary relationships between red, blue and yellow. Using only these primary colors, Watercolors players are tasked with painting hundreds of tiled stages, all laid out in unique and increasingly complex patterns. The experience, at once meditative and mentally stimulating, is satisfying in either short spurts or at length, and is suitable for youngsters and grown-ups alike.
Anyone with a basic understanding of mixing colors can dig into Watercolors in seconds. Drag a color from its starting position to a target tile of the same color. If the target tile indicates a secondary color—orange, green, purple—then you’ll need to mix the appropriate primary colors on the way. Game modes include free play, timed play and an option to challenge friends on specific stages.
Later levels, however, can get a little hairy. The introduction of more advanced mechanics, like overpasses and serpentine maps, shifts the game from lightly contemplative to downright brain-teasing. The shift is a welcome one, though, as Watercolors’ level design is consistently clever. There is certainly a rhythmic sweet spot to be found once you get the hang of it.
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