Splice 5.0.17

Check out a storage optimization and media management toolset for editing tasks. Synchronize every project save with the Splice Cloud and create backups of media materials accessible as a single file. Share the projects with other users and devices, download standardized samples, etc.

Splice is a humbly presented but remarkably-well crafted puzzle game in which each level presents a structure (resembling a molecule) and the player must rearrange the pieces according to specific rules, in as efficient a manner as possible. Although the task is spatial, the problem is essentially a logical one, as indeed it is in all puzzle games.

Splice's simple user interface is beautiful enough on its own to make it worth a try. The viewing angle changes slightly depending on the cursor position in an intuitive way, allowing the player to effectively and passively understand the structure at any given time. While a three-dimensional view isn't strictly necessary, as all the puzzles could be represented in two dimensions, it contributes to an immersive and dynamic environment that makes the puzzles enjoyable - even when you get stuck.

And, assuming you do not belong to Mensa, you will get stuck. Despite the simplicity of the forementioned rules, It can be a real challenge figuring out how to create the desired structure in the first place, let alone in the fewest steps possible. There's no skipping in the preliminary level set, but once you finish that there's a whole new set of à la carte challenges... which, as I can presume from my experience with them so far, is where the developers put the real headspinners. Whoo-ee!

Sam's protip: If you're stuck on an advanced level, first try figuring out how to get the right number of segments. Often there aren't many ways to reach it, and the paths that do lead you close to, if not directly to, the desired structure.