Sumico (Android) Review

The game doesn't fit neatly into most puzzle game categories. It can be easily described as Bookworm with numbers, but that may sound like higher praise than intended, because it's not nearly as addictive as Bookworm. It's difficult to say exactly why, but it's likely because words are simply more interesting - they have meanings and feel more organic - whereas arbitrary numbers are just arbitrary numbers. It's certainly not because Sumico is poorly designed. On the contrary, the hexagonal motif that informs the game's aesthetic feels liberating after too many grid-based Bejeweled clones, and is even preferable for the natural movement of the human thumb. The game is also significantly less chance-based than other, similar games. Of course, chaos theory still makes planning beyond the next couple of moves impossible, but each level's tiles (including those that are initially off-screen) are deliberately placed, ensuring there are none of those infuriating moments where a level is unbeatable because it didn't provide the right tools.

If nothing else, the developers at Ludomotion should be applauded for discovering the inherent game-like properties of simple mathematics. When the player's only ability is manipulating numbers, a minus sign isn't just another link in the chain - it fundamentally changes how the goal is reached. Working in tandem with this system is a surprisingly complex and balanced scoring technique, wherein operators add points to the sum that the operators were used to calculate, and these bonuses remain with any non-target sums, allowing skilled players to accumulate points from multiple equations on the way to a single target. Different operators increase the point total differently based on their level of unwieldiness: subtraction is more profitable than addition, but can potentially introduce disruptive negative numbers, while multiplication and division increase the score dramatically - the former because it can easily cause a sum to spiral out of control, and the latter because it can only be used with certain number combinations. The mechanical palette is rounded out by a square operator, occasional timed levels, and even more occasional "create the highest number" levels.

Pacing, on the other hand, is not Ludomotion's strong suit. The multiplication operator is the first real game-changer, and the two sets of levels that need to be completed before it's introduced (24 out of 72 total) are a slog. Even after that point, there's too large a gap between the introductions of new mechanics. Being accessible is great, but expecting players to take 12 levels to figure out how multiplication works is overkill. The previously mentioned timed and "highest number" levels are also barely used, only accounting for 12 levels combined. Perhaps the developers realised that these levels' time limits were ruthlessly strict, and decided to downplay their presence, but it seems like extending the time limits and making them more central to the experience would have been a more agreeable solution. However, these things are just symptoms of the root problem: Sumico is trying to entertain using elementary school math, and no matter how well it's disguised, that's not going to happen unless players are given a lot of distractions along the way. This is most evident in the game's Endless Mode, which will almost definitely remain untouched after completing the campaign, as the knowledge that there is nothing new to be found inside will extinguish any interest before it's even opened.

Everything around the math has been polished extremely well, though. The geometric visuals are both appealing and original, and watching the score modifiers from a long equation tick off one by one is way more satisfying than it has any right to be. The music consists of pleasant academic compositions reminiscent of Brain Age, and the subtle chimes and taps that accompany the player's actions are the perfect complement to the subdued gameplay. It would be a relaxing game if it didn't require so much concentration. Finally, the interface is uncluttered and bold, making it perfectly suited to a touch screen. Reversing an in-progress equation isn't the most intuitive action, and a tooltip displaying the current outcome of an equation would've been appreciated, but these are small issues with an otherwise sharp-looking, focused presentation.