The Ultimate PS Vita Twitch Game - Beat My Record!

Just a bite sized update before Eric shows us all the wonders of Gen Con! This isn't a board game review, unlike what I've written before about Specter Ops and Warhammer Conquest.

I quickly look up at Pedro, who gives me a thumbs up. "36 minutes, looking good." I look down again and tap. The screen refreshes.
A checkered display of good blue marked out in a sea of bad red. I take a breath.
Tap. Fingers fly to the blue. Tap. Eye scans. Blue there, yes! Blue, yes. Blue. Taptaptap. Red - stop. Stop.
Blue to the left. Tap. Swipe up. Tap. Pinch here. Tap. It's pinch, dammit. Taptap. 
New screen. Flip. Rightleft. Flip. Updown. Tap. Ugh. Red. Instant failure.
Groan.
But I love it. Tap.
The screen refreshes.

@brkg_ shows us how to play Squares! (Yes, you need to shake the #psvita like that)
Posted by LEAP Game Studios on Monday, July 20, 2015

So Squares is a really fun, super reflex intensive PS Vita game that just came out last week (iOS version is currently in the works). I got the chance to play it right before launch, and it is the perfect combination of challenging and addicting.

Its premise is simple: each level splits the screen into a grid which is filled with some squares. After you've tapped all the blue squares to make them grey, you advance to the next puzzle. From this core the game then adds a countdown timer. Then it adds red squares, which you can't touch without failing the level. Then it adds swiping, flipping, even pinching; that's a cool mechanic where you have to tap the Vita's screen and its underside at the same time to clear the blue square.
With these additions, Squares becomes a great twitch game that just dares you to beat it.

Here's a level. Tap and swipe all the blue squares into grey before the timer runs out!

The main game is simply awesome. It's full of 91 levels, each of which has about 3-5 puzzles that ramp up very quickly in difficulty. Again, just make the blue squares turn grey! Unfortunately it is a bit bare after you've beaten those levels, but you can create your own puzzles and share them with friends to keep the challenge going. 

I managed to beat the game in 50 minutes, which is still a world record. Go out there and claim it!