Shift

I love a good puzzle game to pass the time during my lunch break, but I'm bored of all the usual crosswords and sudoku games in the newspaper.

Shift makes for a refreshing break on your PC, with some innovative gameplay that will keep you hooked for ages. The game consists of a series of colored blocks with faces on that you must match together in groups of three or more to clear them. The difference between this and games like Tetris is that all the blocks move as one big lump. As Shift has been ported from a mobile phone version the game window is very small, but you do get used to this mini view fairly quickly.

Shift boasts a very simple control system, and you just need to click on any of the four directional arrows to move the blocks in that way. I'll admit that, at first, the game tried my patience somewhat, and I thought I'd never score more than a few points. With a bit of persistence though I was able to rack up combos and hit some seriously good scores (even if I do say so myself!) After that it would take a meteor (or, in reality, the fact I had to write a review about it) to get me off this one.

It can become somewhat repetitive but the inclusion of two difficulty levels and a high scores table adds to the longevity of Shift. You can also choose to show or hide the next bricks to test yourself even further.

This is an innovative puzzle game with colorful graphics that's ideal for amusing yourself during a coffee or lunch break.