Shuttle Shuffle is a Windows Phone puzzle game where you are tasked with helping aliens find their spaceship (or shuttle) and fly home. Each ship's color corresponds with its alien pilot and you have a set number of moves to get each alien to their ship.
Shuttle Shuffle has 72 gaming levels plus a level editor where you can create, share and try puzzles created by other Shuttle Shuffle players. Available for low-memory Windows Phones, the game takes on a casual pace with no timers to race. Shuttle Shuffle comes across as a fun game to pass the time with when you are in the mood for a Windows Phone game with less pressure but plenty of challenge.
Three options greet you from the main menu of Shuttle Shuffle. You can jump into game play, visit the game's shop and access the game's settings. Settings are minimal with options to adjust the music and sound effects levels as well as switching between French and English language support.
The Shuttle Shuffle store is full of in-app purchase opportunities to unlock additional gaming worlds, pick up hint points and buy challenge or creation tickets (more on this in a minute).
Game play consists of 72 puzzles to solve that are spread across three worlds. Puzzles are progressively unlocked and to advance from world to world, you will have either to solve all the puzzles in the first venue or unlock the additional worlds through in-app purchase.
At the top of the level map, you will find three gaming choices.
- .You have the 72 level Campaign mode
- .The option to take on puzzles created by other users in the Challenge mode
- .The option to create puzzles for others to attempt in the Editor mode
The Challenge and Editor modes require tickets to access, which can be earned during game play or picked up in the gaming store through in-app purchase.
Your first level of play in the Campaign mode is a tutorial that will walk you through game play. The gaming screen for Shuttle Shuffle will have a checkerboard playing field of various sizes, an assortment of colored space ships and an equal assortment of color corresponding aliens. Your goal is to move the aliens into the appropriate space ship within a set number of moves. Naturally, if you met the goal in less moves than the objective the higher your score. Should you fail to meet the goal, the next level will remain locked.
Aliens can move vertically or horizontally and can move off the checkerboard to appear on the opposite side of the board. To help with the challenge of the game, if more than one alien sits on the same row or column when you move one alien they all move in that direction.
Should you get stuck and need a little help, at the bottom right corner of the gaming screen you will find a hint button. This will not give you the full solution to the puzzle but will get you headed in the right direction. Hints will cost you hint points that are earned during game play or picked up in the gaming store via in-app purchase.
Quick note with regards to the Editor mode is that you have the ability to set the size of the gaming board, the number and placement of your alien ships and then you can move your aliens around the board to set their starting position. The move limits are set based on how many moves it takes you to set your alien starting positions.
Overall Impression
In tinkering with Shuttle Shuffle over the past few days, the game comes across as a fun, casual game for your Windows Phone. It's not a difficult game to pick up but one that will test your skills at strategic movement to get all the aliens in place within the move limits.
Shuttle Shuffle is such a simple Windows Phone game it's difficult to find anything to be critical of. Graphics are nicely drawn up, the puzzle levels have plenty of challenge and the Editor/Challenge modes help give the game a little bit of flavor.
Shuttle Shuffle may not appeal to everyone but if you are looking for a casual paced puzzle game for your Windows Phone, it may be worth a try. There is only one review currently in the Windows Phone Store, which gives the game a 5 Star rating. I'm not sure I would give the game that high of a rating with a 4 Star rating being more true to the mark.
