iTangram by Game Olymp is a fantasy arcade puzzle game where you need to interact with objects of different shapes. The story takes place in an ancient magic kingdom where magicians used the Crystal of Four Elements to control the weather and protect people from nature forces. However, one day the energy of the Crystal got out of control, thus provoking many natural cataclysms. By filling empty cells with objects of the right shapes you’ll need to reconstruct some ruined castles and help the kingdom magicians to gain control over the raging elements once again.

iTangram might be the first puzzle game of this type that has an actual story connected to it. That might be the most unique part of the game. For a puzzle game, the story is pretty deep however, you don’t need to follow the story to play the game. It’s not necessary and you can enjoy the game regardless if you do or don’t. The story is there as an added extra for those who want more from their puzzle games.

As you can guess by the name, iTangram uses Tangram style puzzle pieces instead of the usually square and rectangles you see in other games of this type. This actually adds quite a bit of challenge since you really need to think ahead when placing pieces otherwise you’ll find yourself in a position where the really small pieces you need are not available for your puzzle. My tip is to try and use as many as the bigger pieces as possible as these are the pieces that come down the most. What you can do is let the pieces fall first into the safety net while you plan out what pieces you want to use. That helps as well.

The controls for iTangram are pretty well thought out. As pieces drop, you can grab them with your thumb, then to rotate, you use your other thumb to either tap or swipe on the screen, then drag the piece to the empty slot you want to put it in.

iTangram includes 50 puzzles plus 5 bonus levels. It is a very family friendly puzzle game although smaller children might not completely understand what to do as it is a bit advanced, but hey, you never know. Your child could be a super genius and know how to play. Doesn’t hurt to try.

The only suggestion I would have to iTangram that I’d like to see in future games are more puzzles and maybe even an endless mode. Other than that, iTangram is a solid puzzle game that requires quite a bit of thought while playing.

iTangram is available in the App Store now for 99 cents. If you want to try the game before you buy, there is the iTangram Lite version which is free to play.

Rating: A

[via App Store]