The recent global warming summit in Copenhagen has brought environmental issues to the forefront of the world's attention, and people are being encouraged to help save the planet by changing their routines. Ziro is trying to help cool down the planet... using dice?
That's the general idea in Ziro. You are a snowman out to cool down the Earth by travelling around the globe, solving puzzles along the way. The puzzles are comprised of sliding dice around a level, trying to move two identical numbered dice with values up to nine around until they're adjacent. To clear them, left-click and flick your cursor to mash one die into the other. The dice will slide along a straight path by clicking and flicking your cursor in one of four directions, stopping only for a wall or obstacle.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed Ziro. While it's not as simple as lining up things in groups of three-and not as addicting-it made me think in ways I'm not used to thinking. I kept wanting to play through it faster than I should have, lured by the siren-song of empty table space into thinking that the level layout was much simpler than it was. Was it a time-suck for me? No. But for a few hours, it forced me to solve problems in a new and challenging way.
Who would have thought a snowman could have such an effect on global warming? Well here's a game from kookakiki, developed by Eipix, that can offer just that. Not only offering helpful and motivational ways of saving the environment but combining it with fun puzzles that can also improve your basic math skills in a very fun and stimulating way.
And this very much epitomizes what makes a proper casual game: it's fun, it's easy to pick up and play, you can play at your own pace for as long as you like, and you can always come back for more. It isn't perfect and perhaps it isn't the best game available, but for just under $10, it is worth every penny.
