If you’re asking yourself what a Gugl is, you’re about to find out. The stars of Link That Gugl are cute and round little creatures that come in a variety of hues and are all mixed up on the gameboard. It’s up to you to connect the same-colored ones to create the longest chain possible, thereby scoring as many points as you can.
It sounds so easy, but this game will test test your ability to think quickly and identify the most efficient ways of linking Gugls to maximize your score. Are you ready to play? Read more after the jump.
Like the article? You should subscribe and follow us on twitter.
How to Play
A Gugl is a small and round, brightly colored creature with two eyes, a mouth and the ability to make a whole range of silly facial expressions and sound effects.
At the start of each level or mode, the gameboard consists of an eight-by-nine grid of randomly organized Gugls. Your goal is to link same-colored Gugls to one another with a swipe of your finger. A minimum of three Gugls is required to make a chain, and the longer the chain, the more points you earn.
The goal is to link as many Gugls of the same color as possible; the graphic in the top right shows how many chains you have left to make.
There are six different varieties of Gugls: purple, pink, orange, green, light blue and dark blue. When playing in Level mode, the first level will require you to link each color one time. This means you need to create one chain of purple Gugls, one chain of pink Gugls, and so on, in order to complete the level and move on. If you succeed, you’ll continue to level two, where you’ll be required to link each color two times. In level three, you’ll be required to link each color three times. I think you see where this is going.
As you progress through the levels, you’ll be required to make more chains. The achievement screens reveal your score and other stats.
The higher you climb in the levels, the more points are added to your overall score, which means you have to stay focused and up your game each turn. And, of course, you can’t exactly take your sweet time. A bar at the top of your screen acts as a countdown clock, steadily growing shorter and shorter, which adds to the frenetic and fun energy of the game.
In the top right corner of the gameplay screen you’ll see colored dots, each one with a number directly above it. This represents the remaining number of Gugl chains per color you need to create. This is especially helpful information as you get into the higher levels and are required to make more and more chains.
Extra Fun
Throughout the levels you will notice special items that appear on the gameboard. Keep an eye out for these and take advantage of their individual effects:
- Clock: Adds more time
- Bomb: Explodes nearby Gugls
- Rainbow Gugl: Links two different colors
- X: Multiplies points
- Coins: Adds extra points
There are five different modes of gameplay to challenge all ages and skill levels.
In addition to the Levels mode of gameplay, there are four other modes to challenge you:
- Levels: Complete all the levels to make the highest score
- Time Limit: You have 60 seconds to make the highest score
- Longest Chain: You have 60 seconds to make the longest chain
- Clean: Remove as many Gugls as you can to clean the screen
- Kid: Link as many Gugls with some help
Link That Gugl is a great game for all ages, especially kids, since it incorporates bright colors, cute little characters, a simple premise, fun sound effects and encouraging achievement screens at the end of each round of gameplay. And if your child is still working on motor skills and color recognition, the Kid mode automatically links same colors on the gameboard, which makes it a little easier if need be.
The five modes of gameplay have very different objectives. Press the red button to retry a round or level, or the blue button to return to the home screen.
Whether you’re a kid or not, the achievement screens at the end of the levels are a fun component, featuring trophy graphics and badges. Plus, you get to view a few key stats, including your bonus points, the extra time you acquired, how much remaining time you had, your maximum multiplier, your efficiency percentage and your longest link.
I didn’t find myself trying to improve my stats as I played Link That Gugl, but I did find them interesting at the end of each round.
And This
At any time you can click the info button on the home screen for an overview of how to play. This is also where you can share the app with a friend, rate the app, interact via Facebook or Twitter, write the gamemakers, and visit the developer’s website.
From the home screen, you can access settings, an overview of how to play, options for interacting via social media and more.
The settings are also accessible from the home screen, and allow you to turn the music and sound effects on and off, as well as reset all the scores. I really enjoyed the game’s soundtrack and effects and never felt the desire to turn them off, but if you like to (or have to) play your games in silence, then it’s nice the option is there.
Clicking the trophy on the home screen will recall the leaderboards for the game. Find out how you rank among other players, plus view your own achievements.
Final Thoughts
This is a great little game. While it’s a little unclear how the point scoring system works, or even what the time constraints are for the Levels mode, I doubt you’ll get hung up on that. I didn’t.
When playing in Levels mode, note that you can’t return to the home screen following a level you successfully completed — you’re only given the option to the return to the home screen if you failed the level. I don’t know that this will irk anyone, but it is an oddity I felt was worth pointing out.
Overall, I found Link That Gugl to have all the key components that make a great iPhone game: clean and attractive visuals, easy navigation and controls, and a simple premise that’s easy to grasp. And of, course, it has that hard-to-describe fun factor and energy that makes it so hard to put the game down. In fact, the only questionable aspect of the game that remains may be the correct pronunciation of the word “Gugl.” Care to weigh in?