Cryptica, a sliding block puzzle game from Pixibots, is like being stuck in the trap-filled tomb of some pharaoh whose devious riddles were designed to keep you busy until the end of time. And, well, that's pretty much what it is, although according to the official backstory you're hunting for lost relics by solving puzzles in crypts. Either way, there's a lot of amazing challenge to be found in this game of symbol matching and stone sliding!

Your goal in Cryptica is to move stone blocks onto corresponding tiles placed on a grid. All stones move at once, so when you swipe the screen, everything that can move does so. This creates some familiar sliding block-style puzzles where you have to move blocks around, using them as barriers so you can position other blocks to make your final swipe the solving stroke. Lining up the symbols solves the crypt, and depending on how many moves you used, you'll be awarded with a rank at the end of the level.

Beyond looking nice and sounding like you're standing inside a stone crypt (that's based on personal experience, of course), Cryptica is an intelligently challenging game with some difficult puzzles to solve. Even easy mode has some head scratchers, so once you get to the tougher crypts later on, you'd better settle back for some serious figuring. There are 120 hand-designed levels to complete, spread across four worlds with several hidden items to find. You won't want to poke your head out of the tomb until those relics are yours!

Cryptica Lite

(Android)

Cryptica

(Android)

NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on an HTC Incredible. Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.