Circadia is a devilishly tricky audiovisual puzzle game for iOS

Circadia, created by IGF nominated game designer Kurt Bieg, is a devilishly tricky audiovisual iOS game for iPhone and iPad. What starts as one of the simplest games you’ll ever play ends up becoming a unique “ear bending” experience, with puzzles meticulously designed to challenge your senses.

As Bieg explains, the premise of the 99 cent game is simple enough. “Each of the levels in Circadia feature a constellation of musical colors seeking a rhythm. To solve the puzzle you must figure out the sequence. Just get the color bursts to converge on the white dot at the same time.”

Once the app is launched, you’re thrown right into the gameplay, learning as you go. After mastering the basics, you’re charged with the task of making multiple bursts of color hit a white dot at the same time. Lower tones move slowly, while higher pitched tones move quickly. Once you hit level 14, things get pretty hard.

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What’s interesting is that your brain memorizes the sequence of tones quicker than the timing with which you hit each dot. Because of this, you’ll likely get each challenge right if you’re take it on as a musical puzzle instead of a visual one.

According to Creative Applications, the game was built using openFrameworks, an open source toolkit for creative coding. Tons of TNW’s favorite experimental apps have been built with this framework, and amazing games, instruments and works of art keep coming out of its vibrant community of developers and designers. This game is a perfect example of what the toolkit is capable of.

So far, I’ve only completed 24 levels, and I’m not ready to put this thing down yet. If you’re interested, check out the link below and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

➤  Circadia, via the App Store for $0.99