Perched precariously atop a barstool belonging to a cramped, smoky dive in the middle of Kyoto, Japan, I squared up against the Stetson-wearing Tonny, owner and bartender of the Geronimo Western themed tavern. Our chosen field of combat was Connect Four. Garth Brooks’ greatest hits filled the room. The night was young. The stage was set. I don’t remember what combination of liquor constituted the ‘Tonny Bomb’ that I had imbibed upon arrival. I don’t remember where the bar was, or how I got home. But I do remember with unnatural clarity that Tonny proceeded to soundly whip me in every single game we played. As I played through 49 Tiles, the addictive, mind-bending little game for iPhone, memories of the fearsome Tonny and his bitter brew of defeat came flooding back to me (that’s the metaphorical brew, his physical brew was pretty good). Because I have a feeling Tonny might be very adept at this game too…
Like most great games, the premise is deceptively simple. The aim is to uncover the titular 49 tiles of the board without using the same tile twice. But. Not that simple. You can only move in the same way a knight on a chessboard can move; that is, two tiles horizontally and one vertically, or vice versa. You can do this in any direction, giving you a total of eight options from any given tile. As the board fills up, options limit, and you can end up grid locking yourself in the middle of the playing field, or more often than not, one of the corners. The key is staying one step ahead. Then two. Then three, then fou – okay, the key is staying 49 steps ahead.
The game balances just the right amount of fun and intellect. You can play a rapid-fire game, but the chances are high you’ll go to pieces around the thirty tile mark. However, there’s always the thought of potentially getting lucky, finishing all forty-nine in thirty seconds flat and feeling like a genius to drive you on. A more considered approach will no doubt yield better results, but it’s a testament to the game that it can be enjoyed either way.
I haven’t yet cracked the holy grail of the 49 (stalled at 42), but I’ll be damned if I don’t by tonight. The spectre of Tonny looms large, and I’m more than determined to prove myself in this most redundant of arenas. It’ll cost you nothing at all to play this fiendish little number, and before you know it, you’ll be whiling away countless minutes in simultaneous numerical bliss and agony. Well worth checking out if you enjoy engrossing, stimulating mini-games.
