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An occasional series, featuring reviews of older iPhone apps which may have got lost in the crowd but are still worthy of attention.

Unify hasn’t had any developer love since September 2009, making it an ideal candidate to talk about here.  It’s a puzzle game that plays a little like Tetris, in that it deals with falling blocks, but then deviates so completely that it becomes inspired by, rather than simply imitating the classic game.

In Unify (iTunes link) you hold the iPhone in landscape and pairs of blocks appear from either side of the screen, initially only colored black and white, but gaining red, blue, yellow and more as you advance through the levels.  In the center of the screen there is a shaded line where the blocks meet, and the idea is to match up four or more of the same color blocks, causing them to disappear and make room for more blocks.

Each disappearing set of blocks gives you points, as well as pushing up a progress bar at the top of the screen, which indicates how many more sets of blocks you need to make before advancing to the next level.  As more colors are introduced, the speed of the incoming blocks increases too, and things get very crowded!  In total there are 40 levels, but you can unlock ‘endless’ modes by completing certain sections too.

The control system is clever, as you can control blocks on each side of the screen at the same time using your thumbs, however this isn’t essential to playing the game because if you’re fast enough, you can do it all with just one thumb.  Blocks can be rotated with a tap of the screen and slid in to place with a swipe.

The graphics are basic, the colors primary and the options minimal, so you’ll be up and running a moment after you tap the icon.  You’ll be asked if you want to enable to music and FX, and we strongly suggest you do, as the music is perfect for the game.  It has an almost 8-bit sound at first, but gradually gets more and more complex the deeper you get into the game, and it deserves to be enjoyed!

Because it’s simple to play and the concept should be familiar to most people, Unify is perfect as a pick-up-and-play game, however five minutes becomes 30 so very quickly here, as the game evolves the further you get and when it’s game over, the desire to start a new one straight away is strong.  Like Tetris, there is nothing complicated about Unify; no frustrating gameplay ticks or vain attempts to spice up something that doesn’t require it – it is what it is, a borderline brilliant puzzler for the iPhone.

Overall:  4/5