Revertis Review – Tetris with a twist

Our rating:

By: Ewgeniy Oganian

Version #: 1.0

Date Released: 2011-09-21

Developer: Ewgeniy Oganian

Price: 0.99

User Rating:

Loading...

Download App

“What is Revertis?” It’s a question akin to the central conceit of that famous film: “What is the Matrix?” It is also a question whose answer, incidentally, involves a matrix, not in the science-fictional sense employed in the movie but in a sense closer to the term’s definition in mathematics: Revertis is a game played on a rectangular array. That is not to say, though, that Revertis has no qualities derived from or recognizable in science fiction.

As mentioned, Revertis is played on a rectangular array, but of what? Of spherical spaces, neatly arranged in a block of glass frozen and lost, it would seem from the look of the game, at one point in extraterrestrial time but rediscovered at another, many years hence, by an alien civilization supposedly aware of the treasures that can be harnessed from it by placing colored lights or orbs onto it. The treasures are of course measured in points, and in the game points are accumulated when orbs of the same color are aligned on the icy matrix to form what is called a Revertis.

There are two types of Revertis, and by extension two types of game modes, namely, line and side-corner. A line Revertis occurs when a minimum of three similarly colored orbs form a line, while a side-corner Revertis is a number of orbs of the same color touch each other either through a common side orb or a common corner orb. The former is obviously easier to understand and execute, but the latter, while a bit confusing at first, is not so difficult as to completely “alienate” you; with a bit of practice you’ll certainly get as good a handle on the side-corner Revertis as on the line type.

The first step in making a Revertis happen is knowing how to put orbs on the board. It’s fairly easy. On the upper right portion of the screen is your current set of four orbs. Tap a space on the frozen glass and slide your finger horizontally or vertically into another space until you traverse four spaces. You’ll notice that as you move your finger the sheet of ice evaporates partially–sort of like when you draw on a misty or frozen glass–and the four orbs are placed one by one on the four spaces you touch. Every time a Revertis is made the involved orbs disappear and go straight to your score. The greater the number of orbs responsible for a Revertis, the higher the additional points. It’s important to make many combinations of Revertis and clear spaces for new orbs frequently, since you play on an array with a limited number of spherical spaces and the game ends as soon as you run out of space. In essence, Revertis is a cross between Lines and Tetris.

By default, the frozen glass houses a 5×5 array for you to test the your tactical skills. But you can change this into a 6×6 by going to the app’s settings. There you can also choose whether to play on line Revertis or side-coner mode as well as choose the minimum number of orbs required to form a Revertis and the time limit for you to place each set of four orbs before the game’s AI places them for you without necessarily considering the possibility of a Revertis. It is up to you and you alone to consider the strategic placements especially if you wish to acquire enough points to get your name atop the game’s integrated Game Center leaderboard.

Version 2.0 of Revertis is already in the works, and it promises more modes and options to enrich the gameplay. The new version will cost $3, but it will be available as a free update for those who have already downloaded the game. So, better get the current version now for only a dollar to save and start enjoying Revertis with its frozen glass, bright lights, and abstract strategy challenge.

Visit Revertis website for a detailed tutorial and a trailer.

UPDATE: Revertis has been updated to version 1.1 that includes the following new features:

– tutorial
– two new game modes
– achievements
– special game mode for color-blind people
– three soundtracks
– new improved score system
– improved UI
– steps back as an In-App purchase
– local leaderboards

You can also check out the Lite version of Revertis.