Circuit Scramble - Computer Logic Puzzles 2.09

I noticed that there are two kinds of puzzle games. The first kind is the one in which you need to do a lot to solve them. The other is the puzzle in front of which you sit crosshanded for most of the time, before making a simple informed choice. Circuit Scramble fits squarely in the latter.

Not to be confused with another game on the Play Store of the same name, this Circuit Scramble is not a re-themed Pipe Dream clone, but one in which you control a series of ports to make a signal hit the target computer chip.

The levels start easy enough. You get to control the I/O of four or more ports, which are connected to logical gates, which form a series that reaches the goal. To win the level, you must make it so that the goal chip gets a signal.

The challenge in Circuit Scramble is figuring out which ports to operate; a task that becomes increasingly harder with each level, as networks grow, and gates get further intertwined. The goal is not merely to make it through, but also find the solution that involves the least amount of work on your part. So, the more thinking you do, the less tapping you'll have to perform. Doesn't that sound nice?

In any case, Circuit Scramble is also very educational. The logical gates are labeled as programming operators, and also work as such. Although they're limited to comparing two values of either 1 or 0, the puzzles also feature some extra elements that make everything a bit harder

Final Thoughts

When looking for a logical puzzle game, you can't go wrong with one that uses actual logical concepts. If nothing else, at least you learn what "XOR" means. Circuit Scramble doesn't reinvent the wheel but is a good distraction from Sudoku or Traffic Jam.