Sketch Up Review

I never really enjoyed geometry. There was just something about shapes and angles that I never understood. But after playing Sketch Up I have grown to like shapes a little bit more. Probably because the game doesn’t ask me to find the area or volume of any of the shapes. Sketch Up combines geometry with a lot of quick thinking and fast reactions to create a clever little game with a lot of fun elements.

The gameplay is pretty basic but does take some time to get used to and understand. Sketch Up requires us to grab floating shapes that fly across the board and position them within corresponding bigger shapes that are drawn out on the board. The catch is that the shapes that fly out do not necessarily correspond to the shapes drawn out on the board. Players must merge shapes together to form other, more complex shapes. For example, colliding two triangles together will make a square. There are various combinations for building new shapes. Luckily there is a little flow chart at the top of the board that shows what combination of shapes will create new shapes. As the game progresses new elements, like sticky puddles, get thrown in the mix to thwart our efforts.

Time is of the essence in this game. In order to get three stars players must complete each challenge as fast as possible. The first few levels have some instruction but the game quickly leaves us on our own. The controls are simple and just require the touch of a finger. The shapes float around haphazardly and need to be snagged up and shifted around to be set within the big shapes on the board. This is fairly easy to do but make sure to stop the shapes where you want them or else they will fly right off the board.

Although the app is free in the App Store, it does require an in-app purchase of $2.99 after level 17. I wish that there were more levels available on the free version because I was able to blow past all 17 free levels very quickly.

Overall I think Sketch Up is a fun and a unique way to experiment with shapes. It has a good, fast-paced tempo that will keep players on their toes as they attempt to complete each level with all three stars. Sketch Up has a lot to offer and has enough variations to keep players wanting more.