Review by: Brandon "Right Triangle" Cackowski-Schnell

If you're a moron like me, you may be looking at the title of this game and thinking "what the heck is a tangram?" A Tangram is a Chinese puzzle consisting of seven shapes (a square, two large right triangles, one medium right triangle, two small right triangles and a parallelogram) that when combined just so make shapes that look like everyday objects provided you squint, turn the lamp off and have a few drinks.

Hands On!: Tangrams has the distinction of being the first tangram video game on the DS and as a puzzle game, it ain't half bad. The 100 tangrams in the game are divided up into ten different themes such as a zoo or the ocean with the completed shape all matching the current theme. A boy with a balloon in the zoo, a treasure chest in the ocean and so on. On the top screen of the DS you're shown the shape you're supposed to build. The bottom screen is used for manipulating the tans until you succeed.

The shape manipulation is handled elegantly with a combination of stylus moves and button presses. Using the stylus you can move the tans into position and then rotate them with the shoulder buttons and flip them with the x button. Once the shape is completed you'll see a very basic animation of your shape coming to life. When I say basic, I mean it looks like two frames that just alternate between each other to give the illusion of movement. It's nothing to write home about; however some reward is better than none at all when you just spend twenty minutes making five triangles look like a robot. Animations aside, the pictures are well done with bright, vibrant colors. The game also includes hand drawn portraits of the development team in the credits, perfect for directing your ire at the lead designer when you can't figure out where to put that blasted square.

Each tangram effort is timed but even with the timer on screen the game has a casual and laid back vibe. Once you've completed the puzzle your time is shown and you receive a medal based on how quickly you completed the puzzle. Once a shape is complete you can go back and try again for a faster time but honestly, once you've completed a puzzle you'd have to undergo serious memory loss to not put it back together in record time. Still though, as the game doesn't support multiple profiles the free play mode is a good way to extend the life of the game for households with more than one shapemaster. For those that can't bear to be without medals a press of the start button allows you to start all over again and cheat your way to victory.

The game offers two modes, story and free play with the former being your romp through the themes and the latter allowing you to pick any completed puzzle and try again. No multiplayer to speak of exists but it isn't missed as if someone were to watch you complete a puzzle they'd know exactly how to do it and sitting around doing nothing while someone manipulates shapes for ten minutes isn't exactly a compelling multiplayer experience.

Hands On!: Tangrams is a basic, casual affair of a puzzler that is perfect for killing a few minutes here and there as you go about your day. For twenty bucks the game provides a ton of puzzles in a genre not usually represented in video gaming despite having been around for hundreds of years. Sure that shape you just made may look nothing like a seal but I've seen your shadow puppets and I gotta tell you, that dog is pathetic.