In Bamboozle players don the role of an intrepid explorer in search of ancient artifacts, idols and rare creatures, but find that their paths are blocked by ferocious animals, ancient obstacles and environmental obstacles. That's the premise behind Bamboozle, an interesting puzzle game that uses hand drawn art and simple but challenging puzzles to entertain gamers of all ages. The game was developed by independent developer Shiny Little Objects and is for sale only at the company's web site.

Though the graphics aren't flashy and the gameplay mechanics are pretty straightforward, Bamboozle proves to be a lot of fun. The gameplay is simple enough to grasp: each puzzle features your piece (a safari Jeep or an icon of an explorer in some cases, etc), and a variety of other pieces that block you path marked with a big fat "X". The Jeep can only be moved left and right, while other pieces can be moved up or down, or left or right. All pieces can only move one way or the other (in other words if a piece moves left and right then it can not move up or down -- or vice versa). When you start out the puzzles are pretty simple, but as you progress through each area things get more and more difficult. If you try and beat each puzzle the game can be ultra challenging, but luckily it's not a requirement. Thankfully puzzle pieces can be moved numerous times, which is pretty important because removing the obstacles for your jeep's path can get very tricky towards the higher skill levels. Eventually players will lose the jeep and go on foot, under water, etc as you blaze a trail past scary creatures, strange objects and natural obstacles that block your path. Though the early levels objective is an X usually located on the right side of the screen, as the game progress the objective location moves to other positions, which changes the whole dynamic of the game.

Bamboozle is fun because it really makes you think about how to move the obstacles in a way that works. This sometimes means putting all the pieces back to the start position and finding the right series of moves that work. It's an interesting game concept that's simple and yet entertaining. For kids it's a great way to stretch the brain while having fun and for adults that like simple logic puzzles it's equally entertaining for the same reasons. The only real problem with the game is that it is a bit too pricey at $19.95. But to its credit there's a lot of game to be had in Bamboozle and players thinking that they'll finish this puzzler in a few hours are sadly mistaken.

While timing yourself or counting how many moves it took isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things, you can certainly use it for bragging rights to other Bamboozle players and mastering the game in a short span of time or with very few moves is quite an accomplishment -especially in the more challenging levels.

It would be a crime not to mention the graphics that went into the game. Each piece on the board is hand drawn and features a variety of animals, mystical objects and other miscellaneous obstacles thrown in for good measure. The graphics aren't flashy they are varied enough so that each board is unique, which keeps the game fresh as you advance through it. Shiny Little Objects obviously put a lot of hard work and love into this game. Sure it's not as cutting edge as most games on the market these days, but what's there does a great job of keeping things fresh at every turn and serving up the general "explorer theme" in perspective.

The game offers about 150 puzzles from beginner to master offers a nice little soundtrack, decent artwork and runs nicely on new and older machines without any technical difficulties. If you're a fan of puzzle games then you really can't go wrong with Bamboozle. At first glance the whole concept might seem a little silly, but after about ten minutes you'll find yourself puzzling away and marveling at how this simple concept can be so challenging. You can try a limited demo version of the game directly from Little Shiny Objects - if you like it than by all means, pay for it and enjoy it.