“Take a chill pill,” someone tells me as I rant and rage about yet another idiotic issue that could be efficiently solved either through rule of law, human decency, or common sense.
Easier said than done, thank you very much.
Surviving in this highly stressful, confusing and turbulent world is admittedly a challenge in itself. Everyday life is full of anxiety and stress triggers that pop up like slimy toads on a rainy day—from social media shamelessness, traffic jams, divisive politics, fake news, moral decay, and to, well, human scum.
So telling me to relax? To “chill”? That would’ve been a tall order—until I discovered one of the most beautiful, comforting, and meditative mobile games I’ve seen, “I Love Hue.”
To bastardize the prophetess Rihanna, I found Zen in a chaotic place.
Released by the UK-based independent game studio Zut! last year, “I Love Hue” is a free color puzzle game that relies on the player’s color vision to organize some of the most aesthetically pleasing color spectra ever to grace our smartphones.
The objective is straightforward: Create beautiful and ordered color mosaics by arranging puzzle tiles according to hue, shade and/or gradient.
At the start of each game, the tiles are scrambled, creating a chaotic whirl of color. To form a perfectly assembled spectrum, the player must drag and drop the multicolored tiles in a certain order and with the help of immovable pieces that serve as guides.
Aside from the satisfaction of seeing ordered beauty after chaos, the best thing about “I Love Hue” is its fuss-free rules. There is no time limit to arrange the tiles, no cap to the number of moves it takes to complete a puzzle, and no penalties for failed attempts.
All you need are crystals to play the game, which you can buy, or earn for free every day you use the app or in exchange for watching an ad.
When you finish a puzzle, you are given a glowing heart that is added to a tally of hearts needed to move up to the progressively more difficult modes and levels. If you complete a puzzle with fewer moves than the world average, you are also rewarded with a cheesy but adorable compliment (“You shimmering unicorn!” “You iridescent moonbeam!”).
The cutesy, New Age-y feel of “I Love Hue,” especially its synth soundtrack and the schmaltzy names for the main modes (The Vision, The Quest, etc.) and game levels (Mystic, Enchantment, etc.), was a little weird at first, but as I spent more time playing, I found the tone fitted nicely in the overall aesthetic of the app.
Granted, “I Love Hue” isn’t for everyone as it relies entirely on color perception. People who have vision issues, like difficulty in distinguishing color, will not enjoy it.
But for those who love color and find organizing objects by color relaxing, like yours truly, “I Love Hue” is the “multicolored sunrise” that will bring the much-needed quiet time and serenity into your life.
Read more about “I Love Hue” and watch its trailer on i-love-hue.com. You can download the mobile game for free in the Apple App Store and in the Google Play Store.