Review: Noda

Few things unsettle me more than the prospect of a game that seeks to make numeracy fun, but Zealtopia Interactive might just have found a winning formula in Noda.Perhaps it's the game's steadfast dedication to single-digit figures. Perhaps it's the clean visual style, echoing just about everything that's hip in mainstream graphic design these days.
Or maybe it's the sheer beauty of a simple idea executed well.
 
Livin' la vida noda
In each of the 48 levels bundled into this free download, with plenty more available via an in-app purchase, you're tasked with manipulating a series of circles arranged into a grid formation.
On each circle is a number. Slide a circle vertically or horizontally on to an empty adjacent space and the number will split between the two nodes.
Slide onto an occupied space and the numbers will combine at the destination, so long as the sum is no higher than nine.
In each level there are also a few special gold nodes. Completing the level requires each of these to display a matching number, as dictated by the goal in the top left of the screen.
In the top right you'll find the number of moves available to you - complete a stage while a small star is displayed and you've mastered it, but run out of moves and you'll need to start again.
Noda cabana
Fortunately, there's literally no other pressure in the game. With no timer to speak of, you have infinite retries and, similarly, can tap an undo button as many times as you please, gliding along via the game's silky intuitive controls.
All in all it makes for a pretty chilled-out experience, feeling a bit like an expanded minigame you might have seen in a brain training title, back when they were all the rage.

IAPs explained Download the game for free and you'll have access to 48 levels. Like what you find and you can pay 69p / 99c to increase that total to 120, with the promise of all future released levels also included for the price.

As you'd imagine, puzzles start incredibly simply (even for numerically-intolerant people like me), but ramp up at a steady rate and, thanks to solid design, actually manage to make such simple arithmetic quite enjoyable.
Importantly though, the mechanics and rules remain consistent throughout the whole game, with the limited number of moves and small grid sizes somehow ensuring that you never feel far from a puzzle's solution.
Noda toilette
In a nice touch, each available stage is unlocked from the off, so you can always jump ahead should any brain-teasers briefly befuddle you.
In an even nicer touch, the devs have included an option for colour blind players, which adds some additional detail around the gold grid nodes.
And, mercifully, you can switch off the solitary music track before its short loop becomes too grating and enhance your numerical zen with your own chilled-out tunes.
So there you have it. Noda ticks all the boxes for those seeking a very simple numerical puzzle experience without any fuss.
It's a safe, smart, slickly-produced game that's worth trying out if it sounds like your sort of thing.