You're an Iridescent Moonbeam!
December 5, 2018 4:24 PM   Subscribe

I love Hue: a "gentle journey into colour and perception" The makers, Zut! games, say "I Love Hue is a minimalist, ambient puzzle game [...]The game has a very simple concept - players must arrange grids of coloured tiles into perfectly ordered spectrums. It was designed from the start to be a meditative, chilled experience with no timers, no move limits and no punishments for failure. "

Free to download on iTunes or the Google Play app store.

There are 300 levels to explore. Upon completion of a level, players are rewarded with a superlative such as "superb," or likened to a multi-hued sunset.

Before you play, you may want to test your color perception with a free Hue Test.
posted by prewar lemonade (43 comments total) 32 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love this game -- I was playing for a bit on my tablet before it died so now it's on my phone. I like that after a certain point, you don't have to play the levels in order. I enjoy skipping around a bit. It's low-pressure, relaxing and beautiful. The music is good (but I have it muted).

My one and only complaint is that I do wish you could at least get hint sometimes. There are some levels where I just keep moving pieces around until it clicks in place and sometimes that gets a bit frustrating. But it's mostly a minor frustration because it doesn't really matter in the end. There's no punishments in this game and I really appreciate that.

(It's somewhat pay-to-play -- you start out with a certain amount of "prisms" and you get more each day, but I definitely recommend just spending the $10 for the 1200 pack. It's basically unlimited once you do that, unless you get really, really obsessive. And I'm not judging if you do.)

I've also enjoyed Zut!'s GlowGrid. I have not played Pushcat because while I appreciate what it's doing, it doesn't seem like my thing.
posted by darksong at 4:57 PM on December 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


It made me insane after a while. Started hallucinating colors. :)
posted by Peach at 5:08 PM on December 5, 2018 [4 favorites]


I about to try this right now. I’ve always had this vague feeling that I perceive colors more vividly than most people, so now we shall see.
posted by catatethebird at 5:23 PM on December 5, 2018


This game WHIPS ASS and I got several of my friends obsessed with it. I've binged it off and on for a year without paying (except to get rid of the ads) and have twenty or thirty levels left to go.
posted by clavicle at 5:31 PM on December 5, 2018 [2 favorites]


Scored a zero (perfect) on that test. I feel validated! Especially because my vision is so bad in every other way.
posted by catatethebird at 5:31 PM on December 5, 2018


I thought the game was too easy to be interesting for me so it just felt like a chore. Like "Alphabetize this list, for fun!" I don't wanna!
posted by aubilenon at 5:35 PM on December 5, 2018 [3 favorites]


alphabetizing lists also whips ass
posted by clavicle at 5:44 PM on December 5, 2018 [25 favorites]


I find this game a lot more fun than the similar Blendoku. The low-stress, no score play is satisfying without being too challenging. Good for winding down before bed.
posted by irisclara at 6:03 PM on December 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


I habitually introduce this game to people who are having issues with anxiety. It helps.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:23 PM on December 5, 2018 [3 favorites]


I can't think of a better way to both demonstrate that many computer monitors suck at subtle color reproduction and that specific pastel RGB blends are super hard for humans to identify.
posted by Nelson at 6:25 PM on December 5, 2018 [1 favorite]


I can't think of a better way to both demonstrate that many computer monitors suck at subtle color reproduction and that specific pastel RGB blends are super hard for humans to identify.

IDK, having played the game, I find it's actually a really good example of how the brain emphasizes subtle variations in color depending on what the color is placed next to. Place one muddy purplish tile next to a blue square and it might seem mostly red, but then put it next to the red tile, and it suddenly becomes obvious how blue it is. It becomes tougher eventually, but it takes a while.
posted by dinty_moore at 6:36 PM on December 5, 2018 [12 favorites]


I also have perfect color acuity according to that test (which I've taken before), which is hilarious considering everything else that's wrong with my eyes. I played this game for a while but gave it up because, yeah, it felt too much like organizing lists for fun.

The thing is I do organize lists for fun, and I kept thinking "Well I could be organizing my reading/yarn stash/TV shows/local sushi restaurants/monster datefriend/etc. list instead..."
posted by brook horse at 6:39 PM on December 5, 2018


I have some degree of synesthesia, so it may vary for you, but when the colors are in the right order, they sort of "sing" with each other. And it's not necessarily like an audible note -- it's just more of a feeling of "these colors feel right together and are making a pleasant but inaudible noise." (I get that's weird, but synesthesia is weird.)

But yeah, I also like organizing lists for fun, including alphabetizing things. (I used to work in the media department at Best Buy & they were all fascinated by how quickly I organized everything in alphabetical order. I just said it was easy and fun.)
posted by darksong at 7:45 PM on December 5, 2018 [6 favorites]


I saw a woman playing this game on her phone one morning when I was sandwiched between an armpit and a backpack on the F train. I noticed her first because she was sitting quietly in a corner seat, notably at ease. For a brief but blazing moment, I hated her for her seat, her ease, her absorbtion in her phone. But then I glimpsed what was on her screen and I was immediately rapt. Later that day I goggled "color matching game" and "put colors in order game" and "ios game hue" and then I found it. And anyway my anxiety is soothed as hell.
posted by minervous at 7:52 PM on December 5, 2018 [11 favorites]


I recently finished this game. I was so used to playing it during moments of boredom that I felt a bit disappointed to not have any more levels to beat.

One tip: if you are stuck and you can't figure out which tiles are wrong, try rotating your device a bit. Sometimes viewing the tiles from a slightly different angle helps.
posted by jenjenc at 8:02 PM on December 5, 2018 [5 favorites]


I haven't played the game, but I got a PERFECT ZERO SCORE on the Hue Test! All those people who, over the years, told me I was seeing the wrong color on a car or item of clothing can SUCK IT! I was right! They were wrong, wrong, wrong!

ahem
posted by bryon at 10:16 PM on December 5, 2018 [6 favorites]


We used to play this in the frame shop with the mat samples, but this is a much more elegant version.
posted by blnkfrnk at 4:26 AM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


If you like this, and also like jigsaw puzzles, I want to tell you about Clemens Habicht's 1,000 Colors puzzle. It's a jigsaw puzzle where each piece is a slightly different color, very much like this app. It's really great. They have a bunch of variations now (5,000 pieces, color wheel, some kind of lenticular thing!?), but I can only speak for the original 1,000 colors version.
posted by Lirp at 5:28 AM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Ooh just downloaded it and it's so soothing!
posted by aka burlap at 6:25 AM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


I tried to delete it and it kept asking me if I wanted to share it and also not giving me the X to delete it, so that was a moment of terrifying impotent rage and not at all soothing. I finally had to select something else to delete to get all the delete Xs to come up so fuck that particular game dev detail.
posted by toodleydoodley at 6:50 AM on December 6, 2018


I also aced the test surprisingly because I was ready to blame my Kindle for score deficiencies. Now let's see if I can download the game.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 6:56 AM on December 6, 2018


I've been really into this game lately. One thing that really strikes/interests me is that, when tiles are in the right situation with their appropriate tiles next to them, I see a faint gradient within each tile leading up to the upper-left corner; when the tiles are scattered, I don't see it. I know this has to be some kind of neurological phenomenon, but have no idea what the hell is actually going on with it.
posted by the phlegmatic king at 7:05 AM on December 6, 2018 [11 favorites]


I have trouble with some of the levels that are only shades of blue. I stopped playing when I got to an advanced blue level that raised my stress level rather than lowering it.
posted by tofu_crouton at 7:09 AM on December 6, 2018


Clemens Habicht's 1,000 Colors puzzle

Just bought that as a gift for someone I was stumped on, but it's perfect for him. Thanks.
posted by M-x shell at 7:23 AM on December 6, 2018


Just downloaded and already loving it. Thank you!
posted by lazuli at 7:53 AM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


I find this stressful? Like, I see all the colors arranged perfectly at the beginning of each level and know I'm not going to be able to remember them, then they disappear even faster than expected and the whole screen becomes a discordant jumble – all while music plays in the background implying I should be okay with this, even welcoming it after the all-too-brief respite of fixing the last one. Now wrestle with two-axis gradients!

WELCOME TO DALEK RELAXATION FOR HUMANS!

I don't know if I'm particularly anxious in general, but a few levels have certainly helped nudge me in that direction.

Fellow folks without chill, you are not alone! (Fellow folks enjoying palpable serenity, continue to enjoy!)
posted by lumensimus at 8:20 AM on December 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


This game soothes my anxiety but then I like sorting and ordering things when I'm stressed.
posted by buildmyworld at 9:04 AM on December 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


Thank you for bringing this to my attention, it’s great and I love it. That jigsaw puzzle is the only one I’ve ever seen that I’m interested in doing.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 9:09 AM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


I like it -- a lot.
But relaxing -- it is not.
posted by mumimor at 10:50 AM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Oh no toodleydoodly! I had no idea the game made it hard to uninstall. I will likely keep it forever but it shouldn't be a hassle for anyone who wants it go away!
posted by prewar lemonade at 10:59 AM on December 6, 2018


I find this game a lot more fun than the similar Blendoku. The low-stress, no score play is satisfying without being too challenging. Good for winding down before bed.

Yes, it's amazing how a particular artistic implementation of a puzzle game can almost feel better to your fingers. Like this, Kami and Flow Free are just different skins on existing puzzle mechanics, but they feel so good.

I do wish the game would let you stare at the finished puzzle for as long as you wanted.
posted by straight at 11:01 AM on December 6, 2018 [6 favorites]


I think the primary skill setting here is how much battery are you willing to burn to turn up your screen brightness a little more?
posted by straight at 11:16 AM on December 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


I also really love this game, and do find it relaxing. I also enjoy sorting things when I'm stressed! Getting everything lined up just so is soothing to me. I also find it pretty easy, even at the harder levels where it only gives you three randomly placed squares. Maybe I got lucky with my phone screen.

I have already bought a gradient jigsaw puzzle for my husband, who also enjoys the game. It's going to be funny because we do jigsaw puzzles together and I usually do my bit by carefully sorting all the pieces into different coloured piles, which he thinks is weird and not very helpful. This time I'll show him!
posted by stillnocturnal at 1:15 PM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


This is so wonderfully tranquil and boring. It keeps on telling me I am a fabulous rainbeam who is solving these puzzles in anywhere from 2/3 to half the moves the average player is taking. I am also an artist so I have probably exercised my color perception a lot more than the average player.

lumensimus > I see all the colors arranged perfectly at the beginning of each level and know I'm not going to be able to remember them

Don't even try. It's not a game of memory; it's a game of sorting. Is there a yellow block pinned in the corner? Find the yellowest movable block, put it next to it, then find the next-yellowest block and put it there. When that starts getting hard then find the most cyan block and put it next to the pinned cyan block. Or whatever color stands out the most in the field at the moment - maybe the first thing that leaps out is the reddest block, so you move that where it belongs, and so forth. Eventually you get it mostly sorted and can start seeing the finer contrasts.

Once you've gotten that down, you can start doing more complex sorts: okay this is one of the yellowest pieces, but I'm not sure if it belongs on the ramp to orange or to green, so I'll hover it over the *other* yellowest piece, and be able to quickly tell whether the one I'm holding is yellow-green or yellow-orange, then put it where it belongs.

Or you could just play something else, that's cool too.
posted by egypturnash at 1:33 PM on December 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


I'm glad I'm not alone in loving this game. It also doesn't relax me, but it doesn't stress me out, it's just another fun game for me.

My one tip is that while you're on the level selection screen, you can see the completed puzzles and all the colors have a gradient to them, like the phlegmatic king said, but if you can identify a few crucial pieces, what you can do is make a tiny circle, like with your pinky, and view that square through that hole and your brain will remove the gradient on it. Then try to remember the exact shade of that piece and find it later. It'll help you set up key pieces where others can relate better to it.

There's no score but there's definitely a move counter, and I always try to go for half of the "world average". Not sure when they calculate that, but I uh.. apologize for bringing the average down.
posted by numaner at 2:01 PM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


The score counter stresses me out, once I realized I always took significantly more moves than my friends. I'm going to blame the fact that I do a lot of nervous clicking, moving things back and forth for no reason, rather than looking at it thoughtfully and patiently.
posted by tofu_crouton at 3:02 PM on December 6, 2018


I've been really into this game lately. One thing that really strikes/interests me is that, when tiles are in the right situation with their appropriate tiles next to them, I see a faint gradient within each tile leading up to the upper-left corner; when the tiles are scattered, I don't see it. I know this has to be some kind of neurological phenomenon, but have no idea what the hell is actually going on with it.

I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE! I'd kinda figured that it was a game hint thing, like the game does it for you to indicate you got it right, but maybe we're just seeing things?
posted by divabat at 3:24 PM on December 6, 2018 [5 favorites]


This is the Chubb illusion, which I was trying to remember the name of and failing yesterday.
posted by dinty_moore at 3:57 PM on December 6, 2018 [5 favorites]


Just came in to ask about the weird illusion thing. Thanks!
posted by unknowncommand at 6:30 PM on December 6, 2018


Oh hey, I figured out a hack! Well not really a hack, just a tip that makes it easier to sort when you're really stuck on Disciple Level Game 5: change your screen to grayscale mode or blue screen mode to view the tiles as tones.

Or maybe just turn off the counter that compares your moves with the average player. Yeah, do that. no siree, no stress at all
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:05 PM on December 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Also a 0 on the test. Aw yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I can see myself playing this when I'm winding down at the end of the day, but I have a color shift app on my phone that mellows out the blue as it gets closer to bedtime. I would probably have to disable that in order to play properly. Otherwise, this seems like the sort of thing taht would be good on a bus, where I usually avoid reading because it makes me feel motion sick.
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:11 AM on December 7, 2018


I got a zero on the hue test. I am not surprised. As a side gig, I did light design as well as help other light designers for theatre for a number of years. So, there was a bit of "training" of my eyes as it were. (People didn't like it when they would hand me a gel and I would say, "No, that's an R34. R33 is what I am holding in my other hand. That's what I want." For the two of you who may be interested, L181 - Congo Blue is my fave. Esp. for any night scene.)

I have played a few rounds of I love Hue and it seems to be a great way to kill time in short increments. I would say it's "relaxing" in the sense it engages just enough where boredom is killed, as well as engages enough that it's a bit harder to focus on whatever is stressing you out.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 4:48 PM on December 7, 2018


[Oops. Forgot to mention: Like darkstar, I have synesthesia, so lighting musicals was the best! Once the music started playing, the colors for the stage, actors, etc. chose themselves. If you enjoy musicals and send-ups, I highly recommend Musical of musicals (the musical!). It's basically the same plot told four different times but in the style of known musicals. When that one fell in my lap, I had the light hang done in 25% of the time of a typical hang and programming the board in about half the time. I also got a significant bonus and was called out by the owner/director as a miracle worker. The music did the majority of the job for me.]

/derail

posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 5:07 PM on December 7, 2018 [1 favorite]


« Older 🎵 This is how we do iiit 🎵   |   The death certificate ... listed his profession as... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments