Four Shields
from Cactus Factory

Four Shields is a cool puzzle game. I hesitate to say it’s a variation of the old 15 puzzle game. Four Shields is quite different. The only thing that makes it similar to 15 Puzzle is the idea that you are moving tiles. The object is to group each of the four matching shields to one of the corners of the table. In the advanced level, you must assemble the shield in the proper order.

• New and easy-to-learn game play
• Easy-to-use interface
• Detailed built-in instructions
• High quality graphics and Sound effects
• 4 difficulty levels (Normal and Advanced + the gold stick option)
• Highscore result for each difficulty level
• Possible just to replay last game and try for a higher score
• Installation to storage cards possible
  
  New in updated version 1.1
• New authentic shields
• New detailed built-in help
• Stability improvements and bug fixes

Four Shields is a tough and challenging game to play. The game play is very simple however. Just click on the piece you want to move and click where you want to put it. Move the pieces around in the shortest number of moves and get all four corners filled to win the game.

The graphics, animation and sound effects are very good. In order to make the game harder, you can turn on the ‘stick’ feature. This makes part of the path blocked in order to make the game harder. However you can move the stick to any of the four positions (if that space is available). This adds a new level of strategy to the game. With the center square blocked, you must maneuver the pieces around and carefully put them in place. In the upper left of the screen, the number of moves you’ve made are recorded. In the upper right, displays the average number of moves needed to complete the level or the record set for that particular level. You might not want to keep score at first, that is until you’ve practiced. The on-screen options will allow you to turn off the sound and animation.

This is a very challenging game from a newcomer in Pocket PC games. The developer said with practice, you can easily win each level. I was finally able to get past level one, but I won’t mention my score. The developer’s son was able to complete level one in only 17 moves. The average is 25-35 moves. Needless to say, I didn’t come close to the average score!

The game will install on a storage card with no problem at all. Four Shields does require .NET Compact Framework for Pocket PC 2000/2002 devices. .NET Compact Framework is not required for Windows Mobile 2003 devices. .NET adds about 2.5MB of space required for the older devices, however the game itself only takes about 390KB of storage space.

A note regarding .NET Compact Framework: There are quite a few new programs that are coming available for the Pocket PC which require this add-on package for older devices. .NET allows developers to create better, faster and smaller programs for the Pocket PC. It’s the wave of the future for mobile programming. The newer Windows Mobile 2003 was built around .NET framework and is essentially Windows CE 4.2 release. If you have an older device, I highly recommend saving some space for the .NET Framework. You can download a CAB version here. Copy this file to your device and open it using File Explorer on your Pocket PC. This is not required for Windows Media 2003 devices. The CAB file is about 2.5MB in size and will take about that same amount of space on your device. It should be installed in Main System RAM and not on a storage card. It could be installed in Safe Store (If you have that much space available on your device). I will add that Microsoft offered this as a CAB file a while back for direct installation to your device. They have since replaced it with a full version for your PC. I downloaded the full version and was unable to find this Pocket PC version. So… I do recommend you just use the CAB file that is listed above. I expect to see a lot of new programs that will require this to be installed.

Four Shields costs only $9.95 and a 14-day trial version is available. If you enjoy puzzle games, give this one a try. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. It’s very though provoking and will definitely be a challenge for you. Try it first with the ‘stick’ option turned off. You may decide later to activate that feature to make the game more challenging. Try it or buy it here.

Also check out another (free) game that Cactus Factory offers, called Pocket Pegs.

It’s similar to this old wooden block game:

You might be familiar with playing this game at a restaurant
called Cracker Barrel while waiting for your food!

Sharp graphics and wide variety of game layouts make this a very enjoyable game to pass the time. This game also requires .NET Compact Framework to be installed for 2000/2002 devices.

I’m sure we will see other ingenious puzzle games coming from this company in the future. Let’s keep our brains active while we mindlessly go on with our day!

Special thanks to Viacheslav for sending us a full version to review.
This game was tested using the Samsung i700 Pocket PC Phone Edition.