Mini-review: ERMO - a chill-out puzzler

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ERMO is one of the new breed of puzzle games that doesn't try to wind you up in frustration but rather let you relax with ambient music and no timers counting down - take your time, perhaps drift off to sleep, it's really not a problem... ERMO is also terrifically well produced and is a UWP game for all Windows 10 devices (phone/desktop/Xbox) and also in Windows Phone 8.1 form for older devices.

From the Store description:

ERMO is an ethereal puzzle game featured with a charming and peaceful graphics. You will learn the rules in a few seconds, but ERMO will catch you for hours. Immerse yourself in the landscapes and colors of ERMO and let you be carried away by the restful atmosphere. 

Rearrange the blocks to get columns of the same color. How many blocks you can collect?

Relaxing and colorful, ERMO is a logic puzzle pleasant to play for all ages. A relaxing and soothing music enriches the experience with a calm  harmony. Do you want a break from your hectic day and just be free? Refuge yourself in the serenity of ERMO. And then you will continue to think of ERMO and be in its world, even when you've left.

  • Very simple rules, intuitive mechanics and profound gameplay full of surprises
  • 60 unique levels with several stages with 100+ block puzzles
  • Hand-crafted balanced difficulty to make each puzzle always challenging
  • 4 different intriguing modes to test your brain in different ways
  • Special skills to have relax in moments of stress
  • Player experience progression with goals to achieve and earn rewards
  • Challenges! Share levels you completed with friends
  • BONUS levels with easy item collecting to refill your stocks
  • Ethereal graphic design giving harmony and inner peace
  • Adaptive and immersive experience: ERMO runs beautiful everywhere, from mobile and tablet to TV wide screens

Theme support with a polished and curated level design with marvelous colors and amazing visual aesthetics.

Ethereal, peaceful, serene, soothing, etc. all words that this game really does live up to, even if the puzzles themselves are a tiny bit underwhelming in their scope (i.e. just 'nudgin'g columns and rows):

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ERMO links through the Xbox account system on your device - and I've no idea how I ended up with this avatar (maybe one of my relatives got at it!!); (right) the opening splash screen - gentle animations and gentle music...

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Easy access to both settings (including various accessibility options) and themes, the latter of which you unlock as you go on.

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Each level consists of a number of puzzles and the number of blocks 'freed' grows as you go; (right) the main gameplay screen under Windows 10 Mobile. Tapping a nudge control 'cycles' that row or column, with any blocks 'wrapping round' - don't worry, you'll soon get the hang of it!

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ERMO on the Desktop, i.e. running under Windows 10 on a laptop. More screen real estate, same puzzles. This is further on in the game and is one of the promo screens, in case you were wondering!

You can grab ERMO here in the Store. The game is free to try and get some way in, but at some point there's a £1.70 in-app-purchase for the full set of levels. Which is fair enough, I think, for such a well presented game for all your Windows 10 devices.

Source / Credit: Store