I rarely play games on my phone but when I do I play games that are multi-player or can keep my interest for longer than one day. I normally stick to the puzzle genre but these games frustrate me to a point of me throwing my phone out my bedroom window at 11 p.m. prolonging falling asleep, take flappy bird for example. Suddenly, I found a diamond in the rough, cold world of puzzle apps and I couldn’t be happier with my discovery.

The game is called Duet, a simple yet very complex puzzle game that goes well beyond what puzzle games are for, and that is being a time-waster and brain-worker. The object is simple, using your two thumbs rotate two balls one red and one blue around a shalom of white boxes. Duet does a great job of introducing complex mechanics one at a time so you won’t feel overwhelmed and beating a level instills a huge sense of satisfaction because from an outside perspective, Duet may seem downright impossible. Some levels may only take one try but others may rack up to over thirty tries or more towards the end of the game. But beating these levels is rewarding especially when the introduction to every level features a great, philosophical saying which makes Duet seem more than a game, but a lesson in going through life problems and what it comes with.

I won’t say Duet is impossible but towards the end (I am currently at the “acceptance” levels), the game mechanics are borderline impossible. One level features cubes that spin to levels that force you to memorize the pattern of the cubes before they disappear before the circles reach them, it’s maddening. Don’t let these mechanics scare you away, Duet is rewarding and will make the least talented puzzle gamer seem like a genius when beating the most challenging levels. Using headphones does help, the beats match perfectly with the timing of the rotations so it makes timing and precision much easier in terms of the more difficult levels.

Duet may be classified as a puzzle game, surprisingly not one that causes you to throw your phone at a wall or scream horrific things at your phone screen, but one that eases into the complex mechanics of a puzzle game while providing deep, meaningful sayings that are sure to make playing Duet seem more as a learning experience rather than a time-waster. And for the 99 cent price, Duet is all more worth the money and time.