Instant Alert: How to play Blackbox, the infuriating iPhone puzzle game that just won Apple's Design Award

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   UNSUBSCRIBE   |   VIEW ONLINE   How to play Blackbox, the infuriating iPhone puzzle game that just won Apple's Design Award by Avery Hartmans on Jun 12, 2017, 4:09 PM Advertisement Some smartphone games require little more than opposable thumbs and a pulse.  Others, like Blackbox, require so much wit and creativity that you'll either end up feeling frustrated or incredibly proud of yourself.  Blackbox is a puzzle game for iPhone that was just awarded one of Apple's prestigious Design Awards, which honor the best new apps, the ones Apple thinks are especially useful or beautiful. Blackbox was among this year's 12 winners, which Apple announced at its annual developer conference this week. Blackbox presents you with small challenges that you have to complete by doing everything except touch the screen. Each challenge ends when you "turn on the lights," meaning the small, brightly-colored squares (called lights) change from empty to filled. To do this, you have to use your phone's other sensors, features and functions to trigger the puzzle.   If that sounds confusing, it is. Blackbox is hard — I mean really hard — but equally rewarding. Here's how it works. SEE ALSO: 12 fun tricks hidden inside Google Hangouts When you download Blackbox, you'll be greeted with a short (and sassy) walkthrough of the components of the app. But those directions are mysterious, only providing the basics before launching you into your first puzzle. In this puzzle, there are six lights to turn on. The game doesn't give you any directions on how to do that, simply urging you to "Think outside the box," which isn't particularly helpful — unless you notice that the words are reversed, which means you need to flip your phone around until you hit all six lights.  The main thing to know about Blackbox is that most of the puzzles can't be solved with simple taps or swipes on the screen. Instead, the game uses actions you can complete using the sensors and features within your phone — like changing the volume buttons, altering the screen brightness, plugging into the headphone jack — to solve the puzzles. See the rest of the story at Business Insider   Share the latest business news with your network:    Email sent to:   |   Manage your email preferences   |   Unsubscribe Terms of Service   |   Privacy Policy Business Insider. 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011