Hello, Beings!
Today the members of Cuil Press would like to give you the gift of stim apps that we enjoy.
What Are Stim Apps?
Most people outside of neurotypical communities aren’t familiar with ‘stims’. Autistic people (and we at Cuil Press are all autistic) stim a lot. But everyone stims sometimes.
Stims are repetitive motions or behaviors that help self regulate. They make you feel better when you do them. Many autistic people describe their stims as ‘soothing’ or ‘comforting.’
Many apps, especially game apps, involve the kind of repetitive behavior that make them wonderful stims.
Today, we are sharing five stim apps we love. There will be a description, link and personal review for each one. We hope these splendid apps help you as much as they’ve helped us.
1. Blendoku
Per Amazon’s description of the app, “Blendoku is a puzzle game that will challenge your ability to distinguish and arrange colors. The game is based on actual color principles and exercises taught in art schools around the world.”
I love the varying color palettes and intensity of the colors themselves. I also like how although the game has timed levels, you do not have to complete them to enjoy all that the game offers – that includes the reward puzzles!
Blendoku is available on iTunes and Google Play.
2. Shoot Bubble Deluxe
There are many variations of this game. Most are based on Puzzle Bobble’s arcade game (released by Taito in 1994) so the description of this one might sound familiar. Per Wikipedia’s gameplay description; “The goal of the game is to clear the playing field by forming groups of three or more like-colored marbles.” and there are varying levels of intensity and the game itself. Michón Neal of Cuil Press publishing is a big fan of City Games LLC’ s “Shoot Bubble Deluxe”! “I am addicted to shoot bubble. It has this delicious crunchy sound and it’s one of the few games I’ll have the sound on for. It’s very colorful, too. Who doesn’t like shiny colorful balls and knocking them out of place?” – Michón Neal
Variation Bubble Shooter is available on a grand total of 6 platforms! You can find it on iOS, Mac OS, Android, Flash, Palm OS, Pocket PC. If you search on Google or your devices App Store; You’ll find the right pick for you soon after!
This game is available in many variations on all platforms, you can download Shoot Bubble Deluxe on Android by clicking the following link.
3. Flow Free
Next up is “Flow Free”. I’ll let Michón do the talking for this gem. In ze’s words, “It’s almost like Snake, in that you draw lines across and together, but with colors. Basically, it’s a color match puzzle: two dots of several different colors (blue, red, green, yellow, orange, in really great shades) that you must figure out how to connect. The really nice thing is that the app background color default is black. The puzzles are by size such as 3×3 blocks to 7×7 etc. and it’s a rather quiet game, not too much noise or images to distract you.”. What about the gameplay experience? “It’s really calming. It features a very nice dark background with vibrant colors. Everything in the game is smooth!”
Flow Free is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon App Store and Microsoft.
4. Ice Cream Jump
This game is highly underrated! Ice Cream Jump has been a favorite of mines for a few years. Whether you play it on an Android or Apple device, fun and free of glitches! This game reminds me of old school SEGA! Catching coins and avoiding the bad guy(s) with the classic power-ups included. Not too complex to follow nor extremely stressful even though the goal is to beat your previous score. The sound effects, power-ups, backgrounds, “costumes” and scene keeps the mood light the entire duration of the game – even when you “lose” the crowd cheers.
This app is available on iTunes and Google Play.
5. Interlocked
And last but not least, we’d like to recommend “Interlocked”. This game is a bit complicated but the company behind it (“Armor Games”) explained it pretty darn well. To keep it simple; “Each level, you’re given a unique 3D puzzle consisting of blocks that hold each other together.” – Armor Games Inc. This is another one of Michón’s favorites and I see why. As ze put it; “It’s really visually pleasing. You just untangling different shapes. It’s just wonderful.”!
This app is available on iTunes.
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