Yosumin! has a lot of things going for it, like the audio design, but it fails in the most important part of a puzzle game: gameplay.

Yosumin!'s gameplay is simple and repetitive. You simply have to make rectangles with a yosumin in each corner, regardless of what is in the middle of the shape (aside from some bonuses like extra level time or alternate objectives). The way the yosumin populate the board is completely random aside from a few unlockable modifier "treats" that don't affect the board that much. Such randomness isn't as much as a problem in games where you can "outskill" the board generation like Dungeon Hearts or Hexic, but Yosumin! doesn't have such tactical depth. The deepest the tactics go is removing all of a specific yosumin from the board to hope you can get all of the same type of yosumin in the corners to create an entire board clear (Yosumin!). Wingmen (pieces you can move anywhere) only become available after the first world and don't appear often enough to add any significant tactical depth to the game. The lack of depth causes the game to have a poor difficulty curve, shifting between laughably easy and annoyingly difficult as you eye your way through the board looking for matches.

Apart from the gameplay, though, Yosumin! hits all the right buttons. The menus are responsive and easy to navigate, the control in game is smooth and fluid, offering different styles of selecting yosumin to fit multiple gameplay styles, and the aesthetic is great.

The art is simple and clean, with no problems, but where the game really shines is its sound design. All the sound effects are satisfying and aid in enjoyment of the game. The yosumin themselves are cute and make cute sound effects that made me find myself smiling while playing. The best part in the game is the soundtrack though; the music is wonderful, reminding me of classic games like Katamari Damacy, and while it doesn't seem to have that many tracks, I found myself playing just to listen to the music.


Overall Yosumin! isn't that bad of a game, but I can't give it my recommendation to anyone looking for an interesting puzzle game. The gameplay is just too simple and Yosumin! ends up being more of an occasional time waster suited more to mobile devices than a puzzle game you want to sit down and play for more than ten minutes. If just an easy game to have open and occasionally mess around with is what you're looking for, Yosumin! might be for you, but for the puzzle game fan who wants to think and be challenged, look somewhere else.

PS: There is no support for this game from Square anymore. The leaderboards do not function and don't expect to have any achievements or cards any time soon. It also commits the cardinal sins of Japanese-made games by having Escape instantly close the game and lacking any support for resolutions above 800x600 without stretching.

Yosumin! has a lot of things going for it, like the audio design, but it fails in the most important part of a puzzle game: gameplay. Yosumin!'s gameplay is simple and repetitive. You simply have to make rectangles with a yosumin in each corner, regardless of what is in the middle of the shape (aside from some bonuses like extra level time or alternate objectives). The way the yosumin populate the board is completely random aside from a few unlockable modifier "treats" that don't affect the board that much. Such randomness isn't as much as a problem in games where you can "outskill" the board generation like Dungeon Hearts or Hexic, but Yosumin! doesn't have such tactical depth. The deepest the tactics go is removing all of a specific yosumin from the board to hope you can get all of the same type of yosumin in the corners to create an entire board clear (Yosumin!). Wingmen (pieces you can move anywhere) only become available after the first world and don't appear often enough to add any significant tactical depth to the game. The lack of depth causes the game to have a poor difficulty curve, shifting between laughably easy and annoyingly difficult as you eye your way through the board looking for matches. Apart from the gameplay, though, Yosumin! hits all the right buttons. The menus are responsive and easy to navigate, the control in game is smooth and fluid, offering different styles of selecting yosumin to fit multiple gameplay styles, and the aesthetic is great. The art is simple and clean, with no problems, but where the game really shines is its sound design. All the sound effects are satisfying and aid in enjoyment of the game. The yosumin themselves are cute and make cute sound effects that made me find myself smiling while playing. The best part in the game is the soundtrack though; the music is wonderful, reminding me of classic games like Katamari Damacy, and while it doesn't seem to have that many tracks, I found myself playing just to listen to the music. Overall Yosumin! isn't that bad of a game, but I can't give it my recommendation to anyone looking for an interesting puzzle game. The gameplay is just too simple and Yosumin! ends up being more of an occasional time waster suited more to mobile devices than a puzzle game you want to sit down and play for more than ten minutes. If just an easy game to have open and occasionally mess around with is what you're looking for, Yosumin! might be for you, but for the puzzle game fan who wants to think and be challenged, look somewhere else. PS: There is no support for this game from Square anymore. The leaderboards do not function and don't expect to have any achievements or cards any time soon. It also commits the cardinal sins of Japanese-made games by having Escape instantly close the game and lacking any support for resolutions above 800x600 without stretching.