Here's a type of candy that's not harmless to your health in large quantities. In fact, the more you take the better for you. As advertised on the box, these candies are free of sugar and calories but contain 100% vitamin FUN. Made at SmartGames by confectioner Raf Peeters, the IQ Candy will be the delight for all kids and adults alike.

The IQ Candy comes in a different package than the others in the IQ series. A little bigger, but still practical enough to take it with you on your travels. The tray measures about 15cm in diameter (6"), and has a clear plastic tray to keep the pieces from being lost.

The game consists of seven candy-colored pieces in different trominoes and tetrominoes shapes. All pieces fill an entire 5x5 grid with no empty spaces, but the grid itself has something different from the regular 2D packing puzzles, as about half of the 25 spaces have vertical and horizontal pins on it (12, to be exact). The pieces themselves have holes, but they're placed at different directions, like the pins, and will only fit on certain places.

What's great about the IQ series is that the games have very simple and easy to understand rules, so you will only need a couple of minutes to familiarize yourself with the game. First, before starting with any challenge, you have to make sure the game board is placed in the correct orientation (the only corner with a pin should be at the bottom left). Then, you just need to place the pieces as shown in any of the 60 challenges found in the booklet and solve the puzzles.

On the first challenges you only need to place a couple of the remaining pieces on the tray, but the harder ones will have just one or two pieces. There's only one solution per challenge. You can also try to solve puzzles that aren't on the booklet. Start with one piece and work your way until all pieces are placed on the game board.

You can place the pieces on the game board with either side and orientation. If a piece doesn't fit with a certain orientation, try flipping it. Besides the horizontal and vertical holes, each pieces also has a cross-shaped hole that fits on any pin, provided you place the piece as such.

The difficulty level of the IQ Candy is not as difficult as you might think. The pins actually reduce the number of possible configurations, which makes it easier to solve the puzzles. Mind you, easier doesn't necessarily mean easy. Just less difficult than other puzzle games.

Closing Comments:

IQ Candy is a superb puzzle game. The design is magnificent, made with bright colors, and the pins in the game board is a nice change from the more common packing puzzles, which is a welcome variation. The taste is a little "plasticky", but the IQ Candy is worth every minute you spend with it. Playing with candy never felt this good.

Availability: The IQ Candy is available from major online stores like Amazon.com or in Europe at Amazon.co.uk.

A few Challenges: