Esquire has released an iPad app the publication is calling "the hardest puzzle ever."
It is certainly very difficult. The game [iTunes link] combines Rubik's Cube-style puzzles with riddles -- including those with and without Google-able answers -- of scaling difficulty. After successfully completing each level, users can opt to print out and assemble 3D trophies, a clever addition.
The app is one of several that Esquire's editors have been developing for the device, enabling them to push further beyond the traditional magazine format. Although Esquire is indisputably one of the best magazines on the iPad, it is still largely a translation of its print counterpart.
"We had the opportunity to create something native to the iPad, not just a translation," Deputy Editor Peter Griffin noted in an interview with Mashable. "[The app] carries not just the name and the brand but also a sensibility unique to this device."
Although the app utilizes the iPad's touchscreen very well, it fails to take advantage of the device in one respect: Internet connectivity and, in particular, opportunities for social interaction.
While users can opt to tell their friends when they complete a new level -- designed to create a sense of competition between players -- they can't actually play against against each other in the way that they can with iPad games like Scrabble [iTunes link].
Furthermore, users cannot opt to create multiple games, which will inevitably disappoint those who share their iPads with puzzle-loving spouses, friends or family members.