Room Makeover

Room Makeover is a calm interior design game played in a cut-away isometric room. There are six rooms to decorate (a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen nook, a study, a kids' room and a balcony), each with two walls and a floor. Paint the walls in any of sixteen colours or hang one of eight wallpapers, from big jungle leaves to retro circles and seaside waves, then lay one of six floors. After that the catalogue opens up: more than a hundred and twenty pieces in ten tabs, from beds, sofas, tables and desks to chairs, storage, lamps, rugs, plants, wall art, curtains, cushions and little bits of clutter. Every piece is drawn in code and can be recoloured, so nothing ever has to clash.

Drag a piece into the room and it snaps to the floor grid; tap it to select it, tap again to turn it, and drag it back to the tray to take it away. Things stack where they should: a lamp on a nightstand, a globe on a desk, cushions on the sofa, plants on the shelves. A tap on a card in the tray finds a sensible spot on its own, and undo is always one press away. Clients arrive with a brief told in picture cards: the room, a style (cosy, modern, jungle, pastel, nautical or retro), a three-colour palette and a few must-haves, like a reading corner, a desk with a chair or lots of plants. When you are happy, press Reveal. The camera pans across the room, a little home sweet home chime plays and the client steps in through the door.

The score out of 100 is explained piece by piece: how much of the room carries the client's style, how much of it sits in their palette, which must-haves you found room for and whether the way in from the door is clear. Stars come at 60, 80 and 95. A Daily client brings the same brief to everyone each day and keeps a streak, and the Clients mode keeps a streak and a high score of its own. Free Studio drops the brief altogether: every room and every piece, nothing to win, a heart button that keeps your favourite rooms in a gallery and a camera button that saves a picture. It is a quick, relaxing game for a coffee break or an evening, with a gentle soundtrack you can mute.