The Iconfactory describes Frenzic as a game that takes minutes to learn and months to master. That's pretty much spot-on.

Frenzic is a puzzle game that The Iconfactory co-developed with ARTIS Software. The object is to fill circles with colored wedge shapes before the timer runs out. Completing circles with wedges of the same color gets you more points, mix colors and you don't get as many points. There isn't much else to learning the game.

Frenzic

It supports play with keyboard, mouse, or other input devices. I found that using my Wacom tablet worked best for me since I could use my stylus to place wedges in the appropriate circles faster than I could when using my keyboard or mouse.

The keyboard commands, however, left me a bit confused at first. Based on their descriptions, I thought I could swap already placed wedges with the next wedge waiting to be placed. Once I figured out that I had misinterpreted the key descriptions, everything clicked into place for me, and I found Frenzic amazingly easy to play.

Since Frenzic doesn't lots of animations, it goes easy on your graphics and system processors. I tested the game on a 1.67GHz PowerBook G4, and it performed without any image redraw latency. Frenzic is Universal Binary, so it will perform even better on Intel-based Macs - although I doubt you will notice any difference since it plays so smoothly on older systems.

If you are in to sharing your scores, the Frenzic Web site includes a high scores section. It lets you track your scores, the scores of friends, or the scores of all players. If you aren't all that excited about letting the rest of the world see how well you do at the game, you don't have to upload your scores.

The Frenzic high scores Web site.

Participating in the online Frenzic community does come with a price. The base US$14.95 price for the game includes six months access to the online features, and one-year subscription renewals cost $9.95. For $24.95, you can buy the game and get unlimited access to the online features forever. Both packages allow you to play on your own Mac without paying any additional subscription fees.

The Bottom Line
The Iconfactory also states that Frenzic is an addictive game, and I can see why they make that claim. At first I thought I would play for just a few minutes, and then get back to work. That didn't happen. About an hour later, I pulled myself away... begrudgingly.

If you enjoy puzzle and strategy games, odds are you'll like this game and keep coming back for more. If first person shooters or sim games are more your style, Frenzic will probably be just a fun diversion for you.