The Week in iOS Apps: Puzzle and chill

This week’s roundup includes several new games that challenge your mind while helping it relax. Read on!

Blyss ($2, iPhone and iPad) is just about the chillest puzzle game you’ll ever play—a “self-evolving endless puzzle experience” backed by a New Age ambient soundtrack straight from the hearts of space. (Watch this video for a sense of gameplay—or to be lured into an out-of-body experience.) It includes three different modes, as well as specialized in-game challenges to be solved by players.

Klocki ($1, iPhone and iPad) isn’t all that different from Blyss: A relaxing puzzle game with calm music backing the gameplay. The difference? You’re connecting lines instead of tiled dots.

Microsoft Pix (free, iPhone and iPad) is yet another Microsoft app aiming for “best of class” status on iOS. (We wouldn’t want to live without the Outlook email client on our phones.) The app automatically tweaks settings for each shot, and immediately enhances photos, so you get the best-possible version of a picture every time.

NOVA Black Holes (free, iPad) helps you learn about science through 50 levels of play in which you watch your star eventually turn into a black hole.

Pocket Casts ($4, iPhone and iPad) has launched Version 6.0 with a whole host of new features, including a redesigned user interface, the addition of “remove silence” and “volume boost” features, a new stats section to help you track your listening time, and much, much more.

Prava (free, iPhone) is designed to help you plan and execute group travel: You can make itineraries, publish the plans to your friends, and discover travel plans made by other Prava users to help guide your own journeys.

Prisma (free, iPhone) has long been a popular photo editor, but recent updates appear to have given it new life among picture-sharers in social media. The app lets you transform your photos into images that look more like paintings and drawings in dozens of different styles. The recent update adds more art styles to the collection, expanding your options.

Shrek & Friends ($4, iPhone and iPad) lets your child “play with Shrek, Po, Toothless, Skipper, Alex the Lion, and many more and have fun brushing their teeth, feeding them and packing their bags.” It’s not as zen as some of this week’s other game offerings, but it will guide your child in developing healthy habits.

The  Zen meditation app is now available on Apple TV …  Human Anatomy Atlas 2017 (pictured) is now available, providing a complete 3D model of the human body …  Ovulator helps women determine their fertility windows and track their cycles when aiming for pregnancy.