System: Nintendo DS

Publisher: Yuke’s

Reviewer’s rating: **1/2

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Puzzle

Kind of like: “Picross DS”

Best feature: The game includes tons of puzzles — over 500.

Worst feature: A profound lack of frills makes the game feel kind of dull.

The bottom line: The hand-held Nintendo DS has been the source of a seemingly endless bounty for interactive puzzle buffs, and its digital windfall continues with “Neves.”

“Neves,” which is seven spelled backward, is a video game version of the classic Chinese tangram puzzle. Players must figure out how to create specific shapes using seven provided pieces.

It’s a game that wouldn’t really work on any other system, but using the DS’s touch-screen, it feels elegant and intuitive to move, flip and rotate the pieces.

Shapes start out simple, but as you make progress, there are some real brain-teasers. Fans of logic-based puzzle games like “Picross” or “Sudoku” will probably enjoy putting their spatial reasoning skills to the test. And, like those games, “Neves” is great to pick up and play for a few minutes at a time, especially while you’re on the go or sitting in a waiting room.

It’s not for everyone, though. The game’s timed and competitive modes make it a bit more exciting, but anyone who likes a lot of action in their video games will probably find “Neves” about as interesting as sitting through geometry class.