He/she probably can't. The concept is not new. Here's a flash version of the same game. it is a few years old.

[1]: http://www.addictinggames.com/puzzle-games/3dlogic2.jsp

Who says you need completely novel gameplay mechanics to charge money for an app? Surely more polish, hand-built levels and an app are sufficient. Whether OP would make more on ads or IAP remains to be seen, though. An IAP to get more levels would be a good way to hook users.

The overwhelming majority of app users would not pay a cent for any app, much less a game.

Free sells.

People charge for Chess apps. :)

Angry Birds wasn't a new concept either.

I was looking for this, I knew I had played it before.

This one has much better controls on the web app, as well.

exch, you point to the mother of all "we stole your game play and made a new game" sites. :)

I saw someone charging for a game based on the exact same principle last week. No reason not to.

I agree. Free demo on website + charge for app = profit... probably.

Does the website demo work on an iPhone (I don't have one to test)?

This only works if their site gets views and the free demo gets plays. In my experience, apps in the App Store are primarily found through the App Store, meaning potential users won't hit the site first to try the demo.

The standard solution is to give away a bunch of levels for free and charge for additional levels using IAPs.

I'm guessing that demo is getting a lot of plays right now and they should capitalize on the hype that's being built.

Relying on the App Store is a good strategy for development firms that cannot build their own hype. So far, I'm guessing these guys are doing an okay job.

But I have zero data on any of this, hopefully they do and are acting appropriately.

We felt that out of the gate making it free to download was our best chance for success, but who know, if we start getting into A/B testing in the future, we may find that keeping the game free in the browser and charging for app store installs is the way to go.

By the way, the parent of this comment is getting a lot of up votes. Others seem to agree with me.