Spooky Bonus

Developer: Grey Alien Games
Steam Release: Oct 2015
Hours Played: ~10 (Not played on Steam.)
Similar To: Mystika 3 / Secrets of Magic / Unwell Mel / Tricks and Treats
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
Before scootling off to simply cut and paste what I wrote for my Unwell Mel review I suppose I should resist the temptation and give it the personal touch. For Spooky Bonus is THE game to get if you want more of the same in the Unwell Mel department. The difference is that it's horror rather than hospital themed. You know the routine: hold your mouse on the desired symbol and switch it with its neighbour by dragging and dropping it to create three-in-a-line. Bish bash bosh. All the great features of the aforementioned criminally neglected classic are here in abundance: silky smooth animation and controls; absorbing sound-effects; immersive game-play that makes you want to play forever; simple yet effective power-ups and all the other little tweaks and twists that make a glorious entrance.  

BALANCE & PACE
On a larger grid than Unwell Mel the idea, like the Jewel Quest and 7 Wonders of this world, is to link three-in-a-line to change all background tiles into the same colour. Spooky Bonus comes with the bonus of having to match a set number of symbols as well before ending the level. As usual early stages require just one switch per tile but as you travel through the game, hindrances like cobwebs and layers of stone (which can only be removed by the presence of an adjacent match of three) need to be taken care of. There is a timer but Spooky Bonus hails from that refreshing school of thought that puts emphasis on giving satisfaction rather than stressing or punishing the player... and games are a delightful breeze rather exercises in annoyance and frustration.  To assist you, generous power-ups are regularly handed out as well.

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The theme of Spooky Bonus relates to the horror genre but as a casual family game, the art-work is cartoon-like and child-friendly with nothing really scary at all. Symbols include items linked to the stereotypical haunted house so bats, coffins, ghosts and black cats all make the necessary appearance along with cauldrons of goo, squishy eyeballs and large bulbous skulls. Power-ups appear as cooldown abilities along the bottom as well as one-use abilities (in the form of crosses and silver bullets) on the main grid and it's the sound-effects produced by these that help bring a pleasant aural aura to the proceedings. The game itself is rock solid, stable and runs as smooth as butter and it's this reliability along with the fact that you'll have zero frame-rate issue that makes it such a beacon of light amongst the mass of Match 3 titles.    
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Your progress is mapped out by way of a spooky path set in a sinister town with all manner of creepy buildings along the way. The route consists of 100 blue dots to start with, representing levels, which then become light green on completion of each level. Furthermore, outside of the main game you may also click on a tab entitled My House. Coins earned while playing may be used to purchase decorations or items to adorn your house and these then operate as power-ups or upgrades that are on cooldown during the game. These allow the usual benefits of crushing a layer of stone, sweeping away cobwebs or randomly destroying tiles etc. You cannot skip locked levels as they have to be done sequentially by beating the previous ones. Unlocked ones can be replayed but there are no stored stats or scores to beat.    

CONCLUSION

As mentioned Spooky Bonus is the ideal companion piece to Unwell Mel as it offers a very similar gameplay experience. Needless to say if you enjoyed one, you should equally enjoy the other. Rather like a knife through butter, a refreshing mechanic to the game is its forgiving and breezy nature. Although you will get moments of mild inconvenience when that elusive last tile or two seems like an age to break, this is not a game that sets out to frustrate or anger you. Let's just say the feeling is more akin to ploughing through a bag of M & Ms or watching wall to wall episodes of Breaking Bad rather than being stuck in a four-hour non-moving traffic jam or waiting for that crushingly dull film to finally end. All good stuff indeed.