Chains

Developer: 2D Engine.com
Steam Release: Nov 2008
Hours Played: 2
Similar To: Super Chains
Rating: 1/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
It may not be a true tile match game in the Bejeweled tradition but Chains has you matching same coloured discs in what is essentially 20 different mini-games. Chains blurs the line between a zen-like experience and a challenging puzzle game and with graphics being as simple as the gameplay you'll pick this up in seconds. At the start of a level you'll be given an objective along the lines of "Don't lose 100", "Last more than 5 minutes" or "Pop a total of 100 in 10 moves" etc. You'll have the necessary meters in the bottom corners and then it's off you go. Much like 4 Elements and Lucid you must link a path connecting 3 or more adjacent discs of the same colour. However, rather than holding the left mouse to draw your path, you click to start your path then move the mouse to draw and then click again to activate the move.
 

BALANCE & PACE
Those discs then disappear as you consider your next move. Some levels have non-stop cascading discs, some drop discs when you finish a move and some don't drop any at all. As your task is different each time, this game is refreshingly not about plowing through the same mechanic every time. Variety is what makes Chains special rather than the more repetitive and familiar mechanic of the match 3 game. Another thing that Chains gets right is the balance in difficulty. Sure, some levels can be over in a flash and some will have you attempting them 15 or more times but they never get so frustrating that you feel hatred for the game. In fact, many felt quite relaxing giving off a feeling of calm... but be prepared to work fairly hard on those tougher levels. 
 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The jury may still be out on that whistle sound-effect on opening and closing some screens but at least the game aims to be different. With the game going down the minimalist route, as far as artwork goes, the title-menu merely lists the names of each of the twenty levels in good old fashioned Times New Roman-type pixelated font. No icons or symbols are in sight. Meanwhile in the main game itself you'll generally encounter plain black lines that represent receptacles and plain simple textures for the discs themselves. 

 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

It offers fair option choices but has a decent best-scores chart which you'll find by clicking at the tiny word Records in the top right hand corner. (It's easy to miss.) Here, you'll see your list of levels again but with five different records or stats for each level that you can go back into and try to beat. These include; Longest Chain, Most Cleared, Longest Playing Time, Fastest Completion and Optimal Completion. As you can tell, replaying levels won't be for everyone but there is plenty to keep the OCD guys busy.

 

CONCLUSION

Chains was quite a nice surprise for me and very grateful I was too for it not bearing any resemblance to its awful namesake, Chainz 2. It is one of those titles that's made on a very small budget and has enough novelty value for it to be played through for 2 or 3 hours over two or three sessions. Although it probably won't spend much time on your hard-drive it is still absorbing and satisfying enough to earn lots of respect.  Oh, and the soundtrack is pretty damn decent too!