10000000

 
Developer: EightyEightGames
Steam Release: Jan 2013
Hours Played: ~10 Hours (On the mobile platform)
Similar To: Chuzzle Deluxe / T-Kara Puzzles / You Must Build A Boat
Rating: 3/5 Parsnips




*Mainly played on the mobile platform by this reviewer.

GAMEPLAY

Switching tiles with adjacent ones to create a line of three is all well and good in the world of Match 3. The mighty popular  Puzzle Quest, Jewel Quest and the Bejeweled series (to name but three) all do a sterling job in this regard. However a few, such as Chuzzle Deluxe and the little known T-Kara Puzzles, tinker with the formula a tad and offer an alternative whereby whole rows and columns need to be swiped. 10000000 steps onto the scene using precisely this mechanic on a grid of 7x8 which is slightly larger than the Chuzzle grid but smaller than the one used in T-Kara Puzzles. Likewise you match up the symbols to create a line of three or more but here your matches initiate an action from your running man at the top of the screen.

BALANCE & PACE

This man must continually battle against monsters, demons, skeletons, dragons, spirits and knights to keep on running. Additionally, he must open chests and barriers that block his way. To attack, you quickly match up swords and staves on the grid and to unlock chests and doors you'll need to swiftly match keys. Speed is most certainly of the essence. You can also match up stones and wood to use in shops for upgrading between runs along with shields for protection against attacks. Backpacks are there for gold and loot. Dawdle or hesitate too long and the left hand wall will swallow up yer man for an abrupt end of your game. The idea is that as you upgrade things such as weapons and armour between runs, you'll gradually run for longer each time thus increasing your high-score until you hit the magical 10000000.
 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN 

10000000 uses the pixel-art, 16-bit style and begins with a start-screen showing your character fast asleep in his bed. To a fuzzy and distorted chiptune, clicking on the screen wakens the man from his slumbers as he leaps out of his bed ready for action. The six rooms lead to six types of upgrades which you purchase with those collected resources. Starting the game, which you enter by clicking on the large barn-like double doors of the dungeon, initiates one of three or four tunes which bounce along nicely as you play. The seven symbols are easily recognisable by both the simple illustrations and their own unique, well-chosen background colour. On the top-left of the grid you have power-ups, resources and shield strength in the middle and quest objectives at the bottom.          

PROGRESS SYSTEM
10000000 is a unique match 3 game as it has nothing to do with changing tiles underneath to a different colour, nothing to do with beating levels to progress and nothing to do with being awarded stars. Although match 3s may be viewed as time-wasters where you'll often fail a run due to a lack of it, you'll never actually get that annoying feeling of having to re-do another level due to running out of time. Instead, even if you do a poor run, it drip-feeds the player that feel-good factor based on something positive. Upgrading that staff or adding damage to that weapon or adding more shields to your armour or even upgrading a room will always give you that feeling of progressing and hence a bit of faith that the game is worth continuing with. 

CONCLUSION
With plenty of mobile games and PC titles like Puzzle Quest and the lesser known Legend of Fae combining the use of match 3 and battle mechanics in the past, 10000000 is not an entirely new idea. However, as you don't "win or lose" a session but get increasingly stronger, this makes it a welcome change. Nothing seems luck-based or contrived. In 10000000, the possibility to reach out and munch on the dangling carrot is always present.. and because you know that each run will increase your later chances of a better score that one-more-try vibe hangs over the player constantly. It may not match most match 3 titles for graphical quality but there again it doesn't attempt to - but it certainly smashes a great many for enjoyment, satisfaction and good solid gameplay.

T-Kara Puzzles

 
Developer: Mexond
Steam Release: Jun 2016
Hours Played: 3.0
Similar To: 10000000 / Chuzzle Deluxe / Clickr / You Must Build A Boat
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
T-Kara Puzzles joins 10000000 and  Chuzzle Deluxe in that brand of match-3 games that has you dragging rows and columns rather than individual tiles. On a larger grid than the aforementioned, and with the need to match four rather than three tiles, beating levels is mainly based around number of moves rather than completing grids against a set time. As such, T-Kara Puzzles is a calm and relaxed experience overall rather than a rushed one. A satisfying glow accompanies each match-up as you aim to fill a meter on the left to the top. A counter on the right shows how many moves you have left or, in one exception, how much time is left. The tiles move fluidly as you drag them and the gameplay overall is super-smooth. In essence, it is the far more sophisticated brother of Chuzzle Deluxe with a lot more cool stuff to say for itself. 

BALANCE & PACE
There are two main areas where you'll be spending most of your time. In the campaign you'll play one of six modes that are further divided neatly into 16 bite-sized levels each; in score-attack you'll play one of three game types requiring longer sessions. There is a puzzle mode but this is fairly weak and not nearly as absorbing as the campaign or the score-attack sections. The campaign is generally six modes based around a theme of clearing away areas by same-colour match ups; be it in the form of stars to collect or padlocks to crack etc, you'll be awarded up to three stars depending on the number of moves you made to clear it. The levels are fairly short and can swiftly be replayed if you want to three-star them. Score-Attack, divided into three types, is more or less the endless mode where you attempt to amass the highest score.     

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The developers seem to have gone for a mix when it comes to an overall theme. On the one hand, for the menus, an outer-space motif prevails with unknown and exotic planets signifying the different modes or game-types. A wooden paneling aesthetic is incorporated at the home-page dividing up the paths. In the game itself, the symbols on the tiles and the structure of the grids seem to have been inspired by the Mayan, Inca or South American culture. There is "music" in the game but rather than instruments, this is made of a series of jungle noises with insects and wild animals seemingly not far off. Not an unpleasant effect to my ear but an ambient tone which suitably suits the nature of the game. As mentioned the smooth flow of the tiles and the resounding sound-effects makes for a very satisfying experience overall.  

PROGRESS SYSTEM
Common sense prevails here in that you may dive into any of the six modes of the campaign in any order you want. Each contains a path ultimately numbering 16 dots along the way. Usually, one star is awarded if you complete the level with two moves left, two for four moves left and three stars for eight moves left. Of course, you can replay levels whenever you want but levels need to be unlocked by completing the previous one. In Score-Attack, you're given a high-score and there is a leaderboard so that you can compete with others online. Each of the three game-types (one consisting of a time-atack) involve completing level after level... and as it is a tad on the easy side these can sometimes seem like a war of attrition. If you extend the session it can straddle the line between being boring and relaxing. 
 

CONCLUSION

T-Kara Puzzles will no doubt join the ranks of all those other thousands of indie games that no one ever plays. However, it also joins those very few that happen to be well-designed, well-programmed and very good. It manages to be that match-3 game which is both calm and relaxing AND one that supplies you with competitive goals and targets to aim for. Unlike many others it doesn't throw special abilities at you that you can use like a get-out-of-jail free card or show you possible moves when there are few moves left. In fact, in Direct-Hit mode of the Score-Attack section it deliberately and blatantly makes you find that one move yourself with no clues - and this really adds that puzzle-element and depth that's so much missing in so many of those other mindless match 3s. For a clever match 3 with a difference T-Kara Puzzles really works!

 

Chuzzle Deluxe

 
Developer: PopCap Games. Inc
Steam Release: Aug 2006
Hours Played: 3
Similar To : 10,000,000 / Clickr / You Must Build A Boat
Rating: 3/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY
Chuzzle Deluxe is a fun and frantic match 3 game that has the player moving rows and columns of fluffy balls that resemble pom poms with bulgy white eyes. With plenty of pop, squelch and splat there is plenty to like here. On starting the game you are presented with a 6X6 grid of spherical fluffy balls. With your mouse you pull a line of balls along either horizontally or vertically. The idea is to match up three or more balls of the same colour in a cluster. Releasing the mouse activates the move whereby all matching balls disappear in a satisfyingly fluffy explosion as the grid immediately fills up to replace them. As you do this, the bottle on the left of the screen captures and collects all the energy and gets gradually filled up. You go on in this vein until the bottle gets filled which then allows you to proceed to the next level. 
 

BALANCE & PACE
In classic mode there is no time-pressure; you simply match up the three balls at your leisure but real men play the speed mode! In speed mode a little green bar moves from left to right as you consider your move. If it reaches the other side before you make a move, a random ball gets locked and you cannot move the line the ball is in. The only way to unlock it is to include it in a cluster of three or more by dragging balls of the same colour to its location. The game keeps locking lines until you are out of moves in which case you'll need to use the scramble feature to reset the grid. You can only use this three times so it's often a case of desperately trying to fill the bottle before relying on the scramble feature. To put a spanner in the works you sometimes get an enormous ball on the grid that takes up the space where four balls would normally be. 

 

PRESENTATION & DESIGN
The artwork for the menus of Chuzzle Deluxe is designed with 1970s game shows in mind. To a shuffling but catchy beat you are first shown four large circles signifying the four game modes on offer. If you're like me you'll be spending most of your time in the Speed Chuzzle mode. Under these you have a further four smaller, orange circles that give you the bog-standard features like Options, High Scores and the Trophy Room. The High-Score pathway keeps your best five scores in the Classic and Speed mode. Progress comes in the form of aiming to beat those five scores but it's the speed mode that offers the best challenge. Zen mode is for those who want to kick back without a challenge while Mind-Bender mode is the puzzle element of the game. Menus are rock-solid, quick and stable.
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM
The speed mode is definitely the one where you'll spend most of your time and the two different difficulty settings add a touch of variety with expert mode being a worthwhile challenge. Aiming to complete a level before you're out of moves becomes a really tricky problem and will definitely throw you into a mild but invigorating form of panic that makes you appreciate the quality of the game. As mentioned, the five high-scores are really all you get by way of recording progress so it’s really all about popping the pom-poms as quick as you can in an effort to beat that top-score. 

CONCLUSION
With a size of just 9MB Chuzzle Deluxe will install in the blink of an eye and it really is the simplicity of the game that is its strength but the success of the game also has a lot to do with its sound. Successful match ups are accompanied by satisfyingly squelchy explosions and the chuzzles squeak and quiver as you go about your business. The animation of the explosions are also visually rewarding as various messages pop when balls leave behind a flutter of feathers in their wake. To give the balls more character along with that lifelike appeal, the eyes of the chuzzles follow your mouse pointer as you move around the grid. The zippy soundtrack, with its catchy and shuffly beat also adds an extra zany edge to the game so for a satisfying blast Chuzzle Deluxe comes recommended! 

Match 3s

Match 3s generally have a child-friendly exterior that apeal to young and old alike. Many also bear more than a passing resemblance to slot machines with some being out-and-out pornographic! Big Fish Games as well as the Microsoft Store have a veritable treasure trove of these including the Cursed House, Fishdom, Jewel Match, Laruaville and Spellarium series', with numerous amounts adorning steam. Deeply satisfying and addictive by nature, they generally split into three camps: (1) The traditional (2) RPG elements - with attacks, and (3) the path-making variety.

 

 

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To Play

These titles have either not been played or not been played enough to be included above. When they have, they will be awarded one to five Parsons' Carrots as a ranking.

 

2 Planets Fire and Ice

Among the Heavens

Bejeweled Twist

Cradle of Rome

Eleven Islands

Enthralling Realms

Farmscapes

Heart of Moon: Mask of Seasons

Heroes from the Past: Joan of Arc

Heroes of Dungeons

Heroes of Hellas 3: Athens

Heroes of Hellas Origins

Imperial Islands

Jewel Venture

Last Resort Island

Match Ventures

Mirror

 Old Clockmaker's Riddle

Puzzle Plunder

Puzzle Quest

Rescue Quest Gold

Ricky Raccoon

Runefall 2

Secrets of Magic: Book of Spells

Silver Tale

Spellarium 4

Tower of God

Treasures of Montezuma 4

Treasures of Montezuma 5

Trials of Olympus 2