A mystery is buried deep within the sands of time and it’s waiting to be discovered. Join the adventures of Christine, an Archaeologist, whose fun-filled journey takes her through the ancient modern times in search of invaluable treasures. Unlock the first chapter of the story and continue the epic quest until the mystery is resolved in The Lost Treasures of Alexandria.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game News, Match 3 Game, PC Games

Don’t let the wave of fashion-style games that have come through the ocean of casual games affect your judgment of the latest fashion entry: Zen Fashion. Instead of a running a business style game play, it fashions a game of match three along with a journey through Asia’s world of fashion.

A new Japanese fashion designer explores various Asian cities for eight levels each to learn the intricacies of Japanese design. Match at least three of the same flowers to help the young designer gain experience beginning with her basic designs and advancing to beautiful and detailed designs.

Create matches up/down, left/right, and diagonally. While that sounds too easy, believe me… it’s not after you advance enough levels. The barriers narrow the matching possibilities, lengthening your chances of getting through the level. To complete a level requires clearing all the colored squares with a time limit. As expected of most matching games, later levels have squares that take two, three, or more matches to clear.

Since the game keeps players too busy to notice the shrinking time on the hourglass, it warns players when 30 seconds remain. The game issues another warning at 20 seconds and then counts down from 10. This feature has proven valuable, but it might help to have a warning a little sooner and then another at 20. The countdown just makes a gal panic and give up unless only one piece remains.

Upon completing a level, players pick what new article of clothing to add to their collection. The item comes with two power ups. Zen Fashion comes with six power ups, and although the game introduces each one — players may need to review instructions later when they start needing them. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t come with a Help file. Some like the clock are obvious and others like the “Eye for Fashion” are not. Time and practice will help players discover what each power up does.

Designing 108 new pieces — in the form of making many matches — takes a lot out of a new designer, so take a Zen break and enjoy the gorgeous scenery. A Zen break pauses the game, clears all of the game’s elements, and displays nothing but the serene scene representing the current level’s city. Click anytime to return to the game.

The coolest part of the game is that players can change up the hair style, blouse, and bottoms for hundreds of outfit possibilities. Remember each one comes with two power ups, so coordinate with style and power up in mind. By the way, our designer earns new fashion — real ones based on the styles from the 12 countries albeit with some updates. I’ve never liked playing dress up as a little kid and enjoyed changing the designer’s outfits as she wears them for the upcoming level.

The flowers on the grid change very little — just color variations. Since the backgrounds change with each new city, it would be nice to see the objects also change for variety. The game comes with Adventure mode and Zen mode, which is like adventure without the clock and story. Adventure mode unlocks levels for Zen mode, so you can only play Zen mode as far as you have in timed mode.

Why play Zen mode when you’ve already conquered the level in timed mode? To earn trophies (24 in all) you might not otherwise win in timed mode and to experiment with different styles without the pressure of picking the right power ups or to experiment with power ups so you can finally move on to the next level in timed mode.

The sound effects electrify especially when special pieces come into play and set off some serious action on the grid. If Zen Fashion could walk on the runway in Paris, it would dazzle the fashion industry with its great looks, sharp cut, and new twists. It’ll make a worthy addition to the casual gamer’s wardrobe of games without the high price tag that comes with designer gowns.

Try Zen Fashion.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Match 3 Game, PC Games, Strategy Games

7 Wonders of the World receives a sequel in 7 Wonders II, which comes with new wonders. The game takes 400-plus years to build — by making match threes — seven wonders plus one surprise wonder except we know game time doesn’t compare to real-life. Unearth Stonehenge, The Colosseum, Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Shwedagon Pagoda, Angkor Wat, the statues on Easter Island and one mystery.

The original game’s shiny-style runes get a makeover to more stone-styled runes with etching depicting various objects. Since each wonder has a corresponding rune, so speed construction of the wonder by creating matches with the associated rune.

Cute workers slog away on the bottom of the screen taking fallen bricks from creating matches and moving them to the construction site. Though I love the action especially when they celebrate the completion of a level, it’s hard to watch them while I’m quickly making matches.

For a power up, create a match of four runes to gain an ice ball that destroys a row of runes. Make five matches for a fireball that can burn tiles in a column and row. Bonus dice show up so you can wipe out random tiles and earn bonus points. That’s not all for the power ups. The game has 12 and players must decide which one to use in the next level. After using a power up, it must recharge before it’s available again.

In 7 Wonders of the World, parchment showed the wonder’s construction progress. 7 Wonders II doesn’t stop there. It lets you add collected bricks to the construction or you can let the game take care of it. As you (or the game) add the bricks, a surprise bonus could appear.

Upon finishing a level, players receive a bonus that reveals a map puzzle or a mini-game. The mini-game’s objective is to free the star, cornerstone, or object at the bottom of the board by making limited moves that require logical thinking. The mini-game nicely increases difficulty, but not the main game.

It’s not until around round two in the game when the main game becomes more challenging. 7 Wonders II contains the right amount of challenge for the average match three player while experienced players will glide right through the first round.

Learning the game’s rules and play takes little effort thanks to the thorough tutorial. The game has two modes: Regular and free play. Regular resembles adventure mode where you build each wonder. Free play lest you replay any unlocked wonder. The game doesn’t stop there — after building all seven plus one wonders, the game starts over at the first wonder and continues with the difficulty where you last left. You also retain your points.

Don’t let your opinion of 7 Wonders of the World affect your decision to try 7 Wonders II since the sequel brings wonderful improvements. You can play the sequel without bothering with the first one — it won’t make a difference. Beware that once you play the sequel, you won’t want to play the outdated original.

Download 7 Wonders II.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games, Puzzle Games, Strategy Games

The adorable (c’mon admit it!) imps return for their third game, Magic Match Adventures. You might know ‘em from Magic Match and Magic Match: The Genie’s Journey. Peak into the imps’ lives in the land of Arcania where they enjoy working and playing until something evil trips them up. They need our help in restoring order.

Travel and learn the stories of the kingdoms of Arcania consisting of water, Earth, air, and fire. Reading the stories, however, is difficult because of the text formatting. Whether you’re into stories or the text bugs you, just skip the story and head straight to the Magic Realm.

There in the Magic Realm is the match three game for collecting red potion to fix anything the evil wizard does. We also gather mana for using power ups. After collecting enough red potion, return to the scene where evil cast a spell and see the spell in action. The imps reward you with bonuses to help you in your adventures in defeating the darkest evil.

The match three game grid has at least four different elements and your goal is to destroy the minimum for each element. One calls for 60, another for 40, and two for 25. As you progress, you deal with more elements.

Cradle of Persia players will recognize some similarities in Magic Match Adventures especially in how the elements move. If you make a match from left to right, the entire row or column moves from left to right. You also deal with frozen, locked, and double locked pieces in the form of rocks and volcanoes. Coins, potions, and power ups also count as an element.

Tiles appear in green, blue, and beige colors. Destroying all of them doesn’t mean anything in this game. Instead, you want to grab as many as you can of blue and green, which contain mana for increase blue and green potions. Half of the spells use the green mana and the other half use blue. Mana points are for the eight spells, which vary in the number of points needed to use the spell.

Figuring out what each spell / power up does takes experimenting. Plus, only a handful are worth the effort while you want to save points for strategic reasons.

With every kingdom comes a new evil wizard and a Dark-O-Meter counter. The counter shows the number of evil spells needed to stop and duel the evil wizard in a different kind of game.

The duel involves you and the evil wizard taking turns creating matches to get the required elements. The first one to clear all of the elements first wins. Frozen tiles and other barriers don’t appear during the duel, however, evil wizard puts up a few to slow you down.

By the time you figure out the game and its rules, it’s near the end of the adventure. Magic Match Adventures has 33 levels and doesn’t take long to play compared to the average game. Since it doesn’t have other game modes, players won’t likely want to keep replaying the game except to try to earn all the trophies. This one could use an arcade mode since it has the right elements.

I’d also love to see more interaction with the imps. Right now, they interact a little bit — the drummer will beat the drum when you click him, for example. Nonetheless, Magic Match Adventures provides an adventure worth traveling along with a few new tricks for match three games.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games

I enjoyed, Cradle of Rome, the predecessor to Cradle of Persia, so I was excited when I heard this one was coming. It took longer to get into Cradle of Persia. Eventually, it hooked me, but not as much as its ancestor hooked me.

The major difference between the two comes in how you make the match three. In Cradle of Rome, you select three or more items to make the match. Cradle of Persia not only requires selecting three or more items in a row, but also deciding which direction to go in making the match. If you make the match starting with the first object and moving to the right, the objects behind the first match will move right to replace the matched items’ spots. The same goes for all directions.

It took time to get a handle on this new thinking because the direction you move in can create a new and needed match or break an existing match. Despite the need to use the brain in making the right move, I still prefer Cradle of Rome.

What made Rome appealing was the process of building the city and adding citizens. It’s a great feeling when the screen pops up saying, “You’ve earned a new citizen!” Persia does the same and changing the theme, of course, and the music fits well with the Persian backdrop.

Unlike Rome, Persia lets you know what you need to do to add a citizen with an associated building. In Rome, you had to hope you made the right move. Right-click any building and Cradle of Persia provides the details including the building type, what you earned, and — if applicable, as not all buildings have one — what task to complete to add the citizen. Having this knowledge does not make the game too easy as some tasks are HARD.

Power ups are included, but they work differently. The power ups are not the same as the original and they each have four levels of power. Level 1 provides the least amount of power. For example, dynamite at level 1 only explodes one box while it explodes more at level 4 power.

The good thing about the four levels of power is that you can gain level 1 quickly and have something to use. In Cradle of Rome, you had to wait until the power up filled up to use it. Waiting for each level to power up can make a person antsy. A power up has a thin green line that glows as you destroy its associated power up. The green line proceeds around in a circle. When the circle completes, you gain another level of power.

Some gamers complain about developers releasing a similar version of a hit game, but Awem Studio did a lovely job Cradle of Persia with giving fans of Cradle of Rome the opportunity to get more of the same game play without being too similar. Awem took care to change the power up types, themes, objects, and tasks for earning citizens.

I’m all for Awem doing another. Maybe the company could explore a different one than the often-used Greek (though I do love Greek myths) or other frequently used themes. American history? African theme? Shakespeare theme?

Cradle of Rome fans will enjoy Cradle of Persia and those not having played Cradle of Rome will discover playing Cradle series as fan as a magic carpet ride (well, unless you’re afraid of heights then it’ll be like discovering a Genie in a bottle.).

• Windows 2000/XP/Vista
• 1.0 GHz processor
• 256 MB RAM
• DirectX 8.1 or later
• 81 MB hard drive space

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games

The fascinating Greek myths often become the subject of games, videos, and movies. The unique characters and their adventures contribute a powerful ingredient for entertainment. Heroes of Hellas effortlessly blends match three (keep reading — it’s not just another one) with the myths into a fine storyline beginning with someone stealing the scepter of Zeus.

Now what makes Heroes of Hellas different from the zillions (maybe not quite that many) of match threes? For one, instead of a typical square grid, the grid appears in honeycomb style with hexagon shapes. With the honeycomb-shaped grid, you go in different directions in making a match instead of just up and down, and sideways. Here you can go six directions. The grid’s outside shape changes with each level as you travel through Ancient Greece and Hades to find the scepter.

Along the way, you earn help from the heroes. Their help is what most refer to as a power up. Zeus, of course, is the first and he shuffles the grid when you need more matching objects. The others have special powers that do different things: Achilles can destroy rocks that block your way. Jason opens a path. Once you discover multiple heroes, you get two heroes per level plus Zeus.

Lightning-style and extra time power ups and coins show up on the grid for more support. Anytime you have two matching items nearby with a power up or coin in between, you can make a match. Heck, you can make a match of two power ups and one object. You still need at least three items and in this case, power ups are like jokers or wild cards in that they work with anything.

The objective for each level also changes. It can be that you need to clear the gold tiles behind the objects, release the jewels from the grid by helping them make their way down to the bottom of the grid, or both. With the grid changing shapes, the changing heroes and the change objectives, the game can turn monotonous especially since you’re on the clock through all of this.

While the game only comes in one mode, it offers three difficulty levels: easy, medium, and hard. In playing easy level, I run into trouble by level four. Some reviewers believe the game is too easy — I differ. I may not have needed the heroes’ help in the first few levels, but needed them in later levels. Several levels took at least five tries before I conquered them.

One thing that drives me crazy is slipping up and missing a hexagon or two. People who have a hard time navigating with a mouse won’t like this. Heroes of Hellas requires careful mouse movement and tile selection. You must keep the mouse button pressed while you select the tiles — instead of just click on each one. This is a good and bad thing. It’s harder to keep the mouse down and select, but it’s faster. To keep clicking might get tedious. Maybe the next edition — if there is one — can provide this as an option.

I also like the music and music isn’t one of the more important features in a game for me. Somehow this catchy music grabs me along with its sound effects. You can also earn wallpaper with scenes from Greek myths by playing a mini-game. The mini-game enters when you earn a hero. Here you need to move puzzles pieces where they belong by swapping two pieces at a time. For those who don’t like puzzles — you can skip the game, but it means no wallpaper for you.

Regular players of match three games may recognize features here and there from other games. Heroes of Hellas incorporates the features nicely to create an all-around fine match three package.

System Requirements: Windows

• Windows ME/98/2000/XP/Vista
• 400 MHz or faster processor
• 128 MB RAM
• Hard drive space 40 mb
• Video card: 16 MB VRAM
• DirectX 8.0 MB or later

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games

Welcome to the world of magic and fantasy where you run your own store in Magic Shop, a color matching / match three game. You attempt to run a magic store that designs and sells artifacts. Its previous owner, Loriel the elf, abandoned the story and no one has been able to successfully recapture its charm.

Run the store for 25 days where one level equals one day. Fulfill orders by making matches of three or more of the same elements until you create the artifact your visitor wants to buy. The amount of the needed elements appear like thermometers so you can see how close you are to creating the artifact. As soon as you complete enough matches for a single element, it will clear the board.

Not only do you need to work on “making enough elements,” but also ensure the customer stays happy while you make the ordered artifact. You can buy potions to give to the customer to keep the happiness meter from dropping. But any money (rubies) you use to purchase potions will make it harder to purchase the more expensive artifacts. So choose wisely.

Of course, all the shopping occurs at the Hall of Artifacts where you can buy the Ring of Truth, Wand of Wits, Goblet of Fame, and Wizard Bracelet to name a few of the 15 artifacts. The hall also sells small, middle and big potions for keeping waiting customers happy.

Every few levels, you play a Memory game where you find matching pairs of cards. Unlike most Memory games, the empty space left by the previous pair will receive a new pair. While you earn money from matching anything, you earn more with green crystals. The earned money will go toward sending an invitation to a Grand Wizard to visit your store.

Grand Wizards posses special talents that can help you in your store, so you want to invite them when you can. The game contains seven Grand Wizards. In the first play, I had enough to invite four.

The grid where you match the elements also comes with power ups and rubies. These rubies don’t stick around until you pick them up, so match them quickly so you have them for the next shopping trip after completing the day. Elements will flash, flicker or animate to indicate they have a power up. When you match an element with a power up, it immediately takes effect to help you create more matches.

Spells offer another way to gain power ups. They start small and the longer you go without using them, the larger they get (small, medium and max). These power ups can break stones that prevent more elements from appearing and sort elements for instantly collecting a bunch.

Magic Shop also awards trophies based on certain accomplishments such as playing so many levels without using potions or spells, creating artifacts, and keeping customers happy. You also receive title promotions as you gain enough points.

The game slowly progresses in difficulty — just the right amount. In fact, you may not collect all artifacts, meet all of the Grand Wizards, or collect half the trophies by the time 25 days ends. This increases interest in playing the game again, but will players continue playing after earning everything? The game gripped me as I wanted to meet more Grand Wizards, buy all the artifacts, and earn all trophies. While Magic Shop offers few new tricks in the match three genre, its magic will captivate matching game fans.

Download and try Magic Shop

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games

Thanks to Gamezebo, I had the opportunity to discover a game that isn’t known around the casual game world. Plumeboom is a peacock who tries to save Orniland in Plumeboom: The First Chapter where darkness has taken over the bird paradise. Crowbeak the Dark Wizard and Cornix the Evil Scientist plan to turn the birds into evil warriors in their attempts to take over Orniland.

All in all, Plumeboom: The First Chapter offers something different and isn’t without its flaws. I actually look forward to the next chapter, if there is one.

Download and try Plumeboom: The First Chapter or buy Plumeboom: The First Chapter.

Filed Under: Arcade Games, Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games

When we hear about a new match three or color matching game, we don’t expect to see anything new — just a different story and theme. Be prepared for a wonderful gem full of surprises in ZenGems. It’s not what you expect from color matching games — in fact, sometimes you’ll do better if you don’t make an instant match. And the audio is good, too.

Furthermore, most games come with two modes: adventure (story) and arcade (endless). Arcade mode typically resembles adventure mode except you just keep playing the game until it’s over. Not ZenGems. This one comes with three game modes. You can’t play adventure mode until you’ve finished level one in arcade mode — an unusual move as it’s usually the other way around or you don’t need to unlock it. To unlock Survival mode, complete level two in arcade mode.

The two modes, in most games, have the same objective with the only difference being story vs. play until you die. In ZenGems, Arcade mode has a different objective from adventure mode. Part of the game grid appears under water and your objective is to destroy the balls above the water until all of them fall below the water line.

Adventure mode’s goal is to destroy all of the diamonds. No water comes in play in this mode. Survival mode resembles most games’ arcade modes where play for as long as you can. Instead of being limited to areas you’ve unlocked — you can play any world — another ZenGems original approach to color matching games. Survival’s the game play resembles Adventure’s.

In the story, players assume the role of Hoshiko, a young man who works to recover the stolen medallions of virtue. His grandfather guides him through his journey. The game adds a touch of humor in the banter between grandfather and grandson at the end of a level. A world contains seven levels and upon the successful completion of a level, Hoshiko earns a piece of the medallion. Finishing the seven levels makes the medallion whole again.

The game play involves a grid of multiple-colored balls and gems. A new ball appears at the top of the screen in which you launch to drop the ball in a column to make a match. Any time you match at least three of the same colored balls in any direction, they dissolve. Anything above them falls to fill the voids to create more matches or break gems.

Along the way, you get special balls. Some balls will have an arrow pointing left or right, known as Pusher Balls. These will move the ball below to the left or the right based on the direction. It takes time to get the hang of it, but it changes the dynamics of color matching games.

Another power up is the ColorBurst Ball which converts an area of balls to match the color of the Colorburst ball. Then there’s the Energy Ball that vaporizes all balls matching the Energy Ball’s color in a single column. If there’s a gem in that column, it might break depending how far it falls. Fireballs also vanquish balls and blocks — but not gems. That would be too easy.

Players also contend with the Yama-O-Rakas, two fellows sitting on the bottom left and right of the grid adding new rows of balls to push everything up. If a ball or gem reaches the top, the game ends. Players must balance reaching the objective with preventing objects reaching the top. The grid contains barriers to make it harder to access balls and gems. The barriers change with each level — adding to the challenge.

The only trouble with the game is distinguishing Energy Balls, Colorburst Balls and regular balls. After playing enough, you’ll figure out a way to do this. However, it’s easy to mistakenly think you have a Colorburst when it’s an Energy Ball. ZenGems is a gem — and the most original of color matching games in a long time.

Download and try ZenGems free

System Requirements: Windows

• Windows 2000/XP/Vista
• Pentium III 800MHz or faster processor
• 256 MB RAM
• 8 MB video RAMscreen resolution
• 800×600 SVG minimum screen resolution
• DirectX 8.0 or later
• Sound card
• Mouse

Filed Under: Arcade Games, Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games

Tetris goes to the flowers in Orchidia, a falling block game or rather “floating items” game. Today’s casual games don’t just stop at making matches and preventing blocks from reaching the top as in Tetris. Instead, they have a story that revolves around the game play. Orchidia represents the name of a place where the villain Orchus destroys its magic by blocking the river. At the same time, Orchus works to escape the river’s magic, which has trapped him.

Accompanied by a quick-witted duck, players must unclog the 60 levels of blockages in the river to restore Orchidia’s magic and rid of Orchus. Evil creatures also pop in with tongue-in-check conversation to talk smack and scare the player away from saving Orchidia while the good creatures provide advice on what to do in conquering the current blockage. The only complaints in the game are the hard-to-read text in the dialog and the difficult to use game options. The game options are standard, but changing them takes effort — a usability issue.

Players control the floating flowers by moving them left or right, rotating them and speeding up their floating. You have the option of using the mouse or keyboard. Leaves, flowers and other river blocks come out from the sides to add barriers in the quest to meet the current level’s goal. Goals range from sinking 60 flowers and freeing creatures to clearing 10 flowers of the same color and collecting 50 leaves without clogging the river.

Some falling block games will clear the blocks when making a match of three or more connecting items — not necessarily in a row or column like in the following example:

X
XX
  X

More than three X’s connect, thus some games consider this a match. Orchidia only accepts matches when three items appear in the same row or column, which boosts the challenge. The level of difficulty climbs just the right amount with each completed level. Some games do a poor job by jumping from easy to hard between two levels instead of a little at a time — not a problem in Orchidia. The game never trapped me in a level for so long that I wanted to give up. Some levels took a few tries to conquer, but I got through them with practice and experience.

While falling block games are a-plenty, Orchidia comes with power ups — in the form of charms — to help clear flowers and creatures or add extra time. The Touch Charm clears the flowers it touches. The Row Charm erases the flowers and objects appearing in the row where it lands. The Column Charm does the same for columns. Flower Color Charms sinks flowers of the same color as the charm.

The music reminded me of weddings when the bridesmaids walk down the aisle. The music complemented the flowers floating down the river to create a calm and content feel though you have a dangerous job in saving Orchidia. Like most casual games, Orchidia comes in two modes: Adventure (story) and Orchidia Eternal. In the latter, the game works more like Tetris where you keep clearing flowers to avoid reaching the top of the river.

The scenes in this whimsical game vary from winter with snow and spring to cobwebbed plants and flowers to heighten the challenge. This fantasy game is a lovely package complete with the occasional commentary from voices providing positive reinforcement, charming graphics, and creative twist on Tetris.

Download free trial of Orchidia or play online.

Joyboost offers game instructions, hints and tips, and wallpaper.

System Requirements: Windows

• Windows 2000/XP/Vista
• 256MB RAM
• 1GHz or faster Processor

Filed Under: Arcade Games, Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Match 3 Game, PC Games