Posts Tagged ‘gems’

Abundante! Review

Breakout, Match, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Aug 23 2010

abundante

Hike into the darkest jungle of the Mac game Abundante, and find yourself deep in the midst of fun and excitement. This is a match 4 or more gems in order to complete a level game which will bring you closer to hidden secrets of this archeological hunt.

This exotic jungle adventure begins with Dr Ray Rumble’s archeological society funding a mission to find the lost temple of Nahca Rotha. Abundante2The myth is that the Nahca Rothians possessed great knowledge and treasures. You are an archeologist who is on this journey to verify the authenticity of this information, and to recover the gems and jewels.

The play is a match 4 or more gems game, and by moving a wooden mining cart at the bottom of the screen back and forth, you collect the jewels embedded in brick. Click on a brick with a gem inside, catch it in the cart and slide to another area with the same color gems, make a 4 or more match by shooting the brick back up, and catch all the freed gems in your cart. You must quickly move your cart back and forth, clicking as you go, because the bricks are constantly descending during your play. If you do not complete the level before the bricks crush the cart, you lose one of your 3 lives.

This is the basic play of the game but there are more “surprises” to come. The first few levels are easy and slow to help you adjust to the game, but it becomes faster and more challenging soon after completing the first few levels. Some of the helps and obstacles in the game are the lightening bricks when placed strategically can break all the bricks in one column or row, making shapes with the placed bricksAbundante3 will garner you more points, and the scaffolding and moss will create some problems for you if you are not careful. Another entertaining power-up is the fireball you get into your cart and shoot up to explode any bricks nearby.

There are mini games throughout the play, and you can win prizes on top of all that. Also a very important part of the story and game is unlocking pieces of a missing amulet that are scattered all over the temple. The main game will unlock a second mode and then after the second is unlocked, the 3rd one will become available.

Abundante is a exciting gem match game that will provide hours of fun play. I initially found this game challenging, but with practice got much better at it and enjoyed it even more. With all the different levels and modes, you will not get bored and will be pleasantly surprised to find a game worth playing.

Features of Abundante:
-Fun Story Line
-Lots of Challenging Levels
-Power-ups, Bonuses, Rewards
-Surprises

Rating: ★★★½☆

Crystal Cave Classic Review

Adventure, Puzzle | Posted by Zeke
Aug 07 2010

Crystal Cave Classic 15
Download Crystal Cave ClassicBuy Crystal Cave Classic
Deep in the sweltering heat of the dense jungles, an explorer parachutes out of a small airplane and lands near an ancient ruin. He Crystal Cave Classic 6catapults himself down a dark, Crystal Cave Classic 7deep recess where he sees in the unilluminated room a glimmer of light. Upon closer inspection he finds the largest emerald he’s ever seen sitting atop a giant stone Crystal Cave Classic 10altar….

You are now in the deepest inner sanctums of what looks like an Egyptian tomb full of precious crystals. In Crystal Cave Classic you are to dig, climb, push your way towards the crystals without being attacked by monsters or crushed by giant boulders. There are breakable walls hindering your passageway but you can put a boulder or something through it or use it to your benefit. Also available for your use are dynamite barrels situated conveniently throughout the tomb. The boulders as well as the glass blocks can be maneuvered so you can travel over them. You will also come across elevators where when you push an object on it, it will take you to another level. The eight ball and the flip tile are very useful in obtaining the elusive gems.

Crystal Cave Classic, not overly hard at first, becomes more challenging as the levels increase, but with the difficult levels there are interesting new obstacles and monsters to conquer. This logic puzzle changes in each chapter to reveal fun creatures and mindboggling barriers. Your job is to figure out how to get to the jewel without being attacked by the monster similar to Theseus and the Minotaur but without the fear factor. The monsters in Crystal Cave Classic are almost cute and funny looking even when you are attacked by one. TheCrystal Cave Classic 12 graphics and the short movie at the beginning are very good, but I am a little confused whether the jungles and ruins are Mayan or Egyptian. The interior hierglyphs are definitely Egyptian but the exterior Crystal Cave Classic 9pyramid looked Mayan. In any event, this puzzle is a lot of fun for all ages especially with their clear explanation of how to use objects to get to the precious treasure.

Features of Crystal Cave Classic:
-170 Levels
-4 Scenarios
-Logic Riddles
-Lots of Monsters
-Create Own Level

Rating: ★★★★☆
-

Wizard Land Review

Action, Adventure, Match | Posted by Zeke
May 08 2010


Create your own world of magic in Mac match game Wizard Land by making matches of 3 or more to destroy. This original (that’s hard to do in match games) play will entertain you with its many levels and colorful scenes.

You begin the game like other match games by selecting relaxed or timed mode. I suggest you start off on the relaxed mode because timed sometimes will get too challenging. The match 3 or more play will let you select what type of match game you want to play. The 3 types are the group where you click on a group of the 3 or more same items. The chain is when you link together 3 or more of the same objects to destroy, and the most common (and my favorite) swap 2 items’ positions to make your match. In Wizard Land you can move from one type of match play to another while in the middle of a level. This can really help you win the level if you are stuck, move on from a group to swap or any combinations you like in order to clear all the marble tiles. Once the tiles are destroyed, a key and chain will appear. You must make matches to move the key along a path to meet the chain before your level is complete. In higher levels, the path will be split in 2 and you must take care to move your key carefully down the path. To make your moves easier or maybe harder you can rotate the board completely by clicking on the 2 arrows pointing clockwise and counterclockwise on the upper outer portion of the game board. I found this rotation of the board a great help when you are moving the key down the path. In addition, there is a shuffle button to the right of the board when you are stuck and cannot make any more moves.

Wizard Land starts out slowly but once you get the hang of this match 3 game, you will be moving quickly from one type of play to another and rotating the board like a pro. It eventually gets addictive and you can challenge yourself by switching to the timed mode if you dare. The artwork and sound effects are great. Wizard Land is a great, new addition to the other match 3 games. I give it a 3.5 out of 5 for a fun game.

Features of Wizard Land:
-90 Levels
-Rotate the Board
-Change Types of Play from Group, Chain or Swap

Rating: ★★★½☆

Jewel Match 2 Review

Match, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Feb 26 2010

jewel-match-2


Jewel Match 2 like Jewel Match is an aesthetically beautiful game with background pictures of fairytale castles and scenery. The graphics is what makes this Mac game different from other match plays.

The game is to match 3 or more gems in a row either vertically or horizontally to remove the jewels from the board. To finish a level you must make matches over the golden squares. When the amulet appears at the top of the board you must make matches below it to get it to the bottom.

Random gold and silver coins will appear and you must click on them so you can earn monies to buy useful items in the shop to use in your play. The fireball is one that will destroy gems both up and down the grid. The gem matches will fill your bag full of jewels (located in the upper right hand side). When the bag is full, you can buy a bigger chest to store your gems. The jewels are used to buy parts of the castle that you are building. Other helps are the mana for spells needed to activate and use whatever power-ups you have purchased. You just click on the mana to place on top of the screen until you are ready to use it. The hammers from the first game are again here in this second one. The hammers depending on the strength could destroy either one or all the same colored jewels. The map shows where you will be building your next castle and the levels.

The blocks are the boxes where you need to make 2 matches to clear and the single and double chains. The hours glass timer on the right is used in the timed play but not the relaxed one.

Jewel Quest 2 is very much like the first game where the graphics and background scenes are amazing, and the music is slow and soothing for a relaxed play. I enjoyed this second version better than the first with the extra play in earning coins and gems to buy extras in the shop and build castles.

Features of Jewel Match 2:

-150 Levels

-8 Power-ups

-Gather Mana to activate Power-ups

-Build 7 Fantasy Castles

Rating: ★★★½☆

Jewel Quest III Review

Adventure, Match, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Jan 23 2010

jewel-quest-iii
download Jewel Quest IIIbuy Jewel Quest III

Jewel Quest III is still a lively exciting match Mac game to play especially on a rainy day to get you in the mood for more of Professor Rupert Pack’s arduous adventures into the jungles of the Yucatan. This time he is on a quest to find the cure for his and Emma’s daughter, Natalie. At the opening of his new museum, Natalie opens a box with an ancient game board in it, and it spews blinding spores planted by Dr. Pack’s arch enemy, Sebastian Grenard. The spores were intended Jewel Quest III 7for Pack as revenge for taking Emma away from him (all in Jewel Quest II). The search for a cure is underway in the jungles of the Yucatan and who knows where it will take you from there?

The match 3 or more icons is the same as the first 2 games, Jewel Quest and Jewel Quest II. The chain reactions are many and the flow of the game is good. The extras are the gold coins when matched will unlock the vaults. When you click on the left mouse button or control button, the gems are taken away and you can view where you need to concentrate on your game to make gold squares. If you have played the first 2 Jewel Quest games this third one is very similar. Even though it is almost the same, the game boards are new and it is still a fun play. I would highly recommend you try the first 2 games in order to be able to follow the complete storyline, but if you are not into the adventure tale, playing any of the 3 games is equally enjoyable.  Traveling around the world as the levels are unlocked, you find yourself challenged Jewel Quest III 8in a foreign country to play a match game against an opponent.  Also if you find yourself in Iceland, there are iced encased gems to thaw out and destroy.

In Jewel Quest III there is a Tournament mode you can play against people from around the world. It has 40 unique game boards. The sound effects and graphics on this 3rd game are amazing and worth checking out especially the beginning where the 40’s car drives up to the museum with pigeons flying overhead.  This game is very theatrical and movie-like Jewel Quest III 3with it’s main play, but all these things add up to one great game.  Take a challenging journey into the green jungles of Central America one of my favorite places in the world or the frigid air of Iceland and be pleasantly surprised at what you may find there—possibly the fabled golden game board?

Features of Jewel Quest III:
- Fabled Golden Jewel Board
- 200 Level in 11 Different Regions
- Play Tournament Mode
- Hidden Jewels

Rating: ★★★★☆