GDC 2015 - Zombie Match Defense is a Match-3 Game That's (Wait for it) Legitimately Interesting

I know, I know. Match-3 is kind of an overdone concept at this point. It's sort of like the zombies of game design. Good thing there aren't any... oh, wait. Seriously though, don't let the match-3 and zombies combination fool you into a false sense of "meh" before you really take a look at Zombie Match Defense from shovelware games. It might just surprise you.

You'll be matching three-of-a-kind brains (or more than three if you can) throughout Zombie Match Defense, this is true, but what's interesting is that unlike a typical match-3 it's done as a means to clear out the approaching zombie horde - not unlike a certain popular lane defense game about plants and... other stuff. As they creep in from the right you'll need to match-up brains similar to whatever the zombies are noshing on in order to get rid of them. And each turn brings the remaining walkers one step closer to your delicious, defenseless scientists.

Well, they're almost defenseless. Some power-ups are available that can turn the tide in a pinch. Of course there are also other zombies that will require more matches to eliminate or lock the brains their chewing on down so you can't swap them. It's something of a trade-off.

Zombie Match Defense still has a ways to go before it's ready for a release. But you know, for a game based around stale puzzle mechanics and featuring even staler antagonists, it actually feels pretty fresh.