Cupcake Carnival Review
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Cupcake Carnival Review

Our Review by Jennifer Allen on September 23rd, 2014
Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: SAME OLD
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Cupcake Carnival does all the right match-3 things but it's a format we've seen a little too often by now.

Developer: DeNA
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.0.7
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 5

Graphics / Sound Rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar
Playtime Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarhalfstarblankstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar

Food themed Match-3 games are nothing hugely new on the App Store but that doesn’t stop the arrival of new entrants, such as Cupcake Carnival. It’s a fairly pleasant experience if you like that sort of thing, but it’s one that doesn’t really offer anything significantly new to a tried and tested format.

As is customary for such titles, you’re guided through a series of levels, each gradually upping the difficulty in some way. The idea is that you serve a series of customers by matching up appropriate pastries to keep them happy. This is done through drawing a path rather than swiping, but that’s the only key difference here.

At first, Cupcake Carnival is happy to just let you succeed by matching up pastries in sufficient number. Soon enough though, more tricky tasks are thrown into the mix. At first it’s things like clearing colored tiles, which can be a little awkward. Trickier still is appeasing policemen by drawing together a circle of matching pastries in order to create a police badge. It’s not as easy as it sounds, with some tactical clearance being imperative if you want to finish the objectives within the allotted amount of moves.

Ultimately though, Cupcake Carnival is a fairly typical Match-3 game. You’re given a certain number of lives before you have to wait it out for a recharge, and there are power-ups you can buy with real money to make things easier. When things get trickier, Cupcake Carnival is a little stop/start as you find yourself getting stuck from time to time. That’s when you realise you’ve played this kind of game before. For many, the appeal of playing it again will be limited.

iPhone Screenshots

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iPad Screenshots

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Cupcake Carnival screenshot 6 Cupcake Carnival screenshot 7 Cupcake Carnival screenshot 8 Cupcake Carnival screenshot 9 Cupcake Carnival screenshot 10
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