Dapple
Price: $4.99 (SALE price of $2.99 as of 3/12/09)
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Graphics / Sound [rating:4/5]
Game Controls [rating:5/5]
Gameplay [rating:4/5]
Re-use / Replay Value [rating:4/5]
Overall Rating:





Gamers, grab your paintbrushes and pray that you remember the basics from kindergarten. Dapple is another entry to the bloated color-matching genre, but with a significant twist that makes it much more challenging—and, thankfully, interesting. With its bright presentation and addicting gameplay, Dapple breathes some life back into a tired field.
Dapple does a good job of guiding new players into the game, complete with a tutorial, in-game hints, and a quick-reference color matching chart for those of us who flunked out of pre-K. It's easy to pick up, and its autosave feature lets you play in quick bursts. There are also two save slots, which is unusual in a puzzle-matching game like this.
The presentation is nice, even if it does veer towards cheesy. The graphics are bright and colorful, as you'd expect, and the soundtrack is pretty nice, too. The menu options are simple and intuitive, and overall, the app is well put together. Oh, and there's a colorblind option, which I always appreciate as a sign of the developer's attention to detail.
I wish that you could play 2-player games against others who aren't crouched right over your screen—either full-blown online multiplayer or wifi play. My other main gripe is the price point. Dapple is currently priced at $4.99, and while it's a great game for what it is, there are a lot of games in the App Store that might be a better value. Zen Bound, Sway, and Rolando are all currently selling at the same price, and they're much more complex games. At least you can test drive the lite version.
Update: As of 3/12/09, Dapple is currently on sale for $2.99, which is much more reasonable; feel free to ignore my comments about the pricing for now. If you're on the fence, go for it while the sale lasts!
Dapple has most of the strengths of the match-three block-swapping genre, and it manages to keep an old formula fresh. Even with its steep price, you might still want to grab this one, especially if you're a fan of Bejeweled and its kin; the color-mixing mechanics require new strategies that will keep you entertained for a while. Dapple is a colorful, enjoyable game for what it is, but if you're looking for something groundbreaking, I suggest going elsewhere.
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