Terra Chroma Review

Developer: Mobius Digital Games
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.5
App Reviewed on: iPhone 5

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Terra Chroma mashes up a puzzle games like Tetris with role playing mechanics, not too unlike Puzzle Quest. Players become an alchromist (a user of elemental magic) that needs to shape and manipulate landscapes in order to recruit new party members and save the world from evil. Although this may sound like a pretty typical experience,Terra Chroma inventively combines Tetris-like block building with traversal, making it feel wholly unique. It's just too bad that the core concept is bogged down by a collection of relatively minor problems that keep it from being truly exceptional.

As an alchromist, players learn to navigate grid-like maps by drawing preset tetrominoshapes on maps full of ice and water. Once drawn, player can tap the screen and the block will transform all water into ice and all ice into water. Since players can only traverse on top of ice, the goal of theearly stages is to make a path of ice to an exit without running out of blocks to draw.

As players get further, theywill add other members to their party - all of whom can maniuplate other elements beyond water. Levels become increasingly complicated as elements mix, because players have to start considering that blue magic creates ice on water, but also creates plants when used on solar energy. On top of this, players will be unlocking more block shapes and encounter levels that introduce enemies, friendly units to defend, and even environmental hazards.

Terra Chroma is truly excellent in its inventiveness and the way it creates new ways to keep theblock-drawing gameplay from growing stale, but it feels like it has a rather uneven difficulty curve and opens up a little too quickly, making progress - at times - feel aimless. Shortly after making it to the second section of Terra Chroma's rather sizeable world map, it was difficult to figure where to go and many levels I needed to pass in order to advance the story were brutally difficult. Although the game implements a system of letting players know how hard a level it at its outset, it doesn't seem particularly accurate. This, on top of a few strange control choices and an odd art style, could put people off.

That being said, players that are willing to put up with Terra Chroma's peculiarities will find an inventive game with fun mechanics waiting for them. The core idea of combining puzzle pieces with traversal is something I'd definitely like to see explored more often, especially sinceTerra Chroma proves it can be a compelling premise. The only real issue is that there are just enough things on the outside of its core that hold it back.