:: HACK
I got my first glimpse of Kill Me Again at GDC last March, and it's been on my mind every time I've seen a match-3 game ever since. Like I said back then, "I shouldn't be this excited about a match-3 puzzle game, let alone one involving zombies, but I totally am."
Okay, so Happy Happy Donuts might just be the most delicious-looking match-3 game I've seen in quite some time. And it's from Lucid Games, who were behind Geometry Wars 3. Weird, right?
Oh Angry Birds. You're quite possibly the most tenacious flock of oddly-shaped avians the world has ever known. The series has been branching out into things that don't involve hurtling tiny feathered animals into pigs wuite a bit lately, and now Angry Birds Fight! has hit (punf absolutely intended) the match-3 genre.
Angry Birds Fight! looks to be inspired by combat-centric puzzlers akin to Puzzle & Dragons and the quite recent You Must Build a Boat. In other words, rather than matching stuff to earn a high score, you're matching stuff in order to charge up attacks and pluck the tail feathers of your opponents. Fights earn experience, new items, and coins that can be used to buy new items - all in the name of unlocking more birds and customizing your own personal flock. Whether it's in solo challenges or against other players in real time multiplayer, you'll be able to dive in and start puzzle-brawling.
If this somewhat odd departure for the series sounds like your cup of tea, you can download Angry Birds Fight! right now for free.
What do you get when you cross a super-popular farming app with a match-3 game? Zynga’s FarmVille: Harvest Swap.
:: BEEN THERE
Finn and Jake are taking over D3 Go!'s popular puzzle game series in the upcomingAdventure Time Puzzle Quest.
:: EXCELLENT MISHMASHIn Godspeed Commanderfrom Nah-Meen Studios, you'll be building a top-notch Destroyer from the ground up.
:: GENUINE TWISTBattle Odyssey, Gameloft'snewest puzzle RPG, is coming to the App Store next week. Set in the world of Pondera, you will need to control the power of the elements to defend the world from evil. You'll be able to entlist over 500 allies to aid you in your quest to save the world, and each one comes with their own elemental affinities and powers. It plays similarly to a match-3, where you connect like-colored Orbs to battle. You can play the story or challenge your friends in PvP, and eventually Gameloft plans to add limited-time events and special events that can earn your rare allies.
Battle Odyssey will launch next Thursday, April 23.
The angriest of avians have gone to wreck havoc in Japan.Angry Birds Fight!is a cultural mash-up pf a match-3 that's due out this spring. You'll be solving puzzles and challenging other players from around the world.
Rovio hasn't given a specific date for release, but you can expect to be saying Ohaiyo toAngry Birds Fight! soon. In the meantime, they've released two videos for the game on youtube - including a music video fromTempura Kidz.
Paula Deen, Queen of Southern Cuisine, has launched her first free mobile game - Paula Deen’s Recipe Quest.
She's teamed up with Dream Forge Entertainment to create a match-3 puzzle game where you're trying to discover Paula’s favorite recipes. It has 40 levels that will reward players with downloadable recipe cards so that they can cook alongside Paula. The app will be updated weekly with new new challenges and recipes, and it offers opportunities to win real prizes such as discounts at Paula Deen’s General Store and a chance to cook alongside Paula on the Paula Deen Network.
“I am a gamer at heart and never leave my home without my iPad. Paula Deen’s Recipe Quest is an incredible and one-of-a-kind game that will allow y’all to cook up a storm with me while solving exciting puzzles. Plus, it’s free!” said Paula Deen in a press release.
You can download Paula Deen’s Recipe Quest for free right now.
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.
:: DERIVATIVE POPPING
