Ironcast
TL;DR–I’ve nominated this game for the “Haunts my Dreams” award, since whenever it crosses my mind a wave of regret and flashbacks flows through me.
Pros:
Steampunk mecha and tanks with death rays and shields, and extremely apropos British flavor
! naturally–tea is considered a critical war supply
Clever story background explaining why you’re stomping around in a steam-powered bipedal engine of destruction
Simple to learn yet hard to master use of “match 3+” for effective action during each combat turn
– Real player with 128.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Match 3 RPG Games.
After seeing everything in the game here is my review:
Man, this game can be extremly addictive at the start. The day I purchased it I played for 13 hours straight. I went to bed with some headache, but it was totally worth it. Don’t let yourself be fooled, this is a strategy game, the Match 3 system let’s you collect the resources you need to power your Ironcast. This adds some RNG to the game, but unlike some people will claim it’s totally fair and well balanced. I’ve never played Match 3 before and I didn’t have any problems with it. This is a game about making smart decisions and making the best out of what the game gives you (resources, upgrades, mission selection). If you play well you can beat the game most of the time (maybe 90%). And it’s the way to playing well that was the most fun in the game for me. You try the different augmentations, upgrades, ironcast & commander combinations, learn how the combat works, learn what’s dangerous and what’s not. You won’t beat the game on your first playthrough, but if you play well, you might be able to do it on your second one. I’ve played most of it and I’d say that is was about 25-30 hours into the game when I had the feeling I’ve seen most of what is has to offer right now. It’s awesome from the start and it suited me very well. It’s strategic but not overly complicated. To see if it fits you I’d suggest to watch the TotalBiscuit WTF as it gives you a good impression of what the game is like:
– Real player with 118.7 hrs in game
Catana
When an unseen phenomenon creates havoc in nature, strange aberrations start to appear in the courtyard of a quiet monastery.
To beat back the mutants, the Master of the monastery takes a Disciple under his wings: the young and fierce Catana!
Guide Catana as he masters the attacks that will save not only the monastery but also the world beyond it. With point-and-click simplicity, you’ll create matches that eliminate groups of enemies, unleash powerful special attacks and take down crafty bosses.
You’ll face Tentacles, Lava Crunchers, Robots and more, all of which will lead you to an epic showdown with the mysterious force behind mutations.
Read More: Best Match 3 Tactical Games.
Natural Habitat
I like the concept of the game. However, most of the mechanics are poorly explained; the tutorial does not explain any of the keywords found in the creatures text. I was disappointed that there was no way for me to customize my deck, it seems like you just draw randomly from a large pool of cards. The idea and gameplay loop are generally fun but I can not recommend the game in its current state.
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Match 3 Card Battler Games.
Troll Patrol
This is a game that is very heavily inspired by the mobile game “Dungeon Raid” (my personal favorite of all time tbh, rip 32-bit support), so if you know what I’m talking about you already know if you’ll like the game or not.
For complete newcomers (aka most of you), the game has a simple premise: match tiles and collect loot/do damage. It isn’t the Bejeweled type of matching however; you draw a line between similar types of tiles and collect every tile the line goes through. You can continue the line in any direction as long as there’s another tile that can be matched with it. It’s not a very “puzzle-y” type of match 3, but a strangely compelling type. In terms of what your brain has to do, you can’t completely zone out, but you can play effectively while paying attention to a movie or something on the side. Of course, you can focus entirely on the game as well, and that can lead to clever plays that make/break the run.
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
It’s a pretty good game to kill some time without turning off your brain completely.
Works great on Linux too. Thumbs up!
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Angkor: Celebrations
A fun variant of the match three genre.
The story is that you are collecting items for some ritual, but it is really only a conceit to give the game a theme. It does that well enough though.
The art is nice much of the time, though the quality varies. I find the music quite pleasant, but you can turn it off if it bugs you.
There are a variety of levels of difficulty to suit your taste. You can give yourself a time deadline or a move deadline depending on your style.
There are a variety of odd things you have to do to move ahead, some common, like ‘match the piece that is locked in place’ or ‘match next to a piece to cause an effect.’ There re also squares you need to match multiple times to finally get it to count as clear.
– Real player with 111.9 hrs in game
Crown of Pain
Crown of Pain is a match-3 RPG. Heroes venture to the castle to find the elusive crown of pain, an artifact which is said to take away all of their worries.
In this gritty match 3 RPG, take the role of the hero, each with their own troubles, looking for a solution, a way out of hardship. Driven by their worries, they decide to take on something that they might not be able to handle.
Features
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Your team is very varied and the hero actions differ based on the color matched. Match the right elements to perform the necessary attack!
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Thousands of build opportunities! Each battle awards you with a team enhancement: strategize the way you can.
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Dark atmosphere of the middle ages: this world has no remorse and no compassion, you are on your own.
Traverse the randomly generated map, participate in battles, select individual hero upgrades and prepare unique team builds with lots of possible synergies.
Doctor Who Infinity
I had been waiting for a new “Doctor Who” game on Steam for quite some time and since I’m familiar with “Doctor Who – Legacy”, I was quite excited about “Doctor Who – Infinity”.
Thanks to The Gallifrey Times and Tiny Rebal Games for allowing me to play this game in early access.
I’ll review one story at a time, and I shall update this review every time a new story comes out, so… stay tuned!
But first I’d like to say a few words about the game in general.
The concept of using a comic book presentation is actually very clever. Each story gets different artists working on them, which means that 1) you won’t get used to the visual arts as they change all the time and 2) even if you dislike one story’s art, you might still like the art in the next one… The main page looks like a library where you can pick your favourite Doctor Who story. It’s genuinely exciting because you can actually expect endless stories and content for “Doctor Who – Infinity”. If like me you like stories, then you won’t be disappointed. In order to know how the story unfolds you need to resolve puzzles (that can get quite difficult at times!), so be ready to spend a few hours in front of your computer, because the game is terribly addictive…
– Real player with 38.9 hrs in game
TL;DR – you’ll be hooked on the game as a Who fan or not, even if the obnoxious gem mechanic might deter you!
Despite the basic-looking gameplay, Doctor Who Infinity is based around telling stories within the Doctor Who Universe. The gem mechanic has been completely reinvented and therefore is incomparable to any other title I know of. It’s quite similar to playing a game of chess, where you must try and strategise how to move the gems in order to complete the goal.
With every level, the mechanic changes. Perhaps you face a Dalek which has 2HP and to defeat it you must match it’s colour with 2 or more other gems; you’re able to move a singular gem to push others out the way, leaving leverage for multiple solutions to a puzzle.
– Real player with 24.4 hrs in game
2 Planets Fire and Ice
This game has promise, but it’s lazy. There are lots of bugs, I’ve had to restart the game a half-dozen times just trying to finish one of the more difficult puzzles. The difficulty is terribly uneven. The “levels” aren’t actually designed, each time you enter one you get a random field, so sometimes it’s necessary to leave and reenter a level multiple times before you get a configuration that can actually be completed without insane luck… and many boards will still require a lot more luck than skill. This could have been a good game, but it’s nothing more than a mediocre time waster.
– Real player with 17.2 hrs in game
Recieved this in a bundle. Played to completion.
Definitely wouldn’t pay more than a dollar for this. This feels like a very old and generic match 3 game, and honestly there are better games out there with these dynamics.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
7 Wonders: Ancient Alien Makeover
Out of all of the games in the 7 wonders series, this is the Newest. It is also the most polished feeling and that is a good thing. It really feels like efforts were made to rectify several things that were problematic in the prior 7 wonders Magical Mystery Tour. I found the auto replenishing of special power-ups as you play a neat gimmick even though there were times I had to manually set it when I needed a specific power-up on a repeated basis. I really liked the idea of the village and building it up as you play, it makes it fun and something to aim for as you play. I did notice a couple of things that still are the same that I wish would be changed namely that when you lose a round you also seem to lose the bonuses for that round you get as you build your wonder. I am also still disappointed at the selection of wonders especially this time around even though I found these interesting and learned a lot from them. The mini game in this one was also much better than the ones found in previous games. I expect people to be able to complete this one in a day. In the end this is a nearly perfect game in a series fraught with ups and downs.
– Real player with 21.6 hrs in game
7 Wonders: Ancient Alien Makeover (Match-3)
Steam interface does not work with this title
Options include separate sliders for music and sound, full-screen/Windowed, wide-screen, tips on or off, and a handy ? button which will give you an easy-to-understand guide on how the game works.
At the beginning of each Wonder you will have a choice of difficulty: Zen (untimed), Normal, Advanced, and Insane.
Most of us know how match-3 games work, so I’ll skip to some specifics. Each Wonder has 7+ levels of basic swap-to-match gameplay, but with the addition of gathering resources to help build your Wonder. A cornerstone will appear when you’ve cleared all of the tiles on the board, and the level will end when that stone reaches the bottom of the game board. Gameplay on each Wonder does not end until you’ve collected and placed all of the building materials, which means that you’ll need to collect the specified amount of resources per level (tracked at the top of the screen) in order to finish with a four-star rating (higher rating = more coins to spend - back to that later). Building the Wonder itself can be done by manually clicking where you want the resources to go, or you can click on the “place all” button.
– Real player with 19.4 hrs in game
7 Wonders: Magical Mystery Tour
I have a love hate relationship with this game. I have spent far more time on it then is probably worth it. I got 100% of the achievements. I have also played the android version which only works on older versions of the operating system. This would be a great game to remaster and update and give Candy Crush a run for its money. This all being said I do have some gripes. This is by far the most difficult game in the 7 wonders series by far and it took me about 60 hours to complete. The game tries its darndest to screw you over and you have to really strategically plan how you are going to win on any given level. In my case it was first the mini game blocks, then gather up the needed resources then clear the map then guiding the cornerstone down to the bottom. That’s a lot of things all the while the timer is ticking faster than a top rate food fighter at a hot dog stand. It’s pretty ridiculous. To get four stars on insane was really tough especially on the last of the normal wonders ( you unlock a bonus one at the end.) I was also dissatisfied with the selection of wonders in this one. For example Bimini was picked instead of say the fountain of youth and the only eastern Wonder was Shangri La. Power-up wise I found the ability to switch between power ups during a round very useful and added a level of strategy that wasn’t possible in prior games. On the mobile version there was a bug where if you needed a shuffle the map wouldn’t really do a good job and have to shuffle over and over again every couple moves. One time I had it happen on PC where it had to shuffle twice in a row which took up precious time and was frustrating. The other annoyance about that is on the mobile version those notifications would cover up the board posing a frustration that had me pulling my hair out. Despite all these things, I will look back fondly on this game even if it isn’t an A game it is definitely a B- 3/5 star wonder.
– Real player with 51.9 hrs in game
So I’ve now finished all of the 5 “7 Wonders”-Games playable on Steam
and want to give out my opinion on all of them, therefore I paid every game a little visit again to compare them once and for all. Starting the review, first, I’ve made a Top 5 for you to get a good first look on how much I like it:
| Place | Name | Rating |
| 1. | 7 Wonders: Magical Mystery Tour | 8,5/10 |
– Real player with 11.4 hrs in game