14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since the Bejeweled series from PopCap Games destroyed productivity and got tens of millions of people addicted to its match-3 puzzle experience, there have been all sorts of titles that took the core recipe and added new things to at least reach a portion of the huge demographic that's attracted to the genre.
Of course, nowadays social games that use the system are a dime a dozen, with more or less success, but this hasn't stopped developer Outplay Entertainment from bringing forth Mystery Match, a match-3 experience that combines multiple goals with a pretty interesting story and some intriguing mechanics.
Does the new game manage to match together a successful recipe or should it go back to the drawing board? Let's have a quick look.
Mystery Match is currently available only for the iOS platform, so I got to try it out on a new iPad to see what it can do.
An interesting story with good gameplay
Right from the beginning, you're introduced to some of the main characters, starting with the protagonist, Emma, a young detective from London, who goes to see what happened when robbers stormed her father's estate. With the help of her partner, Julian, she quickly uncovers that the thieves targeted different puzzle boxes that contain fragments of a long-forgotten manuscript.
Thankfully, there are still some boxes in the house but to open them you need to unlock its mechanisms, which is where the match-3 puzzle mechanic comes in.
At first, you need to match gems in order to break away darker squares on the board, and slowly but surely, you soon uncover boxes that have different goals that need be fulfilled if you want to open them and progress.
From matching a certain number of certain gems to ensuring that certain symbols make it all the way to the bottom of the level, things are kept varied enough so that they don't become boring or tedious.
In terms of difficulty, things progress rather smoothly at first, but once you step into the London area, things get considerably tougher and the board grids get more and more complex. You only have five lives, and if you lose one, you need to wait until some time passes.
Social features and microtransactions are present
Of course, being a modern match-3 game, you can hook up your Facebook account and trade boosters and lives. The boosters range from destroying one specific gem to crashing a whole column, and much more. There are also microtransactions that involve coins, which can be used to add more moves and other such things.
The visuals are quite polished, with a pretty distinct style, and the effects are well done. The soundtrack is also pretty good but it's better to enjoy it, as well as the game, in short bursts, not lengthy sessions.
The game does consume a fair amount of battery, as in around 45 minutes about 10% of my battery was already gone.
Overall, Mystery Match is a fun match-3 game that manages to keep things fresh and not overstay its welcome. It does get tough rather soon but at least the story is there to keep you motivated. Check out some screenshots below.
You can download the free-to-play game right now via the iOS App Store.
