Magic Vines
by Amanda Nettgen
(USA)
Quick verdict
Magic Vines
Download it from:
Big Fish
Rating:
2.5/5
How's this for an intriguing concept: a Match 3 game where you flip flop a set of only two types of flora. The limited variety of things to match is part of what makes this game challenging.
What's it about?
MagicVines finds you in jungles around the world, untangling forests as you go. The goal of a level is to clear all of the blue bricks by matching themed shrubbery horizontally or vertically.
Because there are only two classes of items and because you have to rotate them instead of swapping, it takes a little more planning than a traditional combo game. The vine timer at the bottom of the screen shrinks as the pressure grows.
Two bugs make an appearance in the game, and they are dragonflies and ladybugs. A dragonfly can be used to eat a specific tough tile provided you have one in your insect jar, whereas ladybugs are purely a hindrance.
You’ll obtain six passport stamps at a place before moving on to the next location. Each level features a different grid layout.
Pros and Cons
+ Lots of locales, each with their unique population of plants to mate (bamboo and twigs, for example).+ There is a special piece that can be used as either vine type.
+ An elephant will sound if you got a particularly good combo going.
+ Competitive stats at the end of a round to include your number of moves, best score, and time.
+ You can get this game for free if you take a quiz on Big Fish.
- Gameplay is kind of dull.
- There’s not really a point to keeping score.
The verdict
Magic Vines is a good source of serious, puzzling action. It will have you thinking on a different level, as it’s not the usual swapping style or objectives. Overall, though, it would never score above average in my book.