Mystic Jewels

iTunes Link

Mystic Jewels is NOT a match 3 game by PlayScreen. $0.99

Mystic Jewels is a very clever strategy game. While it does look like another matching game, it is far from it. The aim of the game is to remove all jewels from the board. This is done by upgrading the Jewels until the are destroyed and sent out waves which start a chain reaction, earning you more points. It sounds simple but if you don't make big chain reactions, the number of moves which you get will get be down dramatically, causing you to lose the game. This is very addictive and a great game to play.

The graphics are simple and not over the top. The Jewels are pretty detailed and look nice and bright. There is a background image of a mountain that is faint and doesn't take over from the Jewels. One thing that could be added to this is that the background image changes every level? Overall very good.

I like the background music in this game, its simple and easy going. There is a louder sound made when the jewels are upgraded and explode which I don't particularly like when the sound is up high. I would like to see the option to change the sound of both the background music and the sound effects.

The gameplay is very fun and I have played it countless times trying to beat my high score. There are different jewels that upgrade in the same way apart from one section where it can become one of two jewels. The board at the start of the level has a range of different jewels as well as white lights which prevent the waves from getting to other jewels, increasing the difficulty in higher levels. The way jewels upgrade are from a small bronze jewel, to a square red jewel, to a purple jewel then it can split to either a diamond (which has to be upgraded two more times before exploding) or a large green jewel. The last two are what explode and set off the chain reaction. The Green jewel only sends waves horizontally and vertically while the diamond sends it all directions. If hit by a wave the jewels will only upgrade until it is at the point where it is destroyed, sending off more waves and starting a chain reaction. You start with 10 moves and each jewel destroyed gives you another move, so chains are good in this game. Scoring also gives you combos with chain reactions. You play until you have no moves left, which for me with a little bit of experience is about 10 levels. I would like to see another game mode. One idea of mine is where you see how many you can destroy on one level, with destroyed jewels getting replaced with another random jewel.

This is a very addicting game with a lot of replay value as you try and master the game and beat your high scores. Very polished game that was well thought out. Anyone who enjoys puzzle games would enjoy this, definitely consider buying this for its sale price, well worth it.

Gameplay- 9/10
Graphics- 7.5/10
Sound- 7.5/10
Overall- 8/10

I would recommend this game if you enjoyed- Jewel Quest II

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