3D Twist & Match is one of those simple games that is maddeningly addictive. By rotating a variety of objects in a 3D space, the goal is to get them to fit a shadow outline.
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| It doesn’t look like much, but looks are deceiving |
Which means you’ll be flipping, twisting and spinning those objects to try and figure out how they click into place with the shadow. There are literally hundreds of objects to deal with, and these have been split across eight different themes – such as music, sport, Christmas and Halloween.
Each theme has its own background and music, but in all fairness it’s a cheap setup. Backgrounds are boring and music is generic and uninspiring.
Where the hook is is with the timer at the bottom of the screen. It’s not enough to just match up the object and its shadow – you need to do it quickly. When you successfully achieve the match, the object will disappear and a new one will pop up. However, do it really quickly and you’ll get a little “awesome” pop up on the screen, and you’ll get another bite at the cherry, while the score multiplier goes up.
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| Spooky |
Getting on the high score board requires you to do this rack up quite a few of those awesomes, so the game quickly becomes arcade-style hectic. And, while it’s frustrating at times where there seems to be no possible way to rotate the object to fit a specific shadow, it’s the kind of frustration that incites determination, rather than causing an almighty ragequit.
There’s not a great deal of variety in the gameplay, despite a cluttered front menu (why is it that indies feel the need to give their games an artificial impression of bloat?) There’s two main gameplay modes, which are similar in execution, but ‘Rush’ tends to play out more quickly. Once you’ve awesomed an object, it becomes available in a practice mode too – and to get really high scores, you’re going to need to make use of this to get intimately familiar with how each shape works.
Perhaps it’s one for the OCD amongst us, but despite being a low-budget production, 3D Twist & Match has to be recommended, especially at the bargain price that it’s available for on iOS, PlayStation Network Minis and DSiWare.
