What lies within Dreamgate's Mystery Temple? Deadly traps? Venemous wildlife? A giant anamatronic Olmec head? Actually, it's a spiffy match-3 game with a Sokoban-esque twist. Within each level of of this secretive temple lie sparkling jewels you must collect, by making three like-colored blocks touch. Click on the board to place said blocks, and they'll slide in the direction of the arrow upon them. But travelers beware... You can't place one block in a square directly adjacent to another one; that would make things too easy! And if you don't make connections quickly, phantom blocks will appear and fill the board with garbage. Plan your moves carefully, set up your blocks just right, and you'll leave the temple with a pocketful of treasure! Fail, however, and you just might be the next victim of the temple's curse... We think. (That's how mysterious ancient temples work, right?)
Match-3 games have a tendency towards being fast-paced and frenzied, but all the sliding-block-puzzle in Mystery Temple's DNA makes for a slower, more contemplative experience. There are no time limits, and the only thing that causes the board to fill happens when you yourself place a block. It's more about being careful with your pieces, knowing how to get blocks where you want them, and knowing where to put blocks you don't want so they don't mess up your delicate plans. The solid gameplay foundation is backed up with a lovely presentation that's also very professional, from the slick graphics right down to the way the game shows you not one but two of your upcoming pieces. The fusion between the two genres isn't entirely perfect, however. The more random nature of match-3 can mess with your strategies, be it through a randomly-spawned phantom block cutting off your moves, or a sudden surplus of arrows aimed left when what you really need is one going up. It's no game-breaker, but it can be frustrating. It would have been nice if there was a structured puzzle mode with set pieces, but alas. What's there is still a solid synthesis of two genres, and like with all match-3 games, there's still nothing quite as satisfying as seeing three like-colored tiles go "pop!" Especially if the groovy temple theme means you feel like Indy when you're doing it.
Nice!
Nice indeed, but gets a bit boring after level 7
Can't get past 22
i loved this comment i loved it
sorry wrong comment
its to bad idiot game
Very nice game. Last couple levels require some luck to get through, particularly the last one.
A nice twist to the classic match3.
I'm glad they kept it simple and didn't throw in a bunch of superfluous effects (like seizure inducing explosions) and cutesy graphics. But I would also like to see them expand the game, with more levels and a variety of obstacles.
I'd love to have a copy on my iphone, but I would want achievements, or some other way of making it replayable, if it was a paid game.
I would love this game if free mode didn't just stop at lvl 26. There is no indication or warning--it just stops. Poor design. The free mode also doesn't use the same feature as adventure mode (no transporters).
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