|
|
Review: Popcap's "Chuzzle" iPhone gameI've written a lot about iPhones, and traveled down many different routes in terms of how to use them efficiently, how to have fun, and how to solve a wide variety of problems or glitches. If you've watched closely, you'll have also see in the screenshots that I have a lot of iPhone apps on my phone, in fact I think I've maxed out the number of screens I can create on the 3GS device. Most of those apps? Games. I have a lot of games for my iPhone and while many of them are intended to keep my kids entertained (their favorites currently are Surviving High School, Cooking Mama, Oregon Trail, Sally's Spa and Pocket God) there are definitely some that I have added for my own enjoyment. ![]() Peggle has you shooting a ball to bounce off, and thereby eliminate, red pegs on screen Enter iPhone and computer game developer Popcap. I started out downloading Peggle and then finishing the game -- three times through! -- and asking them to release a new version so I could continue to play. Instead, they told me that they'd released a new game and wanted me to try it: Chuzzle.
As a busy person I needed a new addictive, compelling game on my iPhone like I needed the proverbial hole in the head, and am sorry to report that Chuzzle is just that and it has had an adverse affect on my productivity, darn it! It's pretty darn cool and highly addictive: my kids have even switched to playing Chuzzle rather than their usual games on the device. First off, launch the game and you get a menu of options: ![]() There are four different ways you can play the game, but I just play the "classic" game, pretending to myself that it's an oldie that's been around for years, hence the standard game being called "classic" in the first place. :-) Tap that and you get a screen full of colored "chuzzles" that look like Tribbles from an early Star Trek episode: ![]() The basic idea here is to slide rows horizontally or columns vertically until you have three or more chuzzles of the same color in a line or adjacent in an "L" configuration or similar. Once they're all touching, they vanish and everything above them in the columns drops down, often causing other color chuzzles to find their mates and vanish too, in a point-generating cascade. Stuck on a move? Wait a few seconds and the chuzzle that can be moved to create a grouping will shake a little bit, but if that's still not enough, tap on "Hint" and you'll get a very clear explanation of what to do, though at the cost of a few points: ![]() Play your sequences right and you can get a glowing chuzzle that's worth more points when you remove it from play. Do really well and you'll suddenly have an extra large chuzzle that is, again, worth more points: ![]() You keep removing chuzzles from the screen just to have new ones keep filling the columns on screen. Hit a certain points milestone and you jump to the next level. My best? Level ten, 195,395 points. So far. For variation there are other ways you can play Chuzzle, including the interesting Mind Bender mode: ![]() Seem reminiscent of Bejeweled? It is, as you can see from the screen shot below: ![]() But at some level I don't care that it's inspired by another of their games. The fact is, Popcap has my vote for best casual games developer for the iPhone and based on my experience with their three titles, I'll happily buy new ones when released. My recommendation: get it, then say goodbye to your spare time for a week or three! Disclaimer: Popcap gave me a promo code for Chuzzle, saving me the $4.99 the app costs in the iPhone app store. But I'd buy it anyway at this point!
More Useful Articles and Reviews Articles:
✔ Review: Verticus for iPad
iOS gamers everywhere are familiar with the genre of infinite forward progress apps - Mega Jump, Canabalt, and a host of other run/jump/fly-until-you-die...
✔ Review: Clear Spot Voyager 4G wifi hotspotClear Voyager 4g HotspotI'm constantly on the go and with just about every site I visit available via secure SSL connection, I typically...
✔ Review: Dropcam HD wifi video cameraWhether you're security paranoid, want to keep an eye on the nanny, have a summer or winter home you'd like to peek in...
✔ Audiovox Car Connection ReviewI have the smartest house on the block with a wifi-enabled thermostat and garage door opener, along with a complex web of wireless...
✔ Review: Slingbox 500I should start with a candid admission: I'm not a huge television watcher. I catch soccer matches on Fox Soccer Channel, and watch...
Let's stay in touch!
Sign up for my weekly AskDaveTaylor Newsletter and you'll receive even more tech and gadget help
right to your inbox, along with exclusive news and industry updates. It's good stuff. I promise!
Categorized:
Articles and Reviews
,
Video Game Tips and Help
,
iPhone and Cell Phone Help
(Article 9223,
Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: apple iphone, bejeweled, chuzzle, iphone games, peggle, popcap Previous: Can I automatically add words to a Google search? Next: How do I have saved email open in Thunderbird on my Mac? Reader Comments To Date: 2Dave Taylor said, on December 22, 2009 8:37 PM:
Abacus, I have to admit that I have Plants v. Zombies and didn't find it that compelling. I think it's the lightweight casual gaming aspect of the iPhone that works so well for me: when I have my computer open, I'm generally doing work... :-)
I do have a comment, now that you mention it!Check This Out Too... |
Recent Entries
Look for Answers
Recommended
All Our Categories
Apple iPad Help
Articles and Reviews Auctions and Online Shopping Blogs and Blogging Building Web Site Traffic Business and Management Computer and Internet Basics d) None of the Above Facebook Help Google Gmail Help Google Plus Help HTML, JavaScript and Web Site Programming Industry News and Trade Shows iPhone and Cell Phone Help iPod, Sony PSP and MP3 Player Help Kindle Fire Help Mac OS X Help Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising Pinterest Help Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Shell Script Programming Tech Support Video Help The Writing Business Twitter, LinkedIn and Social Network Help Unix and Linux Help Video Game Tips and Help Windows PC Help Find Me on Google+ ADT on G+ |
Please try Plants v Zombies also from Popcap. Hugely addictive for only $9.95 (through Steam).