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Polly Challenges Nerissa
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Following the successful defeat of the cursed Captain Mordain, in the first Jewels title, Polly and Rowan were settling back and looking forward to a life of peace and quiet. However beneath the surface of the waves certain events were coming to the boil as the evil siren Nerissa was issuing a deadly curse. This threat from the depth of the ocean linked Rowan’s life to that of the siren’s partner who had been killed in the original Jewels title. As a result Rowan begun to suffer regular nightmares featuring Captain Mordain and his strength began to fade. Needing to break the curse, Polly organises an expedition to set sail to find a way to break the curse and release Rowan from its threat in the follow-up Jewels 2 title.
Available in Collector’s Edition format, Jewels 2 is a Match 3 game that can be played in a variety of different European languages. You also have a choice of Relaxed or Puzzle style of game play. These levels are spread out in a winding trail of handcrafted action that must be followed in sequence using standard forms of Match 3 game play.
Each level will be based on a centrally mounted grid that is sandwiched between a panel on the left displaying the number and type of tiles that will need to be removed to complete the level. This means that rather than completing removing all tiles, you could concentrate on specific types of tiles. Arranged on the right of the grid will be available power-ups that need to be earned through progress and consist of items such as a hammer, shuffle facility, cannon or harpoon.
Tiles can be removed by swapping two adjacent tiles to form a group of three similar tiles. These tiles then disappear and their space will be taken over by other tiles falling downwards. The creation of tile groups that have more than three tiles will bring a reward. A group of four is rewarded with a bomb that can clear a column or row while a group of five produces a rainbow tile that will destroy all the tile of a particular colour.
Along with the more standard types of tiles, the Jewels 2 grid features various additional types of tiles that are added as the game progresses. While many of these extra tiles, such as a map, cocoanut, key, inkwell or cook pot, will generally require a special method of removal as part of a group, there is one type of tile that can not be part of a group. This is a Pirate tile. You will need to create a pathway from the pirate to a treasure chest so that it can escape by that route.
Occasionally, as you travel along the proscribed route, you will encounter a challenge. This might involve a crew member who does not like your commands; a wandering pirate or other obstacle. These are generally displayed as large tiles. They will need to form parts of a group several times before removal is achieved.
Built into this nautical sea adventure are a number of mini game distractions. These will replace the Match 3 level with an option to navigate a fog covered maze as you find various items, or spot the differences between two similar scenes. Another mini game puzzle will involve rearranging the section of a scene to reveal a scene image.
The game also features three mini games that gradually become available after sufficient progress has been made. You could play a game of battleships by firing cannon against an enemy based on a grid, guessing whether the next card in a sequence will be higher or lower than the previous card or finding pairs of face down cards in a layout.
You can join Polly in her latest adventure by downloading this title from Gamehouse.com where it is priced at $19.99. It is also available from Big Fish Games priced at £14.77. The game requires a 1.0 GHz processor with 2048MB of RAM and 471MB of hard disk space running Windows 7 and later.
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