I’m continuing a play through of the most bizarre mashup out there, VR and Match 3, and I’m here to break it all down for you. It’s the play-by-play that no one asked for that I’m freely giving!
Next up is a game called “Gem Jam.” What does Gem Jam have going for it? I’ll tell ya! A skeleton NPC with bad voice over and some fantastic alliteration in its name! Let’s take a closer look at what we’ve got here:
This game is technically match 3 because, sure enough, you match same colored gems, but in actuality this game is more of a combination of Tetris and Match 3 than perhaps a Match 3 purist might be looking for. There are five game modes, but it’s pretty much the same game with only slightly different rulesets.
What I mean by that is “Skeleton Square” is the base game, where a pattern of gems in a 3x3 pattern fall slowly down to the top of a treasure chest full of gold. As you match 3 or more gems, those gems are removed from the playing field. Over time, the game board gets smaller, so while your game field starts out as 9x9, eventually it can tighten down to a 6x6 and things get really hairy. Each level of the game you must lay down around 20 patterns of gems to progress to the next level. When you try to put down gems on top of existing gems, the treasure chest begins to close. When the treasure chest fully closes, it’s game over.
Compare that to the “Big Booty” mode (LOL pirate humor) where all the base game rules apply, but there’s now a timer visible for when the game board shrinks, and making larger matches of gems buys you a bit more time before said game board shrinks . . . or to the “Pirate’s Zen” mode where it’s just free play with no shrinking game field or descending gems.
It’s . . . probably not worth $10. That said, it’s pirate themed! When something is pirate themed, it already gets a plus one in my book! Now, despite it not being worth the price tag, it is playable, and there is fun to be found here! That said, I'm sorry, but I’ve got several complaints.
My number one complaint about this game is the game board that you make matches on is at a downward looking angle. In VR, where you have a headset on, already putting weight on your neck, looking down for an extended period of time can be super painful. If you’re going to put your game board in that position, you absolutely need to implement “The Demeo solution.”
What I mean by that is,
Demeo is currently the number one strategy board game experience in VR. It’s an
absolutely amazing game. However, the game board is looking down. To counteract
that, they implemented a way to tilt the entire game board upward so you can
pull your head up and look straight forward with a downward view of the game.
It’s a comfort feature that’s 100 percent necessary. It would help with making Gem Jam a better game experience.
Next complaint, the leaderboards are faked. Unfortunately in Gem Jam, my name doesn’t show up on the leaderboards, and my scores get reset. If the leaderboards were real and used my oculus handle, then I’d give this game a few extra bucks in my value rating.
Next complaint, it’s really too bad about this voice over quality of the skeleton NPC . . . because it’s one of the most entertaining parts of this experience. He talks about how he’s cursed to live in this cave forever because of a sea witch's curse. He committed suicide from playing the game to a point of frustration and now he’s counting on you to beat the game so he can be free. I wish the creator (or whomever did the VO for him) would have invested in a quality mic and some nice sound mixing. Our skeleton doesn’t sound like he’s in a cave, and the spooky factor of the skeleton's voice is a zero. Ahh well.
I really wish this game could have used the VR space better. It feels like the same gameplay could have happened in a different medium, like mobile? If you're going to make a VR Match-3 game, use the VR space as much as you can. Then again, Congrats to Captain Booty for capitalizing on a competitive market space where there isn’t much competition to be had. You got my $10.
Happy Dueling!
No comments:
Post a Comment