When talking about casual gaming on the mobile platform, there’s a high likelihood that the conversation would lead to match-three games. After all, who could ever forget the king that was Candy Crush?
If you’re looking for something along those lines, then you should try out Sliding Seas. Developed by indie studio Mugshot, it not only offers a truly unique gameplay but one that’s easy to play and difficult to master. It’s available on Android and iOS.
The premise is simple in that players rescue shipwrecked survivors and bring them to the island. As more survivors are brought to the island, it grows bigger and offers more features.
Main Gameplay
So what makes the gameplay unique? For starters, it’s not “forced” like other match-three games. The shipwrecked survivors start out in the sea and the goal is to put them on land. When you match tiles, it doesn’t totally disappear but combines into something that shows they are nearer to the shore.
To give you an idea, look at the screenshot below:
You can see there are different shades of blue. The lighter the color, the closer to the shore. Eventually you should get a sand tile and then a grass. However, you also need to give them shelter to consider them as rescued.
At some point during each level, the survivors will want to be rescued faster. When in water, they will show a lifebuoy and you have 12 turns to get them on land. Even on land, it’s not guaranteed since they want to be in a shelter, which also gives you 12 turns to do it.
It requires some strategy but there’s no question that it’s fun. The only problem is that some players may find it difficult to match the tiles, especially if they can’t tell one shade of blue from another.
Game Modes
Making the experience more unique are the different modes. There are stages where you need to gather treasure. Some levels require you to rescue the survivors but a tornado comes and shuffles the board every now and then.
In between levels, you go to the island and it offers a different game mode. You get to choose what to build to make the citizens happy.
Power-ups and Diamonds
Like any match-three puzzle game, it has power-ups that you can use to make life easier. To refill them, you need to use diamonds.
Now every time you finish a level, you get diamonds. There are instances when you can view ads and get double the amount. Having some free time, I clicked those ads and eventually had 1,000 diamonds, which I thought was cool. Turns out it wasn’t.
Why? Because the power-up re-fills are expensive. Take the Dynamite power-up. To get three of them, you need to spend 900 diamonds. Other than getting them after finishing a level, the only other way to get diamonds is to buy them, with real money of course.
The Final Word
As a new game, there’s bound to be some issues. But the likely pain is the steep price of the power-ups. Then again, if you’re the type who doesn’t really rely on power-ups, then it won’t be a problem.
Overall it was a truly fun and entertaining experience. We’re giving this 4.5 out of 5 diamonds.
What do you think? Willing to try Sliding Seas?
