Wiz Kid Jr.

Puzzle games very rarely make you panic. There might be moments when you're overwhelmed, frustrated, or angered beyond all reason by them, but the instances of real panic in puzzlers are few and far between.

Unless you're playing Wiz Kid Jr., in which case they occur almost every round.

It's testament to the ingenuity of the Super Combo Collective, the team behind Wiz Kid Jr., that this panic never develops into an irrational hatred of the game. Instead, it drives you on, forcing you into reckless decisions just to survive until the next level.

At first glance, Wiz Kid Jr. is a simple, connect three of the same object puzzle game. You slide your finger around an on-screen grid, linking totems, little round blobs, of the same colour.

This creates chains that then explode, to be replaced by more totems.

These chains fill up your Mana bar, as well as granting you thunderbolts, which you can use to perform special game-changing moves.

As long as your Mana bar has energy in it, the game keeps going. So far, so sedate, but after a relaxing first wave Wiz Kid Jr. throws in Mana devouring, anthropomorphic totem spirits.

These life-stealing ingrates come in six different flavours, ranging from simple Mana thieves to cruel, eye patch-wearing pirates who can convert whole rows of coloured totems into their evil minions.

The game ceases to be about finding chains and becomes a battle for survival. More spirits are added with each wave of totems, and clearing them all becomes the most important task you've ever attempted.

The spirits are the same colours as the totems, and you can destroy them in the same fashion, but more often than not they're not sat in chains, meaning you have to throw your special moves at them.

But these special moves need thunderbolts, and the only way you can get thunderbolts is by making chains.

So it may be tempting to chuck a bomb at a pirate, but bombs use more thunderbolts than a simple tomahawk, and if you throw one now how will you afford one in the next wave?

There are four difficulty levels to master, which you unlock by beating the high score in the previous level, as well as an Everlasting mode, which offers a gentler version of the game for those with weak hearts.

Wiz Kid Jr. is an excellent example of arcade puzzle design. From simple, solid gameplay, it creates a frantic, mesmerising, and entirely unique experience.

Super Combo Collective has made a strong mark on the puzzle genre. It's taken the safe confines of the match-three and turned it into a valley of highly addictive, abject terror.