Chain3

If you took every matching puzzle game and linked them together, you'd probably have a chain that circumnavigated the globe. Lining up puzzle pieces grows old though, which makes the demand for inventive new elements sky high. Chain3 gives the formula a clever twist, yet it doesn't back up its clever ideas with enough gameplay.

Earning points requires lining up at least three identical pieces on the screen. Unlike most puzzle games, however, you're free to move pieces anywhere on the board. You could, for example, take a piece from the bottom right of the screen and drag it with your finger to a pair of identical pieces in the opposite corner to clear all three.

Since you're able to move pieces at will anywhere on the screen, creating matches is incredibly easy; in fact, there's no challenge in that aspect of the game at all. Having to make matches before a horizontal life bar drops to the bottom of the screen does, however, add pressure to the game.

Each match cleared from the board pushes the life bar up a bit. Drafting chains – consecutive matches made from pieces falling once an initial match clears the screen – naturally boosts the life bar even further. The rate at which the life bar descends increases when it hits the top of the screen and you're bumped up to the next level.

Herein lies the challenge: jumping up as many levels as you can without letting the life bar bottom out. Since it's cake to make matches, Chain3 is more about working as quickly as you can to make as many as possible; moreover, you want to carefully move pieces to set up chains for more points. It's decidedly up-tempo, which distinguishes it from other puzzlers and gives the game a fun, active feel.

Once you've run through the brief tutorial, you can hit three modes: Normal, Free Play, and Puzzle. Both Normal and Free Play adhere to the rules outlined above, whereas Puzzle mode has you clearing the board of pieces within a set number of moves. For instance, one puzzle requires eliminating a dozen pieces using just two moves. The same rules in normal play apply here, so you're able to move pieces at will on the board to solve each stage.

The Puzzle option possesses great promise, although it's never fully realized. A paltry selection of nine stages hardly constitutes a full mode. It took all of about five minutes to blow through them all. Since each puzzle is timed, you're encouraged to replay with an eye for beating your best completion time. Additionally, achievements reward you for specific accomplishments. These, however, aren't a compelling enough reason to revisit.

Value is a problem for Chain3 where the amount of content simply doesn't meet up with the asking price. Three modes – two of which are essentially identical and the third of which is deficient in content – isn't enough, especially compared to competing puzzle games. Even worse, high score rankings are absent. Promises of an update with online rankings are heartening, but it should have been included with the initial release.

While there's no question Chain3 offers a fun new take on piece-matching gameplay, it's hard to recommend it based on the price. But more content and/or a reduction in the entry fee would make this a match worth making.