Super Yum Yum 3
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| Super Yum Yum 3

There really aren't many puzzle game ideas left, especially on a platform like the mobile, which has seen every variation on the theme of jewel swapping, maze crawling, ball rolling and number crunching you could ever imagine.

Neither does the core gameplay of Super Yum Yum 3 offer much of a different experience to the puzzle games we see every day. But, quite remarkably, this doesn't hamper the intriguing and addictive gameplay one bit.

You take control of Leon, a rather careless chameleon parent who swans off down the disco leaving his brood home alone. Unfortunately for Leon, while he's out spanking the planks a giant beast happens upon his treetop lair and hoovers up all his wayward siblings along with the tasty produce.

Once you get home from the disco (and assuming social services haven't had you arrested) your task is to enter the monster's lair and retrieve your fruit-flavoured kids.

It's quite a lame setup, but given that storylines aren't something puzzle games hinge upon, we can overlook Leon’s motivation and get on with the unique gameplay that makes Super Yum Yum 3 so appealing.

The first thing you need to understand about Leon's particular breed of chameleon is that it only eats fruit whose colour matches his hide. Of course, being a chameleon, your his colour is constantly changing, so finding the right fruit is a tricky task.

Each level in Super Yum Yum 3 is a cleverly disguised maze (well, perhaps 'cleverly disguised' is a strong term, but they don't immediately look like a typical labyrinth) with paths, obstacles, fruit and difficult-to-reach chameleonic offspring. To recover the lost kids, it's necessary to eat the fruit and unblock the path around them.

Whenever Leon eats a piece of fruit, however, his skin colour changes to that of the fruit’s leaves, so scoffing down the fruit salad in the right order is where the puzzle gameplay is found. For example, it might be necessary to eat a pear with red leaves first, so you can eat a strawberry farther up the screen and make it to the exit.

It all sounds a bit weird, and not a little complicated, but after the first couple of levels the whole thing falls easily into place and it becomes surprisingly addictive.

While it might not seem massively important, Super Yum Yum 3’s visual component adds a lot to the experience. The bright colours and the strong manga styling really help Leon to jump off the screen, and the aesthetic carries the game quite admirably until the unusual gameplay mechanics fall into place.

It's worth switching the rather irritating sound effects off, especially when playing in public, as the constant slurping sounds are likely to get you some disapproving glances.

Truth be told, it's difficult to put your finger on exactly what it is about Super Yum Yum 3 that makes it so addictive, as there isn't a huge diversity in levels or the puzzles. And yet it's one of those games that eats hours from your life like Leon eats fruit.

So despite its often frustrating gameplay, Super Yum Yum 3 is very easy to recommend.

Super Yum Yum 3

A rather unusual game with fairly standard puzzle mechanics at its core, cleverly disguised by great design work and an insatiable addictiveness that will keep you playing to the very end
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.