Burning Puzzle Monkey Lab

Is there any room left for innovation in the puzzler genre? Ever since Tetris emerged back in the eighties, we've seen a panoply of pretenders arrive in an attempt to topple the title from its shape-matching throne. Some have failed to plough their own geometric furrows, whilst a paltry few have succeeded in innovating and entertaining.

And so, in the constant hunt for the elusive fresh puzzle game, Freeverse has taken the rather novel approach of creating its very own puzzle laboratory containing several experimental shape-matching puzzlers. The game's title isn't entirely accurate, however, as there doesn't seem to be a single sizzling simian in sight.

Setting aside the lack of burning monkeys, what we do have here are five puzzle games in one polished-looking package. Color Reaction is perhaps the most accessible to start with: sets of balls fall down the screen that need to be rotated and matched with like balls. Test Tube mode is much the same except the balls are grouped as vertical stacks--one on top of the other - effectively a facsimile of the classic Sega Columns.

Things start to pick up a little with Hex Bonding mode. While it's essentially a line-making game, the use of hexagons changes things up. Hexagons don't fit together like normal lines do and so what you're left with is something incredibly familiar that doesn't quite work the way you'd expect.

Mission Mode is where the game gets really interesting though, being a mashup of the first three modes - constantly chopping and changing, setting new goals, swapping the rules, and all the while flinging disruptive power-ups down your tube too. A typical game will find you having to clear several lines using Hex Bonding, then jump over to Color Reaction to destroy a stack of pieces and so on and so forth.

If Mission Mode gets to be a little to much for you, the final game, Zen Mode, is perfect for chilling out. There is no goal and no score, just shape matching. Moving pieces triggers a range of Asian-inspired tones, so as you work your way through the puzzle matching, you compose a piece of music.

You may be visiting Zen Mode quite often as the controls are frequently a cause for complaint. Despite being well designed, it's too easy to accidentally drop puzzle pieces in the wrong place and ruin well-planned combos.

Freeverse must be commended for unleashing a few experimental puzzler concepts on the world. Even in the somewhat traditional Color Reaction mode, the power-ups - lasers, bombs, cloners - add a twist to the action. While the game looks polished and plays well, it feels a little empty, there are no instructions and limited options, and so the low price-point seems justified.