Game Reviews

MUJO

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iOS
| MUJO
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MUJO
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iOS
| MUJO

The pantheon of ancient Greek gods is notable for its petty squabbling, as well as for treating human trials and tribulations as nothing more than simple games for their amusement.

It's really not that much of a leap, then, for MUJO to suggest that these towering mythical creatures might wage war through the medium of a colourful match-three puzzle game.

Getting your MUJO back

The ancient Greek myth theme is about the only well-worn thing about MUJO. It's a bracingly fresh take on the match-three puzzler.

At a base level, you touch clusters of coloured blocks to make them disappear. Red sword blocks inflict attacks on your opponent, while the rest gain your Greek god avatars (you can have up to three at a time representing you) experience points.

Yet you'll only get so far with this simplistic approach. Rather, you must venture to press and hold on these clusters in order to form a single high value example.

These can then be combined with other blocks to form significantly more powerful attacks, or large batches of experience points.

This becomes imperative for the odd "boss" level against a famous mythical creature, in which your moves are strictly limited.

Godly powers

With all this factored in, you could call MUJO a combination of Puzzle Quest, Threes!, and maybe even Triple Town. However, it feels like its own game.

Perhaps that's because of that strong Greek myth theme, which grants you a range of playable avatars, each with their own strengths and special recharging skills.

They're all beautifully drawn, too, as is everything else here. There's a simple, warm style to it that looks hand-drawn, but that you know has been painfully put together by some very talented artists.

Hit and myth

MUJO isn't perfect. There's a lack of urgency and directness to most of its levels. Excluding those limited-move ones, there's no real incentive to do anything in a great hurry or in a particularly skilful way.

That leaves the game feeling distinctively laid back, but also a little aimless - even with a well-established character collection and progression system.

Also, it takes a while to really grasp all of the game's ins and outs. It does an adequate job of teaching you the basics, but then leaves you to fend for yourself somewhat.

But unlike other games that leave out the finer details, MUJO's inherent freshness and moreishness will compel you to play on and master it.

MUJO

A brilliantly fresh take on the match-three puzzler genre that makes up for a lack of urgency with a gorgeous art style and interesting gameplay
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.