Topsoil review - Does this puzzler blossom in the right ways?
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iOS
| Topsoil

If you're faced with a puzzler which uses a minimal aesthetic, you hope at least that you'll find something deeper once you've pulled back a few of the layers.

While Topsoil is very smooth and easy to pick up and play, there's something missing here, and not even the fluid performance can make it more interesting than it is.

Green fingers

Topsoil is a puzzler where you try and match up various varieties of flora, from pine trees to wheat stems.

The aim of the game is simple: get as many points as you can. Whilst this may not seem the most inspiring of directives, you've also got 23 achievements to unlock among other little extras.

Since this is a free to play game your turns are limited to five initially. You can get another three by watching a 30-second advert. So, it's not the worst.

Your available crops show at the top of the screen, with your immediate selection being highlighted on the very left. This is where your strategy comes into play.

Each time you harvest a selection of crops the colour of the ground changes between yellow, blue, and green. You have to match the crop and the colour to rake up bigger combos.

There's no rhyme or reason to how you can play. Thr only rule is that once your grid fills up and you can't harvest anything else, it's game over, pal.

But, if you're looking for something a deeper you're going to be a little disappointed.

The first thing that catches you is the game's complete lack of music, making it an almost haunting and sombre affair. Though not entirely noticeable at first, you'll soon realise things are a little too quiet after the first few goes.

There are some sound effects to carry the game, but not enough to make any real difference.

The second and most fatal gripe is that the gameplay grows stale far too quickly.

Without levels to complete you don't feel like you're working towards anything, aside from beating your own high score or bagging the achievements.

Even when you're on a roll, you quickly lose interest and often end up self-sabotaging your efforts just so you can either stop or start fresh.

Green thumbs

Topsoil isn't a bad game. It's actually rather fun in short bursts. It's just unfortunate that a lot of people won't have the attention span needed to reach the top figures and complete all of the achievements.

It's something that doesn't require too much intense concentration, so it's at least great to play on the journey home or while you're waiting for your coffee.

Topsoil review - Does this puzzler blossom in the right ways?

Topsoil is an amusing puzzler if you're looking to play in short bursts, but there's not an awful lot here to keep your concentration for long
Score
Emily Sowden
Emily Sowden
Emily is Pocket Gamer's News Editor and writes about all kinds of game-related things. She needs coffee to function and begrudgingly loves her Switch more than she lets on.