Jewelino

Match-3 games are simple by nature, but they can be designed to feature more complex rules and allow players to apply different strategies. Naturally, it’s much better to have a wider range of choices at your disposal, because simple games have a pretty short lifespan. On the other hand, it can also be a blessing to engage in a mindless activity and relax for a while.

Jewelino is a match-three game with simple gameplay mechanics, in which your only goal is to move jewels around in order to increase your score. There is no other purpose to distract you, nor multiple levels to change things around. Obviously, this can and does get pretty boring after a while, but it’s a good choice if you are new to the genre and you want to see the concept stripped to its bare bones.

It’s not even possible to score combos, which is a bit of a nuisance, given the fact that you quickly become bored with regular matches. There are not many types of jewels either, so you learn all of them in the span of a few minutes. Thankfully, at least there’s a game over screen, and it appears when you run out of possible moves and the board is locked.

Although most match-3 games provide you with special abilities to use whenever things get too tough to handle, Jewelino features nothing like that, which contributes to the boredom factor. In fact, you can quickly run out of things to do after the first five minutes, because by then you have seen everything there is to see about the game and its mechanics.

As for the graphics, they are certainly not bad, and they are quite colorful and enjoyable. Even if there are no flashy special effects to dazzle you, the visual quality is the last thing that’s going to bother you about the game. The mouse controls can be a bit slow and laggy, but then again there are no time limits to rush you along either.

In the end, Jewelino is definitely not going to impress any match-3 fan with a bit of experience under his belt, but it might be the perfect starting point for a beginner. However, it would be nice to see a bit more complexity and more gameplay gimmicks.