Jewel Story

Simplicity is not a bad thing in video games, especially if it’s paired with healthy amounts of fun and entertainment. Casual gamers are not in it for the challenge or the complex gameplay mechanics, so it’s all about providing them with a relaxing and enjoyable experience. On the other hand, there are limits to simplicity as well, because boredom always lurks around the corner.

Jewel Story is not your typical match-3 game, because it features a slightly different set of gameplay mechanics, which are meant to put your mind to work and calculate every move. In case you are already frowning at the concept, it’s only natural to feel this way, given the fact that the genre is meant to represent the exact opposite of this.

In essence, you have to click on groups of at least two matching jewels in order to remove them from the board, and the goal is to either reach a certain number of points, or to remove special tiles by making matches on top of them. Depending on how many bonuses you get along the way you are rewarded with one, two or three stars at the end, after which the next level begins.

The minimum number of jewels you can match is two, but you can create powerful power-ups by matching more than that if you have the chance. Powerful bombs come in handy if you need to clear a big portion of the board in a hurry, but you can also purchase power-ups using the gold you earn after completing levels. Granted, they are fairly expensive, so it’s not always possible to do so.

The problem is that all this gets annoyingly repetitive and boring in a rush, given the fact that you cannot achieve combos or do anything cool with your matches. To make matters worse, the jewel arrangement is very lousy sometimes, which causes multiple shuffles to no avail. Granted, at least the graphics are decent, but the jewels remain the same at all times anyway, so it’s not that big of a deal after all.

To conclude with, Jewel Story is not a bad game, it’s just too simple and mundane. You can enjoy it every now and again if the mood is just right, but the lack of combos and the slow pace make it a very disappointing match-three experience overall.

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