Bug Quest

Almost every conceivable theme, every single possible setting, has been crowbarred into a match-three puzzler at some point over the years.

Considering how simple the setup usually is, it's a touch bizarre that developers feel the need to dress each title up in such awkward clothing.

Nonetheless, Bug Quest – with its school of coloured labybirds in tow – continues the trend, with your task being to line said bugs up in horizontal or vertical chains of three to clear them from the board.

Unless such action is some kind of bizarre mating ritual for bugs who like to swing on the side, it's a backdrop that has very little to do with the gameplay, but Bug Quest's setup does come with one or two distinguishing marks that separate it from the rest of the pack.

Namely, the grid you play on. Rather than swapping pieces over or nudging them along the line, Bug Quest gives you a relatively clear playing field and, providing the path is clear, lets you guide your bugs around the map in any fashion you choose.

Essentially, this means picking a bug with the '5' key and then directing it to any free square in the same manner.

Manage to match up a line and the game gives you another go. If your move doesn't result in an immediate link up, however, then new bugs begin to spawn and the map grows a little more crowded.

As such, keeping on top of things is the key, as an abundance of bugs can often block any paths to further match-ups and eventually lead to your demise.

How you avoid said demise depends on which mode you choose to play. In Arcade mode, your task is to grass over any wood on the map, doing so a question of clearing bugs from the allotted grid squares.

In Action mode, however, it's the number of match-ups that count, with the goal being to piece them together in quick time as the levels pass.

Either way, the experience is much the same, with simply running out of space being your worst enemy.

At times, doing so is not entirely your fault, with the positioning of any initial bugs making lining up groups of three impossible without a chain of two or more moves – fruitless moves that, as described, then generate further bugs on the board.

Regardless, while play isn't the most exciting or, indeed, expansive, by simply following its own path and offering up a different breed of match-three based play, there's much to love about Bug Quest's short-lived ladybird love-in.