Game Reviews

SideSwype

Star onStar onStar onStar halfStar off
|
| SideSwype
Get
SideSwype
|
| SideSwype

Oh look, another Threes!-a-like. Very original.

What's that? It's by Radiangames, the developer of Crush! and Slydris, two of the slickest arcade puzzlers on the App Store?

Well, we'd better take a closer look, then.

Puzzle stew

Radiangames has made a bit of a name for itself, taking established puzzler mechanics, whizzing them up in a food blender with a couple of additional tangy ingredients, and presenting them all fancy like.

SideSwype follows a similar pattern. This time, the main ingredient is Threes!.

You're given a five by five grid containing a handful of squares. Swiping the screen in one of four directions moves all of the squares in that direction, allowing you to combine them and form matches.

The extra ingredient here, though, is a dash of the old match-three puzzler special sauce.

Taking a swipe

Rather than escalating numbers, like in Threes!, in SideSwype you find yourself matching two colours in groups of three or more blocks. As you progress you get more blocks materialising on-screen, as well as blocks that require matches of four or five to get rid of, which in turn yield screen-clearing power-ups.

But the star turn here really is that swiping system. Simply smashing blocks into the grid wall and forming matches is a tactile treat, with the resulting disintegration effects and the funky fonts of the score pop-ups proving compelling

With most of your swipes invariably leading to matches, there's a constant stream of match-satisfaction here. And that becomes a bit of a problem.

Overmatched

SideSwype makes it so simple to get immediate results that it starts to feel a little shallow, encouraging thoughtless swipes.

That's not entirely fair, of course, as there are strategies to pursue and skills to hone. But it's undeniable that this feels a lot simpler and less involving than some of the games it takes its inspiration from.

With just a solitary mode and a handful of colour changes to play through, SideSwype is a stylish and tasty fusion dish that may still leave you feeling hungry.

SideSwype

A tactile combination of Threes! and match-three puzzler gameplay, SideSwype is perhaps a little too streamlined for its own good
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.