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WWDC 2009: Hands on with quirky iPhone hybrid Puzzlings

Gotta accessorise them all

WWDC 2009: Hands on with quirky iPhone hybrid Puzzlings
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| Puzzlings

It seems that you can do almost anything with the match-3 mechanic these days.

From Puzzle Quest to Henry Hatsworth, Bejeweled Twist and Might & Magic Clash of Heroes, the hybridisation of the core gameplay with other genres - platformer, RTS, complex casual and the like - continues apace.

Canadian developer Bight Games is doing something a little braver however and bringing avatar customisation and item collection into play for its match-3 game Puzzlings, which as well as iPhone and iPod touch will be available for mobile and PC download.

The match-3 part of the game sees you sliding and rotating blocks to create colour matches and remove those blocks from the board for points. You can also drag out a rotational box with your finger and it will automatically rotate those blocks by 90 degrees until you tap it to stop.

Completing the levels unlocks new items you can use to define your puzzling; a curvey manga-styled blob figure who acts as the picture frame for your achievements.

The more you customise it, the more you'll want to send screenshots of its new get up to your friends via Facebook, email and the like. Or at least that's the plan.

And making this a challenging game - in terms of the match-3 stuff at least - is the introduction of long (1 x 2) and square (2 x 2) blocks, which are harder to remove from the board, and mess up your rotations. Puzzle levels provide another option.

In total there will be 8 themed worlds to play through and millions of potential style load outs for your puzzling to flaunt.

Puzzlings is due for release on June 18th, priced $4.99
Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.