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You play as Dennis, a young orphan lad who performs magical tricks on the streets of London, earning a few pennies so you can survive living in the slums. No one could match his sleight of hand but sometimes his props would actually disappear which confused him greatly. Dennis is walking home one night and is preoccupied looking at the photo of his father when he steps in front of a speeding car. Suddenly, a man saves his life by getting between him and the car.
Much to Dennis’s surprise the man looks a lot like his father in the photo that he holds. Before Dennis can say anything, the man runs off, Dennis gives chase after him and watches him enter a phone booth, where he removes his glasses, rips open his shirt to reveal he’s really Superman. Sorry, that’s another story, the man steps through a portal to another world because Dennis does not want to lose the man, he enters the mysterious portal unsure what lies on the other side...
You begin on Level 1 – 1, the game board is spread out over a sixteen by eleven tiled board. Some of the tiles on the board may be missing, have tiles which cannot be played or they can be played although they are hidden and will require you to reveal them. On the tiles which you can see are different icons (elements), red or blue gems, pointy hats and scrolls, books and other icons. Clicking or dragging an icon to an adjacent tile will allow you to connect three or more matching icons in a line. This will then remove those icons from the board and new icons will filter down in to the empty spaces replenishing the icons so you can continue to form line of three matching icons.
Each level will have objectives for you to complete, this could be matching three icons, making matching of icons on gold tiles a number of times or collecting relics. Upon completing all objectives require the game will end, this will then take you back to the magical world map. Here the story will unfold as you progress, you will also interact with new characters, one of which is Nasir, an elf who says that they once served your parents.
Completing a level will give you a nice shiny victory window which will detail the Time (length it took to complete the level), Level Score (the score you accumulated on that level), Stars Earned (up to three stars awarded depending on how you did) and Total Stars (total stars collected across all completed levels). The stars you collect can be used to unlock new areas such as the School Gates, Laboratory, Botanical Garden and The First Seal in Chapter One, unlocking them will also rebuild them on the world map.
You will also collect the gold tiles and relics throughout the game and these can be used to purchase Tools. You can use these tools for those times of need when you can’t get the last bloody tiles to match. The tools can be used to remove one, a grid or even a full horizontal or vertical line of icons. I tried to play without the need of using the tools and for the most part I didn’t need them but there was this one level where I just couldn’t get to match three icons in a two-column stack. It had me trying for ages so in the end I gave up, stuck a fork in it and smashed it with an ancient axe and wizard's staff. This was enough to change the icons allowing me to match three icons and collect the golden tiles required to complete the level.
The World and Tools can be found in the Upgrades on the world map, also in the upgrades is Extra. Here you can upgrade your appearance through some new clothes, they will cost you some of your total collected elements but you’ll look simply spiffing in your new clothes.
Academy of Magic: The Great Dark Wizard's Curse is a game for all ages, it’s not too easy but it can be challenging at times which isn’t a bad thing. Although at one point I did get frustrated with the game but that’s only because I was trying to get by without using any of the tools. If I hadn’t been in a rush to finish the level as I was going out, then I would have eventually completed the level at some point without the need of the tools.
Positives
+ Enjoyable for all ages
+ Easy to play but challenging
+ Nice graphics
+ Decent story
Negatives
- No achievements currently
- No cards currently
After following a mysterious person who saves your life through a portal you find yourself in a magical world where the inhabitants need your help in breaking the Great Dark Wizard’s Curse.
7/10
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