Elemental Connection

[b]elemental connection[/b] (nee [i]econ[/i]) is the very definition of a hidden gem. I totally missed it until recently, but really glad I ran into it and decided to give it a shot sooner than some other titles. it's basically a board game: [b]place squares next to each other so that their colors match.[/b] the more sides match up, the higher your score, but if you match two different colors, points are taken away. matching borders (if there's a border) gives extra points, but not doing it doesn't take any away. fill the board and make sure you have more points than the opponent. you get 2 pieces to choose from in every turn, rotate with right click, left/right arrows or q/e, left click or enter to select. you can continue rotating after selection, but only with the keys, as right mouse cancels the selection, which is both convenient and a bit annoying. use the mouse, arrows or wasd to move, hold (not just click!) the left mouse button, enter or space to place, then it's the opponent's turn. their tiles aren't shown and you can only find out their score at the end of the match, and also look at a [b]handy analytical graph[/b] that breaks down every turn. nice touch, if probably unnecessary. it can be played against [b]6 levels of ai or real people online[/b]. sadly, it's highly unlikely that anyone in your vicinity has even heard about the game, let alone plays it, but you can try going against randoms too, with about zero percent chance of finding anyone. besides the opponent, you can also [b]customize the board and choose from 5 shapes and 5 border settings[/b], and pick from various different backgrounds. there are also [b]36 extra challenges[/b], all unlocked from the start. these are pre-set unique board shapes and sizes with a few new mechanics, still mostly against ai opponents. in [u]tug of war[/u] you don't have to fill the board, just win the 'war' with enough points. on [u]puzzle levels[/u] the goal is to beat a score on your own (I found these the hardest and couldn't do all of them) and [u]skull levels[/u] are basically sudden death: no points, the first one to make a misconnection loses. [b]the presentation is really pleasant[/b], minimalist, yet colorful without going overboard, the music is fitting as well. there's a music on/off toggle and separate volume settings since the rebrand update, windowed mode with a resizable window, various colorblind settings, some stats and in-game representation of achievements, plus a 'quick tips' toggle, which doesn't give any tips, but zooms in the board every time a tile is placed to focus on the points you get. definitely turn it off, everything's clearly visible without it and probably should've been called something else. most settings are available while playing, but I would like one to let clicking place tiles (and navigate menus) instead of holding, though it's more foolproof this way for sure. end-game scoring should definitely be skippable too, I know mine already, just show the opponent's immediately and let's move on. [b]elemental connection is an excellent game and a steal even at full price[/b], and if you have others to play with, even better. rounds can take a while though, so keep it in mind before starting one.