[b]july edit:[/b] 7th world with 7 new levels, some backgrounds are really in the way, zooming out is still not good enough.
[b]matching meadows[/b] is one of many hex- and card-based [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1046030]islanders[/url]-likes, a new one comes out almost every week now. plonk down tiles strategically for the highest score.
there are [b]38 levels[/b] divided into 7 worlds, everything is unlocked from the start. level selection and general menu navigation used to be abysmal, now it's better but still not great, [b]too much unnecessary scrolling/dragging[/b]. with a bit of rearranging both world and map select could fit on a single screen each. on the former, levels are only represented with colorful but unmarked hexagons, except for their border. white means unplayed, blue finished, green perfect, levels in progress aren't shown, gotta click through each to find them. there's a continue button in the main menu, not all that useful with multiple saved levels. map selection has level names, the starting hand, potential challenges and individual leaderboards, and there are [b]2 level types[/b]. on [u]pool[/u] levels the deck is improved with a higher score, [u]draft[/u] stages let you cherry-pick cards from a selection at opportune times.
the first world acts as a tutorial, with actual [b]tutorials to start with, every single time the level is loaded[/b]. after a patch they became skippable and don't show anymore when the level is simply restarted. cards don't only hold various buildings and whatnot but also placement instructions. the more stars on the card, the more complex the puzzle is. put a green forest tile next to a blue factory tile, as per the pictogram, and you're golden. fail to do that and you're rewarded with a desolate tile of the same color instead of a nice forest. there's no score calculator but relevant tiles are highlighted if the current card is a good fit for the tile you're hovering over. a skull will remove the placed card from your collection, 2x obviously doubles the score.
[b]challenges[/b] include a score target, filling the scorebar a few times, drafting x cards, building landmarks, [b]finishing levels within a time limit[/b], etc. the last world is pretty crazy with its goals but the very last level is on the easy side. [b]challenges don't all have to be done in one attempt[/b], focus on what you can, then do the rest next time. the scorebar on the right is not the best either. at first I thought I was losing points due to bad placement but it was just filling up and resetting, as is a progress bar's wont, but it's somehow wonky here. the level complete screen has map select and restart options.
there's [b]individual mid-level saving[/b], implemented in the most ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up way I'd seen in a puzzler until they quickly patched in some common sense. I'm on an obsolete pc and thought saving crashed the game but no, save & quit meant quitting to the desktop immediately. now it goes back to level select in the same world and quitting without saving is also possible, to avoid filling level select with continue buttons if you're just messing around. clicking 'continue' doesn't lock you into loading or restarting that level anymore, can back out to choose another map.
controls are mouse-based with [b]not enough and non-rebindable hotkeys[/b] that also arrived in a patch. there's edge-scrolling (can't turn it off), wasd/arrows, holding left click and wheel click move the map around too. left click selects a card, as do the number keys. right click is only used to cancel the current card selection, [b]wheel zooms, often not far enough[/b] to see the whole level and the [b]camera resets after a restart[/b], again leading to tedious dragging/scrolling. [b]'r' is single-step undo[/b] because why not mess with tradition and there's [b]no level reset hotkey[/b] because why not mess with tradition? it's only possible from the pause menu.
basic cartoony graphics with often too bright and empty backgrounds and it [b]can be hard to see if there's a tile or just inaccessible ground[/b], or if a tile has a skull or something. they made some but not sufficient adjustments. wouldn't-notice-if-it-wasn't-there audio, music only in the menu. [b]very basic settings[/b]: separate volumes, resolutions, windowed mode, a few languages, the end. and only volumes are available while playing a level.
it's pretty good stuff and after a bunch of feedback and multiple patches, it's [b]just about recommendable on sale[/b], but hopefully more polish and unlimited undo will happen at some point. the price is on par with most of these kinda games, unless we're talking about the greedy devs of dorfromantik or panorama, and [b]there's a demo[/b] if you want to give it a try while waiting for a discount and/or more patches.
