MatchR: Now Hiring

Hidden gem. Excellent casual game, only gripe is that there is no form of endless mode, and the scaling is fairly limited in accordance with that. Even without that it's a great time. Blue is OP. Would like to see more enemy art to add to the variety. However, game is exceedingly well-priced at $5 for what you get. Also, the sticker gacha is just fun. Last note: Would also be cool to be able to save sticker setups and make presets for different characters.

A fun little match 3 puzzle game. Art is cute, music is nice. Buy it and check it out on sale!

Very fun and interesting little roguelike match 3 game. It has such a... unique vibe, compared to pretty much every other Roguelike I've played. The UI elements, the little mechanical nuances, the stickers system... it's got a very strong identity, even though I'm not quite sure what identitiy it is. The only games I could compare it to in terms of this unique feeling are maybe Ballionaire, which came out years afterwards, or maybe, just barely, Going Under. As far as the actual gameplay, it's a competent little match 3 roguelike. It's nothing too crazy, just making matches to deal damage and gather resources for your activated skills. The interesting part of the strategy is having to fight against the opponent, who is using the same board as you, and can have the same active abilites as you do. In most other match 3 games (besides some, like the the Marvels Puzzle Quest), you often try to plan ahead and set up your moves for next turn to be more powerful, but in this game, that just helps your enemy. Instead, you have to think an extra step ahead to stop your "opponent" from being able to make a good move on their turn, and hopefully force them to set you up for a strong turn when it comes back around to you.

A funny and charming match-3 roguelite with addicting meta-progression.

This game is a cute match-3 with a load of charm, nice writing, and a lot of ways to change up the gameplay. Unfortunately, it's really let down by its mechanics. The biggest issue is the actual match-3 gameplay "under the hood". The strategy here mostly involves trying to deny you opponent from getting the gem colour they need. The enemy will always make the highest-value match and use a skill they have the mana for. I think to make up for the poor (nonexistent) AI, the game is super unbalanced in favour of the opponent. Most games, you'll experience the following multiple times - There is only one match on the board you can make - Matching those orbs causes an opportunity to match-4 to fall from the top. Match-4 gives you a free turn. - Opponent takes the match-4, and about 50% of the time this causes a combo where they get the mana they need for their abilities. About 25% of the time (though it feels like more) they also get another match-4. I still recommend this game, because this creates a different sort of strategy. You know the board will unfairly favour the opponent, but the opponent is stupid enough that you can still work around it most of the time, and you can cheese your stickers and power-ups to stomp all over them anyways. Maybe this is actually commentary on the way the corporate rat rat allowed managers to fail up, idk. The point is, it's could be SO much more if it were balanced so the gameplay could be challenging without feeling cheap. As it is, it's OK and more frustrating than it should be. But if you can overlook that for the cute aesthetic, it's worth a few hours of your time.

This is a fun game, and I'd give it a positive review, except for how short it is. I've beaten it already, and that 3 hour mark was generous . . . It would have been less as I had the game on while I searched for a guide that told me what a Joker ball was and how to upgrade my sticker machine. Those are my two big gripes: This is a rogue light match 3 battler, where you have 3 stages consisting of 3 battles and one boss fight. You get new "skills" or powers to use during the battles, and you can level those up to X level (I don't recall them saying you can't level them past this, and I spent resources trying). When you die, you get XP and unlock new characters and abilities and stickers that add permanent buffs to your character, along with other things like character variants. But here's the problem, I beat the game with the second character I unlocked, on my second run through of the game. It was easy. After I beat it, I gained like 5 or 6 levels, unlocked a new character and a bunch of new abilities . . . But why would I go back? I already easily beat the boss. The new characters and abilities would make those runs even easier. Secondly, there seems to be no guide or Wiki or instructions for this game, and while there is a tutorial, some of the info bubbles come and go so fast, it can be easy to miss something. For example, there were Joker orbs/balls that can be used or something? A few skills and abilities refer to them, and a message would pop up saying I got a Joker . . . But nothing seemed to change with my character or board . . . I have no clue what the Joker does, at all. Hey, if you are looking to spend 2.5 hours on a fun and cute little puzzler, there are worse ways to spend $3.

This game is a very charming combination of Match-3 and roguelike mechanics. The art is gorgeous and the gameplay is fun and addictive. I didn't find it too challenging until the optional advanced tasks unlocked (somewhat like Heat level in Hades.) Overall a great experience at an extremely reasonable price.