Numba Deluxe

An interesting small game, could be addictive if they had bothered to implement save game -- as it is, no matter how far you had gotten, you restart at level 1, on everything except the puzzles. And so you're always having to re-do the easy ones...

Numba Deluxe is a casual puzzle game in which you highlight groups of number by type (eg. 1 1 1 1), order (1 2 3 4), addition (1 3 5 7) or multiplication (1 2 4 8), causing them to disappear and numbers from above to fall. There are three modes: Classic, Timeless, and Puzzle. I bought this for the puzzle mode, in which I've spent about 95% of my playing time, so that's what I'm reviewing. This is very much a game of what you see is what you get: watch the video on the store page and you'll know whether this is your type of game or not. That might be kind of lazy of me to say in a review, but it's true ;) Visuals are clean but unspectacular, music is cheery but non-descript--there are no bells and whistles here. The same background is used throughout all the menus/games, the same sound effect is used every.single.time. you clear blocks (and you will hear it a LOT). That said, is the gameplay itself solid? I would say so. The puzzles, in which you must clear all the blocks from the level, are generally on the easy side so far (I'm at level 60-something out of 84, in about 1.5 hours), but once in a while there's some curveballs thrown your way via different block types to keep it varied. (eg. a fire block needs to fall on an ice block to melt it). However, so far it's a good thing that levels are easy, because the puzzles appear sequentially, and there's no way to skip to a different puzzle without solving the one you're on. The scoring system seems rather pointless as well, as every time you restart the game you begin at 0, and there's no score recorded for individual puzzles, so the highscore table is really just a matter of how long you played rather than how well/fast you solved the puzzles (there's also no timer, btw). On a technical note, there are no resolution options. I realize I'm sounding rather negative, but that's only because I'm mentioning things that are small annoyances. The positives are all in the video: it's a simple, straightforward game that can be easily picked up and sometimes makes you put on your thinking cap. I have no regrets about my $3.

I don’t have much to say about Numba Deluxe. It’s one of those games that you could easily spend 45 seconds on Google and find 30 different versions for free. I’m not sure what the core game was called that inspired it, but Numba is one of those click and drag along all the consecutive matching tiles to get rid of them. An action which can be accomplished in a much less irritating fashion by just removing all like tiles that are touching when you select just one. Is it bad? Not really. Is it poorly made? Well I've seen better, but it’s functional. Is it worth paying for? Never.

I really, really want to like this game. The core puzzle gameplay is solid. The game itself, though, is riddled with small annoyances and dull spots that make me want to quit playing. The puzzle element of the game is to select adjacent blocks such that a pattern is formed. This can be an addition or multiplication pattern or just the same number. This is a solid idea. There are also special blocks that change between turns, which help change up things. This part of the game is fun. The way it presents the puzzle is faulty. All the number blocks look the same at a glance, without slight colorations or details besides the numbers themselves to distinguish themselves easily. This makes determining what numbers are what much more difficult to do quickly. I think it would have been better if the numbers themselves were dice dots instead, since the game is about pattern finding. When you select blocks for your pattern, it doesn't show the path, which makes back-tracking harder to do. Additionally, there are ice blocks and fire blocks that have an effect after a certain number of turns but no indication how close it is to that turn. The only way to know is to memorize which is annoying when blocks move naturally and impossible after doing the scramble action. The sound effect that plays when you make a successful pattern sounds terribly out of tune and is not pleasant to listen too. This is a problem because you are going to make a lot of patterns one after the other, and at times in quick succession which will cause the sound effect to overlap producing a worse sound. The sound doesn't have weight to it either. Other games have blocks that crash or pop or something else that feels satisfying. There are three modes: classic, endless, and puzzle. Classic is timed rounds that use preselected numbers on blocks and types of blocks. This is quite solid. Only frustration is reading every number quickly (as said above), which becomes a chokepoint when racing the clock. Endless mode is the same mechanics slowly being rolled out, but there is no way to actually lose except for your own boredom. Puzzle mode would be enjoyable if you could skip ahead to the more difficult puzzles. (Personally) I found the first puzzles trivial and tedious to do. Overall, I wish the development of this game was higher quality. If you can overlook the faults, try it. Otherwise, avoid being annoyed by this game.

[h1]Простая, но цепляющая головоломка[/h1] Обычная «три в ряд», но с цифрами, и внезапно играть интересно. Есть разные режимы, от бесконечного до полноценного Puzzle с 80+ уровнями, где реально приходится думать и искать комбинации. Графика простая, музыка ненавязчивая, зато геймплей затягивает: начинаешь на пару минут, а потом ловишь себя на том, что уже час подряд строишь цепочки и гоняешь очки. Отлично подходит, чтобы расслабиться или наоборот. Жаль, что нет ачивок и русификатора, но для казуальной головоломки за копейки отличный вариант. Советую, если любишь простые, но умные игры.

Very straight forward game. Chain various series of numbers together to earn points. It starts simple with 1-2-3, then it adds 4 to create chains like 1-2-4, 1-2-3-4, and you can always do three or more blocks of the same number, 4-4-4-4-4. There are various obstacles like fire blocks that deactivate when they burn up and can't be used. Ice blocks can't be accessed until they thaw (either by time or thawing them with a fire block). Some blocks change number each time you make a chain. There are three modes: classic, endless, and puzzle. It's fun in short bursts as a way to zone out and kill a bit of time. Sadly, when you exit the game it doesn't save your place in classic or puzzle, so by the time things start getting really interesting with higher numbers and obstacle blocks, the repetition has already worn down my interest in playing a bit. It'd be nice to exit and then start where I left off the next time I start it up. If it saved progress I'd probably recommend this. As it is, I find it dull compared to other puzzle options.

(Got this game for free from a giveaway...which I can't remember who hosted it since it was too long ago...) In a nutshell...: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61OXGvvL0Hc (If removed, "NUMBERS" spammed from Fesh Pince of Blair) [i]Numba Deluxe[/i] is a numbers puzzle game that's easy to learn and easy to pick up. The goal is to match numbers or to select numbers in a pattern (1111, 1234, 1248, 1357, 2468, you get the picture) to gain points. The more numbers you select (a longer chain), the more points you'll get. In [i]Numba Deluxe[/i], you get 3 modes: A timed mode, a relaxing time-free mode, and a puzzle mode (where your goal is to clear the field of numbers). Each of them is nice and the gameplay is solid. Not a bad way to spend some time. The music is calming and the aesthetic is pleasing to the eye. Looks good, sounds good, plays good! If you want something to try in your down time and you find this game in your library, you should definitely try it out. The biggest complaints that I have is that there are no achievements and no card drops. The gameplay is also limited. After playing for 1.5 hours, I found myself bored since I've experienced everything this casual title had to offer. That said, $3 isn't the best price for this title. Yes, I did enjoy this game, but do I recommend it? Sure, but only when it goes on sale. There is not a lot of content, no online leaderboard, and you'll probably not play this for more than an hour, especially since there are no achievements or trading card drops. I would personally suggest an asking price for $0.50-$1 given my personal experience with this game. 6/10 A relaxing number puzzle game...though it only suffers from a lack of content.

[h1] Game Summary: [/h1] This is a number-based version of the color-coded block breaking games that were popular years ago. However, it goes for a different take by focusing on a numeric system for its design. Unfortunately, although this makes it stand out, I can't say that it improves upon previous puzzler games with this choice. Number-based puzzles can work, but there's also a reason such games aren't as widely known or very popular. The most common ones would likely be 2048, a newer title, or Number Munchers, which was an elementary school computer game from years ago. [h1] Pros: [/h1] • The music is harmless and upbeat; nothing too exciting, but it's what you want from a puzzle game. • There's three modes available, including a puzzle mode with 84 stages. [h1] Cons: [/h1] • The core mechanic of the game is limiting and takes away from either frantic, fast-paced decision making or hitting a natural flow in gameplay. Each move takes some degree of thought and focus without any thrill or satisfaction in a power-play or great move. Working with numbers is less natural than shapes and colors, the way that the most popular puzzle games do like Tetris, Puyo, and match-3 games. • Unlike in many other puzzle games, there's no way to create chains, where destroying blocks a certain way will trigger off other blocks breaking, a key component to this style of block-breaker. I think that's why the style of game this one is based off of went out of style, as it had the same limitation. • There's no reason to play or keep coming back to the game with the modes available, unless you want to keep beating your own high-score. [h1] Conclusion: [/h1] Honestly, the worst part about this game is simply that it's not engaging. Having to work through a system based on numbers is less intuitive than colors and it's quite restrictive. I got this as a freebie, so I can't complain too vehemently, but the most I could ever see doing with it is playing through the puzzle stages. Even that is quite unlikely to occur, as I don't see myself coming back to this game again. It could do better, despite the mechanics, if it wasn't primarily focused on achieving a high score, which isn't much of a selling point nowadays. As it is now though, it's main flaw is that it's boring and there's no reason to come back for more. I don't recommend getting it, unless you get it as a freebie like I did.

[b]My Playtime:[/b] 4.1h (finished the [i]puzzle[/i] mode) [h1]Intro[/h1] [i]Numba Deluxe[/i] is a puzzle game where you need to link number blocks to make them disappear. It offers 3 modes: [i]classic[/i] where you need to clear a certain amount of blocks within a certain amount of time, [i]timeless[/i] where you can play endlessly without a timer, and [i]puzzle[/i] where you need to clear all blocks on the screen. [b]Pros:[/b] - 3 modes to play - Challenging puzzles [b]Cons:[/b] - It takes a while to figure out the number combinations [b]Specs[/b] Intel Core i5-9300H 2.40GHz, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 [h1]Should you buy this game?[/h1] [b]Yes.[/b] [i]If you enjoy a good puzzle game, buy this one on a sale.[/i] [hr][/hr] [h1]In-Depth Review[/h1] [h3]Visuals[/h3] Despite the simplistic mechanic, the game uses a lot of colors in its design. A lot of gradient colors and number-shaped objects become the primary design choice for the game. Both are not distracting you from enjoying the main game, which is a plus. [h3]The Game[/h3] [b]Gameplay[/b] [i]Numba Deluxe[/i] is a puzzle game. The gameplay revolves around linking three or more blocks to make them disappear. In [i]puzzle[/i] mode, you need to do it so that all blocks will be removed from the screen. Some levels will have more than one solution, others might only have one. There are 84 levels in total, with some being more challenging than others. The [i]classic[/i] mode is more chaotic. It's similar to an arcade game in which you need to clear a certain number of blocks to finish a level. Each level has a different layout, and blocks will keep on falling from the top to give you pressure. The block placement might make it hard to survive each level, and the timer will give additional pressure when you are about to run out of time. Sadly, you can't start from the level where you get a game over from, so I only played it once. If I remember correctly, I could only last ~30 levels before I hit the towel. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=776246936 Despite the simplicity, it can be hard to figure out the rules at first. It might be obvious that you can link the blocks within the same number to continue, but there are also other variations. Odds (1, 3, 5), evens (2,4,6), and straights (1,2,3) will also work in this case, and the game doesn't seem to explain it well—there might even be other combinations that I don't know. The help page explains this a little, but it is only available on the main menu. [b]Length and Difficulty[/b] I finished the [i]puzzle[/i] mode in 3.3h. Some levels can be challenging; In fact, I was stuck on them several times. The new block type introduced after some levels also increased the difficulty—it could take minutes for me to finish the early levels, but the latter levels took me as long as half an hour to solve. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=946491514 [h1]Conclusion[/h1] [i]Numba Deluxe[/i] might look like an arcade game at first, but it's actually a puzzle game at its core. You need to figure out how to link the number properly to get the highest score, and in the [i]puzzle[/i] mode, you are actually forced to use your brain to clear out everything. It's a fun and challenging puzzle game that is good for those wanting to work out their brains.

I wouldn't recommend this game. It feels like a ripoff of Bejeweled 3, instead using numbers instead of Jewels. The game's resolution is 800x600 I believe so it looks pretty darn ugly on a large monitor. And every time you play and quit your game you have to restart from the beginning, not to mention the annoying sound effect that keeps repeating itself. If it is fine by you guys, I'll stick to Bejeweled 3.....