Sparkles & Gems

this game is incredible. the gameplay is familiar but delightful, the characters are relatable, the writing is genuinely funny and surprisingly touching, and i will be recommending this game to everyone that can stand to listen to me. game of the year, easy.

This game is like if Breakout, Bejeweled, and Tetris multiplayer had an orgy and made the ultimate casual game. Each element is familiar but put together really well in a way that makes it fresh and exciting. The gameplay is top notch and super addicting. Games can get really close, and there are often nail-biting moments where you think you’re screwed but barely come out on top. In addition the game is super satisfying to play, which I chalk up to the excellent sound design. Breaking gems and hitting combos never fails to scratch an itch. The music is also really catchy and gets stuck in your head quite easily. The default ruleset makes it so that gem patterns spawn asymmetrically. This can make games feel unfair sometimes as some patterns are better than others. I think a little unfairness makes for more interesting games but it’s really annoying when the AI gets a giant combo and you have no chance to cancel it out. Another unfair thing is the dice roll between rounds where you get a chance to win a power up. This is less of a problem as only one power up is a straight upgrade, but the rest are more nuanced which is nice as it adds depth. For example, Fast Ball lets you break gems faster but makes it harder to hit the ball, and Wave Ball/Curve Ball change your trajectory but don’t necessarily make it easier to hit what you want. Thankfully you can remove all unfairness in “Extras” if you dislike it. One other gripe with the gameplay I had is that it’s hard to predict when gems spawn in so getting a Perfect Clear, which gives you a huge advantage, seems to happen pretty randomly. Additionally I found some slowdown when you get Power Ball or Perfect Clear but it wasn’t a huge issue overall. The plot isn't great and seems like a series of arbitrary events to make the 4 characters fight each other, but the dialogue is fun to read and I enjoyed the surreal character designs. Treasure Mode is where you’ll be spending most of your time and it’s a gauntlet type mode where you face ever tougher opponents. It’s pretty fun but the difficulty spikes massively between opponents so it’s hard to get past 4 or 5, and that’s with power ups. You get unlocks in this mode in the form of trophies and temporary power ups for the next round. I wish you'd unlock more characters (which are in the game but unplayable) or different color paddles or something to add to the feeling of progression but since it's made by two devs I'll cut some slack. I also wish you could play 2P mode against AI and customize their difficulty level. It seems like a huge oversight to not have this option as it wouldn’t be hard to add and I don’t always want to play story missions/gauntlet. Overall this game is really great. The meat of these types of games is the gameplay and on that end it is fantastic. If you’re a casual game fan I’d recommend this game as you can’t get much better than this.

this game is very wholesome and healing. it has beautiful, surreal visuals paired with great sound effects and an excellent soundtrack (imo). deffo a hidden *gem*. pls check it out if you can ;_; you can tell a lot of love went into this and i want people to experience that love for themselves too! oh also OAT is life. love OAT

as someone who is real gay and real autistic: it feels as though this game was made specifically for me. the characters, sound design, writing, and general aesthetic are all so pleasing and inspiring to my own are. this game is so gender i love it

A really special gem of a game with a perfectly consistent visual aesthetic and a rocking soundtrack. The match 3 puzzle mechanics alone are fresh but familiar. Treasure mode alone is just a fun grind that I can see myself putting a lot of time into in my future. What makes this game something truly special and likely to make my game of the year list is the story mode. It drew me in quickly as I tried to understand what this game was. The writing feels familiar but also completely original. It's strange reality depicted somehow feels more true to life than any ""realistic"" story game I've played. This game is really unique. Any point of comparison I can think of would be a disservice to just how special this game really is. All you need to know is that Sparkles & Gems is a very important game that deserves your time and attention.

a first impression: high octane smiles :)) what to say that explains it? (just be assured there is a good reason if you don't want to try and read my writing about it) i'll say the gameplay feels like something to wander in. like in this case with it being a battle of skill, the skill would come from experience rather then understanding. so it feels like a game where i wander and experience rather than try to understand. i find it interesting, i use the word 'wander' from talking spacial games, which has artworks spread around space, but here it's the same feeling but with artworks instead adorning 'x to continue' linear presentation,, it's almost like even moreso 'wandering' than wandering itself because there is no need to make a map.. now that does remind me map making can be fun, like understanding, but really the fun requires something to allow getting to understand, which can be both from the player and by design. the dev's interesting weird style gives lots of energy for help engaging with any design to anyone more interested by the artwork part. but this game doesn't have any such gameplay. and so you get the same energy from interest in this weird artistry that would energize becoming engaged with potentially very fun associated gameplay, but here the energy goes to gameplay with no such 'potentially fun' just immediately fun, and even as i said gives 'wander' energy that gets you well engaged with the artstuff! heckuva feedback loop! so i can be confident that anyone who can engage with general video games and this artstyle, and thereby with the two parts of that loop, will be all smiles!! or all sparkly like the story says, although the story is about lots of things, this is just one misc idea,, if only my writing/etc would have such gameplay and style as this.. what better for it but this example! so yes the game's valuable that way too :) ,okay not sure how to end i've been writing this for hours off these smiles,, thankyou!

The gameplay is great! Good breakout mechanics, fun characters and an interesting story! The treasure mode is pretty cool with unlocks. Overall an entertaining game if you're looking for breakout with more story!

One of the most aesthetically on point games I've ever seen in my life. Wonderful art, writing, and sound design, fun bouncing. You really have to play it to see how good it all feels and all the little bits of attention to detail!

a wonderful game! the writing is great, the story and its characters are very touching and i absolutely adore the game's humor, it really goes well with the trippy aesthetics the game's got going for it, like a mushroom fever dream. the gameplay's a unique twist on breakout and i couldn't get enough of it really. the music's pretty good too, in short go buy the game its great

Ironically wasn't fond of the gameplay aspect at all.