Triple Miracle

Disclaimer: The developer bankbank sent me a key for this game. In hindsight, I should have just bought it. It's only $5! Triple Miracle's main twist is that you control three boards at once. Each board plays a lot like Puyo Puyo: setting up chain reactions of matches with pairs of colored falling blocks. In addition to the extra boards, Triple Miracle adds two mana meters that fill up as you make matches. When filled, the meters are activated to clear the boards with "miracles." In Puyo Puyo, the challenge is usually in building long chains and reacting to an opponent in multiplayer. Single player survival is not usually a challenge. Triple Miracle's three board gameplay makes single player survival a real challenge, while still rewarding chain-building through the mana meter and miracle mechanics. It's a clever twist that makes the familiar chain-building gameplay fun as a singleplayer game. The controls deserve special praise. The three boards are not synchronized. As usual, there is a short delay when new pieces appear on a board, but you can still control the other boards during that time. Deliberately desynchronizing the boards so that you can divide your attention between them becomes a big part of the gameplay. The way the "degrees of freedom" change over time is quite unique and engaging. There's more to the game like different modes to unlock, mechanics controlling when each of the three boards first becomes active, and a charming aesthetic I'd describe as vaguely religious. The bright colors, happy music, and talk of "miracles" almost remind me of vacation Bible school, but there's also some mystery. Ultimately, the unique core gameplay is the biggest appeal of Triple Miracle, which makes the game an easy recommendation for fans of the genre.

very fun brain breaking puzzle game, highly recommend it if you want a good challenge