On the surface, Combine seems to be just another in a long line of Dr. Mario clones in the match-3 genre. Rotate and drop dual-colored pieces into a well. Join 3 or more balls of the same color, and they disappear. Nothing remarkable about it; been there, done that. But if you pass Combine over, you will be missing a unique game.
The difference is in what happens when you make matches. Instead of simply disappearing, the match will leave behind a ball of a different color. Eh? Well, take a glance at the left side of the board. You will notice a rainbow-like scale, with a small arrow pointing to one of the colored balls. This is your current level.
How, exactly, are you supposed to advance levels? This is where the combinations come in. You start out on the yellow level, meaning the only colors that can drop are green and yellow. Matching three green balls makes a yellow ball, and matching three yellow balls leaves behind an orange ball. Once you finally match three orange balls, you move up to the orange level, and now orange balls can drop along with yellow and green, and your next goal is to make a red match. Ultimately, you'll move all the way up the rainbow of colors to white.
Of course, the higher the level, the more colors you are juggling, and the harder it is to make the next set of matches. The fact that you always leave behind a ball also adds to the difficulty, since you are never clearing away a space completely. Later levels require serious strategy, and make this a truly clever little game.
Analysis: We were all pretty much ready to pass on Combine, but then we got down to actually playing through the game, and realized that the twist here really changes its dynamics. Once you get the hang of it, you should be able to breeze through the first couple of levels. But once you get about three-quarters up the scale, you'll really start having problems creating matches and keeping the well empty enough to continue.
The graphic presentation is fairly simple. Nice, vibrant colors for the balls, but nothing too special. Which, in a way, is a good thing, because nothing detracts from the unique gameplay. On the flip side, it might keep people from giving the title a spin. I'm not one for "graphics for graphics' sake," but if they draw people in, haven't they served a higher purpose? Sound is very perky and upbeat. Sort of like that person that is terminally happy, even at ungodly hours of the AM. Can get a little annoying after a while, but not bad.
Combine is a deceptively deep puzzler that deserves a second look. Once you get into the game, you will be hooked, trying to make that last couple of levels on the scale. Definitely give it a chance.
Very fun! How do I know where the new ball is going to appear when I clear a set? So far, it seems to be fairly intelligent and has gone in the "right" place for me, but I haven't really figured out the logic behind it, if there is any.
Nice game! Keith, it's explained in the rules: The new ball appears where the lowest of the old balls was, and if there's more than one ball tied for lowest it appears in the leftmost one of those.
I have only one tiny complaint: the pink and purple balls aren't as easy to tell apart as the rest. Maybe make one of them brown?
This is very much the same as MotionTwin's Natural Chemist game, which is also very good - but you get to collect ingredients, and use them outside of the game. Sure, there's only limited plays per day for free, but I think that is the inspiration for this fun little game.
Very cool. I have found it helpful to try and keep the "higher tiered" colors to the left side and the lower ones to the right (but using good judgment, sometimes its better to not follow this rule). This way, I've found it easier to keep the board clean, while organizing the orbs that will allow me to gain levels in one general area (and pretty much neglecting the others, except when I get two of the same lower-leveled ones to help clear the board on the right in case I need the room.)
This probably doesn't make sense to anyone but me.
Great find, Marcus! I got all the way to making a couple of light blues on my third try, but then I reached the top. Does anybody have black or white?
@ Matt,
I think the pink and purple are pretty distinct. If you're having problems telling them apart it might be the color balancing on your monitor or just the way you see colors (for instance, I have problems in the cyan/blue range). Everyone's eyes are different, after all. :)
A well done clone of OpenAlchemist.
I can pretty consistently get a single white ball, but I would love to know what happens when you get three. Anybody willing to give us a spoiler?
...which, to be fair, is itself a clone of the flash game Alchemist.
Attack with decay:
I have your answer about 3 white balls.
3 white balls disappear. I don't remember if white balls start dropping once you make one set disappear; I didn't live long afterwards. But that's what happens. I was hoping it would be a rainbow ball, and no more upgrades, but that's the way they've set up the game.
I really enjoyed playing this gentle connect three game. The color twist was a nice addition and the music was glorious! I'm relaxed...how unusual.
Interesting and pretty strategy-heavy. I don't know if I could do this every day. I got 3 white balls twice before dying by following a simple strategy most of the time (I'm really sick so thinking more than 2 steps ahead is pretty much beyond me)
whenever possible, I stacked low colours on top of the colours higher ranked. eg. if I have a pink ball and I get a red-orange, stack the red orange on there! sure it sometimes makes you wish you left stuff open, but over all it got me pretty far...
And keeping in mind that the left-most or lower-most ball will stay was VERY useful.
hey, actually I just realized I am at the top of the rankings. Score one for the cold virus...
woah, extremly addictive! @.@ really nice game, won't let me sleep until i got the white balls. gaah.
Another strategy tip that I think is helpful:
Give higher priority to the low-colored balls. For example, if you have the opportunity to clear a green set or a yellow set, it's often best to clear the green. Obviously, you still want to clear the most you can with one move, so go for the higher-colored ball if it will set off a combo.
Heh... yeah, this is pretty clearly based on MotionTwin's naturalchemist. I still prefer naturalchemist, but this is also quite good.
Xi, you're probably right about each person's eyes being individual in that way. One thing that I realized was throwing me off is that the screen washes from lighter to darker blue, which creates contrast effects between the same color at the top of the screen and on the grid. Only once has color confusion actually created a problem for me, though, and it needs a lot of colors for deep enough gameplay! (That is to say, can't ever get three white dots together... if I could do that I could stop playing... aaaaah....)
Not trying to... Well yes I am trying to brag! I got to the black on my first try and have since been able to get to where you are clearing away the balls (after the top color they disappear. Has anyone cleared board completely? Is is possible or am I just kidding myself?
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