Mobile Monday: 10000000

Do you like fast-paced puzzle games? Do you like quick games that also have longer-term RPG elements? Did you already beat puzzle quest? Do you want to play it again on iPad? Then you should definitely save up a few paychecks and pick up 10000000 for $1.99 on the iOS App Store. 10000000 is a dungeon crawler RPG puzzle game. As much of a mouthful as that genre melting-pot of a game sounds, 10000000 is actually very well done puzzle game and is a lot of fun.  The game is built around a bejeweled-style match three puzzle system with many additional interesting mechanics. But unlike Bejeweled, instead of matching just for the sake of matching, you are matching to accomplish goals as your character delves deep into a treacherous baddie-ridden dungeon.

The game is styled in 8bit graphics reminiscent of the Atari days and has you trying to explore parts of the dungeon in order to try to earn your freedom from the deep dark dungeon. The levels are formatted where you character is running along a 2D dungeon and as he goes faces challenges like skeletons, monsters, locked doors, treasure chests ect. These all cause the player to stop moving forward until you can match coinciding squares to proceed depending on the situation. For example, to defeat a skeleton you would have to match up swords to do an attack, or to open a locked door you would have to match up keys. There are also other squares such as wood, rocks and backpacks that you may line up in order to collect items and materials for the macro-progression of the game.

When you enter a level, you are first prompted with goals to be completed to earn gold and materials that you can use to upgrade yourself and equipment. You can play through the levels just matching and getting past the obstacles, which I often found myself doing, and typically if you do really well and progress really far you will accomplish goals anyway. As lame as that might sound, I think it actually helps the game. You can still just play the game for a quick pick-up like you would a bejeweled or a Jetpack Joyride, and if you do really well not only will you feel accomplished for doing well, you will get accidentally rewarded for completing an objective like matching a certain number of squares, getting 8 layer matches or killing enemies.

It really is just a perfect little mobile game.  It has fun short-term gameplay that you can pick up and put down. It has a long-term goal and RPG mechanics that keep you coming back. I highly suggest picking it up. It’s fun, silly, well designed and original and far more fun than you can get anywhere else for 2 bucks. And to boot, it defies the conventions of many puzzle games and is actually not horrible and impossible for the colorblind. The game does color the squares by category, BUT the symbols are so distinct and bold that you NEVER HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE COLORS. I know this doesn’t really seem like a big deal to most, but when there are games with red blocks with red shapes on them next to green blocks with green shapes on them, it’s nice to see a game that mixes it up and makes it less than impossible.

(LOOK HOW DIFFERENT THE SQUARES ARE ITS SOOOOOOOO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)