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Another Divine Game from Newgrounds.com
I’ve often wondered what you would get if “Tetris” and “Charm Tale” went somewhere and had a secret love child. What can I say my mind just works like that!
Well now I know, the by-product is a game called “Zodiac Tower”, an astrology based brainteaser. Sort of a mix between the match 3, Tetris/puzzle inlay games we all know and love.
The story will have you taking on the role of an aspiring astrologer searching for a mysterious machine hidden somewhere in an ancient tower, it has the power to enable people to travel to the moon and distant stars.
You will perform your hocus pocus by matching shapes and breaking blocks in order to open new rooms that will unlock the sacred knowledge and wisdom of astrology. Along your voyage you will be collecting ancient mechanisms that help build the legendary Zodiac ship which will bring you one step closer to your heavenly goal.
The way it works is you have a big grid full of tiles in which you must match; tiles may be empty or contain strange symbols such as bizarre squiggles or white pyramids. But instead of clicking on the tiles to match, here you pick Tetris-shapes Ls, four-block squares, Z-like pieces that stack up from a conveyor on the left. The wizardry is finding similarly-shaped symbols on the board you can match lay them over matching pieces.
In the beginning, your stage goals will just be to eliminate all tiles from the board, but as you venture further into the game it will have you performing different objectives in order to move on. For example, in addition to breaking all the blocks, a level will also require that the background blocks be broken.
Background pieces are unique, they are usually made of wood or metal, and they require 2 to 3 matches to remove. Stone blocks decorated with sunbursts and shields will suddenly appear like magic out of nowhere, making you match only the shapes next to them before they can be crumbled.
Collectable gold coins are mixed in with the descending shapes, and are used to purchase mystical items between levels at the equipment store.
These out of this world items include bombs and dynamite that destroy multiple squares in a single shot, chain lightning attacks, magnets that suck all nearby symbols of the same type and rockets that shoot out horizontally nuking everything in their path!
It’s an interesting challenge, and is a bit more imaginative than the normal “find three and drag your mouse over them” challenge.
On the down side, the gameplay does involve a lot more mouse clicking than your typical puzzle game. In “Zodiac Tower”, the full completion of a level involves a lot of steps. After choosing a piece, clicking on it, finding a spot and clicking again –it’s a slightly long process with unnecessary movements. My hand grew tired of dragging back and forth between the conveyor and the board rather quickly and all the extra clicks needed for rotating a piece as well! I quickly overlooked this minor annoyance due to the fact that “Zodiac Tower” really does give us a lot of “play” within the game, and a great multi- dimensional plot.
Later levels naturally became more challenging, with squares becoming harder to reach or the rapid increase in which bigger, odd looking shapes suddenly appear and trust me they will pile up on you pretty quickly!
The graphics are nicely done and really helps transport you into the whole celestial setting right away. All the backgrounds within each of the rooms are full of detail and hold a lot of interest: libraries overflowing with books and globes, rooms filled with miniature blimps and sailing vessels. It’s a small thing, but it’s certainly better than average especially for an indie game.
Thank heavens for “Zodiac Tower” it is just right for players who want a deeper, more challenging g and click shiny things.
I predict you’ll love it!
Get Zodiac Tower Here
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Posted by oxyjen on Jan 6, 2007
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