GAME: Sliding Seas by Mugshot Games Pvt. Ltd

GENRE: Match-3, merge, puzzle

PLATFORMS: Android, iOS

Play store is flooded with Match-3 games such as Candy Crush, where you match three tiles of the same colour to clear them. Then there are merge games, where you merge three items of the same type to combine and give a better item. The similarity between these two genres sound so obvious, yet Sliding Seas is one of the only games I’ve seen to “match and merge” these two genres together (pun intended).

The premise of Sliding Seas is that a ship has sunk, and its survivors are floating in deep water on a grid-board on the screen. You save them by matching three water tiles of the same colour to turn them into a shallower water tile. Match enough number of times, and the water turns into land the survivors can stand on. Match even more and the survivors have for themselves a shelter. The gameplay is familiar to existing games, yet the puzzle experience is fresh. The best part is you’re not limited by a certain number of moves, which makes the puzzle much more relaxing than a typical Candy Crush level.

Each level takes 3-4 minutes and after each level, the survivors arrive on a big island to start a new life (and abandon their previous lives completely!). You’re elected mayor of this island town, so apart from saving these people, it’s also your job to improve the island. But don’t worry, that hardly needs any effort on your part; just a few non-consequential decisions about whether to build a hospital or a nightclub. I loved that this game keeps things minimal and doesn’t burden you with earning money for and tending to the island. It’s focused on just the puzzle.

Playing in portrait mode with just your thumb, the game feels tight and clean like an app. It doesn’t waste your time with useless screens or animations. You are in and out of levels almost instantly. The cartoony graphics and the cute “Yay” sound from the people you save are delightfully funny. But we can’t have a perfect game, can we?

While this combination of two genres is novel, it misses out on the best of both. Classic Match-3 games are immensely satisfying because you can mindlessly clear away candies, as more cascade and clear on their own. They also reward you for matching longer 5 tiles by giving boosters. Cascading in Sliding Seas is scarce and mindlessly matching 5 tiles, instead of being rewarding, can make you fail the level instead. Similarly, unlike merge games, merging into higher-level tiles isn’t always better for your game.

VERDICT: Sliding Seas combines two of the most popular puzzle mechanics to offer fresh gameplay. It is satisfying to solve puzzles at a relaxed pace, but later levels need some thought and can’t be solved mindlessly. Cartoony graphics are funny and the user experience is tight. The interaction with the island is effortlessly minimal but enough to make you look forward to expanding it more. I rate it seven on 10.