Gemsweeper is a new colorful puzzle game
Gemsweeper by Lobstersoft is a colorful puzzle game. I have to admit that at first my attention was drawn by the graphics and background design, which are very impressive. Then a tutorial started which vividly showed all the game rules and I felt comfortable playing within minutes.
But I think that it may have been a bit too long for a tutorial. The rules of the game are not really that difficult to understand.
The game board consists of cursed tiles and gems which are all faced down. A player needs to uncover the pattern made of gems and break the cursed tiles. There is always a numerical hint along the side and top for each row and column showing how many gems are in the line and you must find out where they are using this info.
It actually seemed very easy at first and I didn't think I would spend much time on this game. But the further I went the more difficult and challenging the levels became. At the beginning it was 5x5 tiles of rows and columns, later 5x7, 10x10 and then more and more. I even got Time Penalty for trying to open the cursed tiles several times, and by that time I knew the game was not as easy as it had seemed at first sight. If you get Time Penalty many times you can even lose a level and then you have to start all over again. So do not click on tiles randomly, you can smash a gem with a hammer!
But what is the game goal? It is in helping Topex, a mythical statue, reconstruct the temples of his hometown of El Dorado. And you travel from one lost city to another somewhere deep in jungle earning score points and treasure hunting ranks. One thing which definitely should be mentioned is Professor McGuffog who helps you with the hints and rules and sometimes makes cheesy jokes. Also he can repair a smashed gem with the Magic glue for you (You can see how much magic glue is left - at the bottom of the game screen there are yellow pots).
Gemsweeper offers over 200 unique puzzles to solve which will definitely remind you about your childhood when you made your own puzzles in a puzzle board on a table or floor and not on a computer.
On the whole, I would say I had a lot of fun playing this particular game.