PlayScreen's Match 3D Flick Puzzle adds 3D into the puzzle gaming

Match 3D Flick Puzzle

PlayScreen, which apparently is the company that launched the very first iPhone game – iWack in July 2007, is out with a new title called Match 3D Flick Puzzle, which “takes puzzle gaming to the next level of graphics, animation and intensity.”

The point of the game is to control a 3D supercube consisting of 512 smaller cubes which you need to match up (in 3 dimensions) in groups of three or more. Multi-touch controls allow rotation and maneuvering of individual planes and faces of the cube to find the best cube face matches. You can also flick the supercube to move it, pinch to zoom in or out, or shake the iPhone/iPod Touch to spin it…

If you find all this interesting, you can grab Match 3D Flick Puzzle from the AppStore for $3.99. A free version with four levels of the Classic-Timed mode is also available.

About The Author

Dusan Belic

Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.

William Volk

Hey, thanks for the cool mention of this game. Check out the user comments on the App Store.

“Match 3D Flick Puzzle literally takes the match 3 concept to a whole new dimension, and it’s worth the trip. Not only is it cool being able to rotate the cube to find matches on the different cube faces, but the fact that you can actually make matches “in” the cube is quite an interesting twist. The graphics are good, the songs are well orchestrated, and even the swiss army knife style main menu is different. Overall this is a very polished game that takes match 3 to a whole new level.” – PointofLight

“This is the only “match three” game that I’ve played that actually takes advantage of the 3D. Instead of a 2D playing field, you are presented with a cube which can be freely rotated or even sliced up so you can make matches in the middle of the cube (which is the way to go if you want to get those chains!)

Graphics are bright, colorful and detailed. This game also follows the trend of asking if you want in-game music and sounds when you start it up, which is nice: you can play your own music or listen to that in the game, which is a peppy light techno (the track is almost worth the $0.99 itself in my opinion if you like techno). Sound effects are fairly sparse, mostly a fairly wimpy block removal “pop” sound and some better explosion sounds for chains. It would be nice if they gave the default sound a bit more “oomph” and added deeper explosion sounds when you start racking up the 10+ chains.

Everything is well animated, you can see what points you are racking up and where as new blocks fall into place. Being able to rotate the cube (and slice it up) can be used to your advantage here, as you can rotate what you’re removing to the bottom of the cube so you can get more chains (and therefore more points). The game menu is nicely animated, (selections rotate around) and the game goes straight to offering you to continue your game if interrupted or you hit the home button. The menu also warns you at the bottom of the screen if your device is low on memory.

Control is a breeze – swipe around to rotate the cube, tap then tap again to swap adjacent blocks. Tap on the icon at the bottom of the screen to choose cube or layer mode, and tap the left/right arrows to select a layer if you are in layer mode.

The developer (PlayScreen) is active on the Touch Arcade boards, and is responsive to user comments, which is also good. In-game adds for the full game are present, but not obtrusive.

This game is one of the most polished I’ve played on the iPod Touch, I’d highly recommend it if you are a fan of action, puzzle and/or match-3 games. Give the demo a shot, then snag the full game if you like it!” – Drelbs23

“Star Defense brings 3D to TD games. This game brings 3D to Bejeweled. I have played over 80 games on my Iphone and this is simply one of the best there is. What separate this from other puzzle games are 1) 3D where you can spin and solve at different sides 2) The music. Music is very important to all games which many devs neglect. If you’re into dance music, this is it. 3) Challenges – the challenge level is just about right. Not too hard. Not too easy. I don’t write many reviews but this is one of the games that I feel everyone should try out and play. Will be Top 10 games very soon on the App Store. Stop reading and download now !!!!” – DavidGQ