Studio finds a way to improve simple match gameplay
Cradle of Rome 2 is a deceptively simple, yet completely addictive, matching game. Match three or more in a row or column, that row or column disappears, more tiles fall into place. It’s like Concentration on digital steroids.
The thing that makes this game so addicting is that there is a point to all the matching. Games like this generally lose me because they’re repetitive and I’m not getting anything for my efforts. Cradle of Rome 2 corrects for my short attention span.
After completing a board in the prescribed amount of time, the player is given points in the form of resources, which can then be used to purchase parts of a village that is to become Rome. That’s right, you’re not just matching to match, you’re building a city.
Well, sort of.
You can’t really decide how the city is built, this isn’t Sim City Rome, but it is very satisfying to see those little guys build that first well and all the other buildings after that. It’s also fairly tricky to clear the boards in a timely enough manner to attain the necessary resources to purchase plans for more buildings.
It’s maddening actually, in a completely good way. Best of all, you can save your progress, which isn’t always a given for games like this.
The tiles and layout of the boards vary to keep the matching part interesting, and in order to build the city, you have to purchase plans and then a different type of puzzle game. It’s a much simpler jigsaw type puzzle, but it’s a nice little break.
Awem has done an excellent job of spicing up a simple, classic game concept and they’ve done it with a beautiful original score, nice graphics and all at the right price. Puzzle game fans run, don’t walk to the website and download this one for yourself.
The game is available for download directly from www.awem.com for a very low price. Awem studios even offers lots of specials from time to time, so there is a good chance you can get this great game and maybe a few others thrown in for a great price.
Editor’s Note: Game Reviewed on a Macintosh computer with a copy downloaded from the Awem Website.