Recent reviews by TopazMystique

I enjoyed the game at the start but I have two issues with it.

1. There is no UNDO button so if you fail the level you have to play the whole level over again from the beginning.

2. Most of the Steam Achievements are based on completing 5 levels but because of #1 the later levels are really hard and require many trials, errors and replays... at least for me. I finally gave up after completing level 30.

Add an UNDO option and I will gladly change this review to a thumbs up!

I was really enjoying Puzzle Car UNTIL the tunnels enter the mix. It is okay if you screw up and don't get to the end of the path because you can go back and fix errors on your current layout. BUT if you get to the END of the path WITHOUT hitting all paths correctly you have to start over from the beginning of that level if you want to pass with a green instead of yellow dot on the replay map. If there was an option to fix mistakes when reaching an incomplete end without starting the level over from the beginning I would gladly change this review to a thumbs up. Other than tunnels it's a great game!

Quit on level 13... a trial-and-error-replay level... not enough plots to build what's needed requiring demolishing buildings & building others but then needing the output from the first buildings to complete the level. Loved the first game but this one sux!

Match 3 games are one of my favorites and I really liked the first two in the series! I needed a break after playing some hidden object and time management games so was really looking forward to playing this one. Unfortunately for me it was a real let-down.

The music was decent and appropriate for a Halloween game. But I found the game play to be harder than expected and not the fun game I was seeking. It seemed like all the levels were the same with no progression... approximately 10-15 minutes to complete each one. The later levels (50+?) seemed to reward the maximum gold no matter how many stars remained at the end... even when no stars were left.

I played the game in RELAXED mode with CASUAL difficulty which is the way I usually play and don't know if that was the reason I hit a glitch. The final straw was the second time I hit a level that said there was one remaining metal tile to remove but there were none on the board. I scanned the board on both levels carefully tile by tile several times but could not find any metal tile. The first time I hit this problem I replayed the level successfully. The second time was on level 92. That's when I quit the game.

Will definitely keep the first two games in the series but this one is headed for the circular file. Just not for me.

This is a tough call for me because:
o I really like the finished pix
o was able to resize window

BUT:
o no gallery to review completed pictures
o no automatic continuation to pix 21-40 (same pix as 1-20 just different lines)
o can be really easy to play the wrong puzzles (21-40) after restarting game
o decent music but no control other than on/off

I hate to give this a thumbs down because I found the game very addictive... but the catapult absolutely ruined the game for me. I always play time management games in EASY / RELAXED mode when available and would have given a thumbs up even with the catapult but there were just WAY TOO MANY levels with it requiring either fast game play or extreme timing to get through all those levels. A few catapult levels would have been okay but (if I counted correctly) there were 7 of the main 45 levels and 3 of the 9 bonus levels with the catapult... almost 20% of the game! Thanks but no thanks!

This was a tough call and would have preferred a "neutral" but since that is not possible, I am going with a negative because there are so many cons. After playing Disgusting Puzzle 2 I have removed the first game from my wishlist because this one was just too frustrating to be enjoyable.

Pros:
o beautifully creepy pix!

Cons:
o dark background makes it hard to see some pieces
o no gallery to review completed pix (common issue with many picture puzzle games)
o pieces do not snap together and do not snap onto the board when placed correctly
o mouse control sux! (very touchy trying to get pieces in exactly the correct spot)
o no easy way to find missing piece (see below)
o NEXT LEVEL appears when placing the last piece even if it (or others?) are not placed and/or rotated correctly.
o No Steam achievements or trading cards.

I wasted a lot of time on the "shoes" puzzle trying to find a missing piece. After moving all the pieces I still could not find it. After completing the rest of the puzzles and the game congratulating me on completing all the puzzles I replayed the shoe puzzle and was able to finish it. Many jigsaw puzzles have a SHUFFLE feature that will move any pieces that are not "placed correctly" to the outside of the puzzle which would definitely have helped me.

Haven't found a game published by Grey Alien yet that I didn't like! Suricate Software is on my list of favorite match 3 devs which includes Playcademy (Runefall 1 & 2 and Silver Tale) and MD Studio (Cave Quest 1 & 2).

All the Jewel Match games are great and very addictive. Longest session played in JMT3 was 10+ hours. I just couldn't stop playing! I like playing relaxed with strategy rather than timed or moves for speed. Unfortunately there are three Steam achievements that require speed so I didn't get those but 21 out of 24 is okay.

If you like match 3 games, give any of the Jewel Match games a whirl. They are great M3 games!

ONE CAVEAT:
My game progress folder is 317 MB and 414 MB on disk

This is the first game screensaver I ever installed and I LOVE it! If you like the game you will probably love it too!

There are a ton of things I dislike about this game and many of them are reported by other players. The reason I am giving it a thumbs up is because my internet was out for almost three weeks and it was the only game I could play. I probably will not play it again unless my internet goes out for another extended period of time and will keep it installed for that reason alone.

NOTE: My time is not accurately reflected because of no connection to Steam for those three weeks. More like at least 200+ hours is more accurate.