ST Format


Gem'X
By Demonware
Atari ST

 
Published in ST Format #34

Gem'X

Yes, it's another puzzle game, and no - amazing as it might seem, it's not German. Actually it's Japanese and features plenty of those identical-looking cartoon faces with the big eyes.

As alwas, the concept is massively simple. The screen is split into two halves. On the right there is a collection of different coloured gems, arranged into a specific pattern. On the left is another almost identical collection, but with different colours. The object is to get the left hand looking exactly like the right within the specified number of moves and time limit.

You change the colour of gems by clicking on them. A gem can be red, green, blue, pink or yellow, and clicking directly on one reduces its colour by two; so if it's read it turns to blue. It also changes the colour of each gem that surrounds it by one colour: in this case, red goes to green. Get it so far? Now, when a gem goes to being yellow and it's reduced by one somehow, it disappears, and any gems on top of it fall down by one space.

And that's it. There are 400 screens in total to be worked through, any of which can be skipped, but, of course, then you can't complete the game. Effect-wise there's nothing to it, just a few pretty gems and some wibbly tunes.

Verdict

A bit boring, to be honest. You certainly have a hard time of it working through every level, because some of them are brain-bending in the extreme. Definitely only for puzzle-heads - it's relentless thinking all the way through.

In Brief

  1. Not really similar in concept to any other puzzle games, though in spirit it's a little like Atomino.

Ed Ricketts

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