Most of the players in the world must have played Candy Crush, a puzzle game of matching 3 or more tiles to accomplish certain goals. And there are many similar games available with some twists and turns.
We recently played a similar game, which provides some amazing replayability called Num One: Revised Edition. Num One is developed by C5H5 Games Lab. A little background on C5H5 Games Lab:
C5H5 Games Lab is an indie edutainment game studio focusing on incorporating STEM concepts within video game mechanics. Their first release, Num One, lightly incorporates mathematical elements and future projects seek to touch upon biology, chemistry, and physics. C5H5 is run by Mik “Dr. Robotmik” Minier, a chemistry PhD who switched careers to pursue game development. Mik seeks to bring his scientific background to gaming and impact casual education. Under the same vein of intertwining science within entertainment, Mik’s combination of science and dance won the chemistry category of the 2020-21 “Dance Your PhD” contest.
Now back to Num One: Revised Edition, as explained is a unique mathematical match-3 game. There are a bunch of different grid sizes in games that unlock after completing certain objectives like making up certain numbered blocks. The first grid level starts off with a different colored 1 number block. Now the uniqueness of the game is that there are different levels of blocks that represent how many times the matches have been made to reach that certain block. For example you start off with matching three same colored number 1 blocks and you get a number 3 block with level 1 to it.
Another unique aspect of this level is that the higher the number the higher the flexibility of movement of the blocks. Normally players start off with level 0, number 1 block which can only be moved one block in horizontal and vertical direction and no diagonal movement. But once you create a Number 3 or higher block of Level 1, it will be allowed to move diagonally as well.
All the matches that happen can be horizontal and vertical, and 3 or more blocks need to be the same number and at the same level. Suppose there are three level zero number 1 blocks horizontally and one of the similar blocks neighbor one of three horizontal blocks vertically they will be able to match. And can make a Number 4 block with level 1. There are multiple different combinations that players can make. And as long as there are matches available the players can keep on making matches. Also the new Number 1 Level zero blocks or random color will automatically drop from top of the grid to fill up any missing spaces so you always have some kind of match coming up.
One of the cool things about Num One: Revised Edition is that you are not bound by the number of moves or timer. But yes, initially a few grids might provide you with issues with matches running out sooner, but as the grid size grows, there are a great amount of matches players can make. And there is a replayability in Num One that does not exhaust a player while replaying the games, which is something similar to Sudoku and other math based games.
Num One: Revised Edition is a solid game that players can pick up and lose themselves in making matches. Even though it is a game developed by a single dev and might need a little polish with matching because sometimes it misses out a neighboring similar block when blocks are automatically merged as they are dropped after match.
Overall the gameplay, customization, and replayability to achieve a greater Number block is still the strength of Num One: Revised Edition and provides a unique way to play the match-3 puzzle games with some solid math-magic.
I would rate this a solid 9 star out of 10.
You can purchase Num One: Revised Edition for $2.99 via Steam.
A gamer turned into a game developer. A huge batman fan and follower of Arkham Series, generally I like to play mostly Action and RPG genre of Games. Into the Abyss!!! PSN: AbyssRyder
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