Glow Worm really stands the test of time.  Flashbang made it back in 2005 but the graphics, sound and overall production are still above average for most casual titles today.  Glow Worm is a pretty innovative spin on the Match 3 Genre.  I would describe it as a ‘strategic’ match 3 (actually it takes 4 to match in this game) since you have a lot more control over your combos than in most games.  In Glow Worm, you place caterpillars onto a level grid.  The spots on the caterpillars indicate which color butterfly they will turn into allowing you to setup combos to your liking.  Casual Matching games are a dime a dozen and it’s pretty remarkable to see such an innovative spin on match 3 that hasn’t been cloned over and over again in the past 5 years. Glow Worm was not a success in the casual market or a moneymaker for Flashbang.  I guess that’s why there haven’t been a lot of imitators.

Score: 8/10 – Rank: 5th

Score: 6/10 – Rank: 7th

Beesley’s Buzzwords is a pretty decent game considering it’s 7 years old.  Flashbang’s first title came out right after Popcap’s Bookworm in 2003.  It took Bookworm’s word matching concept and innovated it by creating a hexagonal board.  Beesley’s is very similar to bookworm.  You click the hexagonal honeycombed letters to create words and collect honey.  Once you collect enough honey, the game progresses. Beesley went on to be a Finalist at the Independent Games Festival in 2004, but it’s 2010 now and Beesley is showing its age.  Unlike Popcap, Flashbang has not reiterated upon the Beesley concept with sequels and while the game’s word gameplay is still great, the graphics, sounds and overall polish of the game are lacking.  I am a huge fan of word games both digital and classics such as Scrabble so Beesley’s gameplay makes up for a lot of it’s technical shortcomings.

Score: 6/10 – Rank: 8th

Critter Crunch is a stellar PSN puzzle game with enchanting music and graphics.  I dare anyone to find as highly polished and addictive game at the $6.99 price point.  Cabybara games has made Critter Crunch impossible not to recommend.

Critter Crunch is an interesting twist on match-3 and similar puzzle games.  It’s a much more polished version of Capybara’s 2007 iPhone game of the same name.  It may appear cutesy and seem to rely on simple color matching, but the game is much deeper.  Critter Crunch is a humorous tale of Biggs and the strange ecological system that he lives in.  Biggs eats crystals and barfs rainbows (literally), but all of this is really a humorous spin on the innovative “food chain” gameplay found at the core of Critter Crunch.

The player controls the rotund Biggs with the D-pad or Left Stick and uses his long tongue (the X button) to move critters around on the vines above.  Just like nature, larger critters eat smaller ones.  If a critter is overfed, it explodes into a crystal which Biggs can eat. There is a humorous national geographic type documentary that tries to explain the ecosystem of the game.  This goofy narrative actually gives the game more charm.  You see on the island of Krunchatoa, Biggs is at the top of the food chain.  Creatures hang on vines above him and he overfeeds them and darts to collect the crystals and powerups critters drop.  These tasty crystals fill Biggs hunger bar.  The goal is to fill this hunger bar before the creatures mosey their way down the vines to Biggs.

The gameplay has all the elements that make a great puzzle game.  The game is simple to pick up and play but has a ton of smaller features and slight variations that keep things interesting and provide a great deal of depth.  The game centers on the food chain mechanic, but there are also color matching elements which help you setup big chain reactions and combos.  The adventure mode does an excellent job of introducing new gameplay wrinkles such as “Power Foods” and Poisoned Critters.  Power foods include things like watermelons that let Biggs spit seeds to destroy critters above or Garlic which allows him to repel critters back up their vines.

The graphics of Critter Crunch are stunning.  The hand-drawn 2D graphics are bright, colorful and have excellent animations.  Everything pops really well off of the soft muted watercolor backgrounds. With the game’s excellent and anime-inspired character design, watching Critter Crunch has as much appeal as an episode of Pokemon (ok, let’s be honest… more appeal).  In a Cute & Cuddly Pageant, Biggs could even steal Pikachu’s crown.

The visuals are coupled with great music and sound effects, but the big shocker of the whole package is the price.  At only $6.99, Critter Crunch is an absolute steal.  With the stellar graphics, core gameplay, and features, Capybara games could easily justify a $15-$20 price tag. The game’s adventure mode is littered with optional challenge and puzzle stages, not to mention the multiplayer offerings. Critter Crunch will give any puzzle fan hours upon hours to enjoy with Biggs and company.  All of these features add up to make Critter Crunch one of the best values on PSN.

Stew: 8
Put Up is another entry into the straightforward puzzler genre, but it’s fun so who’s complaining? Each level of Put Up is split into two stages. In the first, the goal is to match trios of different colored candies while racing against a time limit. In the second you need to catch said candies while they fall from the sky. The second mode isn’t bad, but the first is definitely more entertaining, especially in the more challenging levels offered toward the end of the demo. All of this is wrapped up in an attractively simple, autumn/Halloween themed visual package. The audio track is limited to a few beeps and bloops, but it fits. There are a lot of games out there like this, but Put Up is one of the better ones.

Peter: 5
PutUp is a mindless match-three puzzle game with adorable art but little depth. Like a simplified game of solitaire, you match three pieces of the same colored candy by drawing pieces from the bottom of each column. After clearing the board, your slime has to catch falling candy. Neither mode is challenging or new, and the scoring is off. Whether I got every piece of falling candy or purposely let rocks and leaves fall on me, I ended up with three white stars. I don’t know if that’s good or bad because I got it on every stage of the demo.

Erika: 6
While PutUp doesn’t offer anything too inventive, the puzzle game is definitely a fun experience. Each level consists of pulling down candies and moving them to other columns with like-coloured sweets. In addition, players must glide their little ghost protagonist towards falling sweets in your Halloween bag. Oddly enough, this game sounds quite similar to Capybara Game’s Critter Crunch (reviewed on page 17), but without the food-chain system the game excelled at. Unfortunately, PutUp is not quite there in its performance. While the puzzle game is simple and fun, the game lacks a definite focus in both gameplay and visuals. The game is more of a, for lack of a better word, grab bag of ideas and lacks a sense of identity.

Sam: 4
Put Up is another “match three” game, where the same rule of match three or more of the same color objects apply. The twist here is that each level has a rule change. One gives you a time limit, another only lets you match the color they tell you, and so on. Once you beat the “match three” portion, you have to catch candies as they fall, avoiding rocks and leaves. There are a few cute touches, and I get a World of Goo vibe from the graphics and sound. Different enough to be worth a try.

Click to Download the Free PC Demo