Thirteen1

Written by DrunkenGamer

Format: Xbox Live

Genre: Indie, Puzzler

With all the different puzzle games out there, I was genuinely starting to believe we had exhausted all possibilities. I mean, how many kinds of puzzle can there be?
Enter Zoë Mode, with their XBLA game Chime, to give me a digital bitch-slap for harbouring such a stupid thought.

The gameplay in Chime is very simple at its core. You have a gridded play area and your task is to use the Tetris-like blocks that you are given to cover the whole area. On some of the levels the area has obstacles and one is split into two sections.

In order to score points you have to get your shapes to form “Quads”. These quads have to be a minimum of 3×3 squares big, but the bigger the quad you make the more points it scores. When a quad is first activated, you are able to extend and increase it for a short while. Once that time for extending the quad is over it is stamped down, and any part blocks that are left on its edges become remnant. These remnants will slowly decay over time unless they are used in new quads, and if you let them decay that will remove any multiplier you have.

While that gameplay is more than good enough to keep you playing, there is one element of this I have yet to mention – the music!

The whole reason you are filling the play area is that each level is based on a chill-out track from well known artists. While you are placing the blocks, a beat marker is rolling over the area. When it hits a block it plays a single tone based on where it is, and when it hits a quad it plays a sample based on its shape. Once you get full coverage the whole track can be heard.

Some very recognisable names provide tracks for the game, including Moby & Paul Hartnoll (Orbital), and they really do elevate the experience, helping to keep you relaxed as the pressure builds due to the timer running out.
What is even more impressive is that this whole game has been made for free…

Read More in Issue 24