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Seasons

Published by Sugar Games
Price $19.95
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Primary Genre Secondary Genre

"Seasons" is a puzzle game with more than a passing resemblance to games from previous reviews, Light and Shadow and VBlocks. You make rows and columns of three or more tiles by flipping one and changing the season it displays. Each tile turns from one season to the next.

How to play. Fresh tiles fall into the grid whenever you're clearing too many.

Seasons is a very easy game both to learn and to play. Click on a tile with either mouse button to flip it. Unlike similar games, you cannot rotate a tile unless it makes a row/column of three or more similar seasons, so every move you make has to be careful - you cannot just click randomly. When matched, the tiles disappear and those above them fall, often causing chain reactions for big points. When the tiles run low, new ones fall from the top of the screen, so there should always be a move available. There are also the usual hints and a demo mode to show how the game plays.

Everything is very neatly layed out. The tiles are easily distinguished and there's the option to play fullscreen or in a window. One flaw in this area I did notice was that my mouse cursor kept flickering so much that I could hardly see where I was clicking - this only seems to occur with non-standard mouse cursors. If this happens to you, try adjusting the mouse settings in the Control Panel.

A helpful hint to start you off. You can ask for hints during the game as well.

A range of whizzes and pops mark the disappearance of game tiles, instead of one sound effect - this brought to mind a third previous review, Jig Jag! Gold. It would be even better if this variety was complemented by the game music, which is cheerful and very good, but can get somewhat repetitive.

Overall it is difficult to fault Seasons. While the game lacks originality beyond the basic concept of changing seasons, it plays well and performs with panache. Those playing the demo may notice an odd error in that, when quitting the game, one must click on "Try now!" in order to close it down!!

Seasons is simple to play and quietly addictive. Why not see for yourself?

Graphics 80%
Sound 75%
Playability 88%
Longevity 70%
Overall Score 77%
Silver Star

Published on 25 Jun 2004
Reviewed by Andrew Williams

Keywords: seasons review, sugar games reviews, sugar games games, seasons scores, pc game reviews, indie game reviews, independent gaming.