Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I've played various Match-3 games on Steam so far, but Last Resort Island is one of those I enjoyed the most. I already knew from the beginning that it would be a very fun game for me, considering that it's developed by rokaplay, a company whose games I really like. But Last Resort Island actually surprised me a bit: I was expecting to play a standard Match-3 title, but the game offers more than that.

The main 98 levels are pure Match-3, but there are side several quests that invite the player to participate in a 15-level solitaire challenge, solve some logical problems or jigsaw puzzles with rotating titles. The central quest focuses on building step by step an island resort using the money gained from completing the Match-3 levels.

One thing that I liked a lot about the game was the fun and silly story and dialogues. After a shipwreck, you wake up on an island full of vegetarians. However, something went bad with their tofu and some of its chemical components mutated, transforming the poor vegetarians into rabid zombies that became sugar intolerant. Therefore, the objective in every level is to induce a sugar rush into the mean zombies, by creating matches of candy tiles.

The levels have a good range of mechanics, from the basic crates / sand / chain tiles to more complex ones: the requirement to make specific matches in a particular order, tiles that can be broken only from below, enemies that require matches of a certain color or who make the power-ups obsolete. The first third of the game focuses on introducing all these mechanics one by one, explaining them via short and straight to the point tutorials but also making the player practice them and get used to them. The rest of the levels require to use this gained knowledge strategically, planning your moves ahead. The design of the latter levels is quite brilliant and will make you use your brainpower to solve them. Out of the three difficulty levels (Relaxed mode - no achievements, infinite moves; Casual mode - limited number of moves; Normal mode - less moves, more difficult) I played the game on Casual mode and even if the overall difficulty was average, some of the levels were quite challenging, requiring me to try them several times until I managed to beat them.

One major difference for me was the lack of some powerups that recharge over time and that can be used whenever the player sees fit. Matching 4-5-6 tiles of the same type gives special objects: a bomb that explodes the surrounding area, a diamond that zaps its entire row and column and some fireworks that randomly destroy blocked tiles. However, it's a bummer that one can’t move the diamond and the bomb by swapping them with other surrounding tiles as part of a match. Instead they have to be clicked in place, therefore these power-ups are often not useful, unless one manages somehow to create them exactly on the spot needed. The fact that you have a limited number of moves to solve the level also doesn't make it easy to plan in advance the location where tiles will be created.

Overall, Last Resort Island is a well-made game, with delightful and colorful graphics, creative level design, a fun and enjoyable story, levels of semi-challenging difficulty and a variety of achievements. Definitely worth a look for fans of casual games, and not only!

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[b]Estimated reading time:[/b] 3 minutes I've played various Match-3 games on Steam so far, but [i]Last Resort Island[/i] is one of those I enjoyed the most. I already knew from the beginning that it would be a very fun game for me, considering that it's developed by [i]rokaplay[/i], a company whose games I really like. But [i]Last Resort Island[/i] actually surprised me a bit: I was expecting to play a standard Match-3 title, but the game offers more than that. The main 98 levels are pure Match-3, but there are side several quests that invite the player to participate in a 15-level solitaire challenge, solve some logical problems or jigsaw puzzles with rotating titles. The central quest focuses on building step by step an island resort using the money gained from completing the Match-3 levels. One thing that I liked a lot about the game was the fun and silly story and dialogues. After a shipwreck, you wake up on an island full of vegetarians. However, something went bad with their tofu and some of its chemical components mutated, transforming the poor vegetarians into rabid zombies that became sugar intolerant. Therefore, the objective in every level is to induce a sugar rush into the mean zombies, by creating matches of candy tiles. The levels have a good range of mechanics, from the basic crates / sand / chain tiles to more complex ones: the requirement to make specific matches in a particular order, tiles that can be broken only from below, enemies that require matches of a certain color or who make the power-ups obsolete. The first third of the game focuses on introducing all these mechanics one by one, explaining them via short and straight to the point tutorials but also making the player practice them and get used to them. The rest of the levels require to use this gained knowledge strategically, planning your moves ahead. The design of the latter levels is quite brilliant and will make you use your brainpower to solve them. Out of the three difficulty levels (Relaxed mode - no achievements, infinite moves; Casual mode - limited number of moves; Normal mode - less moves, more difficult) I played the game on Casual mode and even if the overall difficulty was average, some of the levels were quite challenging, requiring me to try them several times until I managed to beat them. One major difference for me was the lack of some powerups that recharge over time and that can be used whenever the player sees fit. Matching 4-5-6 tiles of the same type gives special objects: a bomb that explodes the surrounding area, a diamond that zaps its entire row and column and some fireworks that randomly destroy blocked tiles. However, it's a bummer that one can’t move the diamond and the bomb by swapping them with other surrounding tiles as part of a match. Instead they have to be clicked in place, therefore these power-ups are often not useful, unless one manages somehow to create them exactly on the spot needed. The fact that you have a limited number of moves to solve the level also doesn't make it easy to plan in advance the location where tiles will be created. Overall, [i]Last Resort Island[/i] is a well-made game, with delightful and colorful graphics, creative level design, a fun and enjoyable story, levels of semi-challenging difficulty and a variety of achievements. Definitely worth a look for fans of casual games, and not only! [quote]More reviews on the [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/11354094]Lilly's Corner Curator page[/url][/quote]