April 23, 2010

MicroReview: Chime

Holy McSnarf! The 700th post! Huzzah! Hard to believe, eh? Let me tell you, this will be the most relaxing 700th post ever. Why? Because Chime is the most relaxing game ever. Ever.

Chime is one of those rhythm puzzlers, but something about it is immensely relaxing. Here's how you play: there's a game grid and you place Tetris-style pieces on it anywhere you want. They don't fall from the sky and there's no pressure or rush to finish your move. When you create a "quad," a 3x3 block of connecting pieces, it will glow and you'll have a certain amount of time to extend the area of your quad by placing more blocks around the sides of it. But you don't have to. There's no pressure to do so, either, unless you want to multiply your points. Once the timer runs out, you quad will change the color of the game board. The goal is to paint as much as the board as possible in either in the allotted time (you choice when you begin) and score as many points as you can. The more board you cover, the more points you'll get. If you cover it 100%, don't sweat, you can keep going anyway! I think the highest score on the leaderboard has something crazy like 2400% coverage. There's a beat line, similar to Luminies, that crosses over the board and clears you quads, giving you points and painting the grid. Leftover bits of the pieces that aren't used in quads change color and pulsate to the beat to indicate they have become bonus multipliers. Use them in a quad for major points. Again, the game won't penalize you if you don't use them, but they only work to your advantage.

The game's music is really mellow and effects will be added to it depending on how many pieces are placed on the grid, where they're placed, and if they're quads. It's not so much an important part of the gameplay as it is a neat effect. The whole game is really melodic and relaxing, especially the free mode. This mode, which is essentially pretty pointless, is un-timed and un-scored. Just place shapes forever and ever. Sure, it's pretty pointless, but damn is it relaxing! This is the game to play when you really want to chill.

The game only has those two modes and there's only five grids to play on meaning only five different mellow songs to play to. That may seem like a bit under featured for a $5 game, but it's justified because the proceeds go to charities (several different ones). You even get an achievement worth 50 points because of your contribution. Basically, you're donating to charity and getting a free game. Not a bad deal at all. And, man, is this game relaxing! I'll say it again, this game is extremely mellow and fun to play. Sure, there's not much in the way of extensive features, but it's pretty damn good for free and has great production values.

Final thoughts: Spend those 500 MS points on Chime rather than "The Passing." You'll feel good about yourself for donating to charity and you'll have gotten a neat game out of it, too.

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