Jewellust

Summary

Oh the fun of casual games! They are always there for you whether you’re on your lunch break at the office or sitting in a bathroom stall. Usually, these games are simple enough to put most of your brain cells to sleep.

I had already heard some really good things about a casual game called Jewellust. Sounded like a typical boring casual game that wasn’t worth the money.

Finally, I caved in and took a better look at this game. Boy, was I wrong! This game is absolutely stellar! Shows you just why one shouldn’t be too quick to make judgments.

Find out if the game has something in store for you in our test.

Section rating:

First off, let me get a couple of things straight before people start bombarding mewith questions about why I gave this app five stars. My rating should not be interpreted in comparison with EVERY Android game out there. I am comparing Jewellust with games in its casual games categories and not with ones from other categories. Moving on...

Jewellust has a real plot, which holds the entire game together. Some may perceive the game plot as a bit absurd, but the game itself is in fact similar to Bejeweled. The game is about moving around jewels in order to align those of the same color together and make them disappear. The resulting empty spaces are immediately filled in with jewels falling from above.

The plot is an integral part of this game and is a common thread throughout all the different levels. You are basically placed in the role of a pyramid explorer on a journey to discover ever larger pyramids. A small mosaic needs to be put together in order to open the doors to the next biggest pyramid. The pieces of the mosaic are wedged between the jewels. The mosaic can be assembled together by destroying the rows of jewels located beneath them. Once you’ve played your way through an entire pyramid, you’ll first have to solve a combination puzzle (different stones need to be pressed in a certain order) before you can receive a jewel to open the gate to the next level.

Another cool thing: you receive bonus points for exploding more than three jewels at once. The higher the level, the more kinds of precious stones are available. In total there are the following types of special gems:

• Horizontal Blast: Blows up all jewels located in a single column
• Vertical Blast: Blows up all jewels located in a single row
• Bomb: Blows up all bordering jewels
• Color-Changing Gem: Takes on the color of two adjacent gems of the same color. Destroying this gem adds some extra time to the game clock
• Ice Jewel: Freezes the entire screen, letting you move gems around freely for a couple of seconds. Pretty cool!
• Chain-Reaction: Also really cool! Destroying this gem makes all gems of this type blow up in a chain reaction
• Magical Gem: Generates three random bonus gems

There are two additional bonus features available:

• Hammer: With it you can knock out a gem in the higher levels. The hammer can be reused after a certain time-limit. This feature is often underestimated! There are many situations where you’ll need a hammer to free up a last piece of the mosaic.
• Big Bang: Impressive! Big Band is a ray of sun that you can activate during the game to destroy random gems. Different levels of intensity are available: Big Bang, Extra Big Bang and Super Big Bang

Survival Mode

Everything described above applies to campaign mode. The rules in survival mode are the same, but your goal is to collect the most points possible. Every destroyed gem gives you a little extra time. The longer you play the more bonus pieces you’ll receive. At the same time, your extra time decreases dramatically as the game goes on.

There’s also a Big Band in this playing mode. The catch is that you can only use it once. Therefore it makes sense to wait for your Big Bang to upgrade to a Super Big Bang. The Big Bang is available starting with 300 points. A completed mosaic gives you 500 extra points and 3 minutes of extra time.

Bottom Line:

Man was I wrong about this game! This so-called casual game is anything but casual. It’s a ton of fun and perfectly thought-out. It keeps me riveted to my phone for hours on end. This game requires not only a bit of luck, but also a lot of strategic thinking.

The story may seem a bit corny at first, but it succeeds in bringing the game together nicely. With all the different levels available you’ll never get bored.
I’m fairly sure that Jewellust is going to become my new favorite game on my Android phone. It’s entertaining, not too easy, yet not too hard at the same time. It’s a game packed with surprises and exciting bonus features. The game is easy to understand from the get-go.

What more could you really ask for?

Section rating:

Jewellust’s fun and exciting game concept isn’t the only thing going for it in the casual game world. The graphics and controls are slick and simply amazing for this type of game. The developers paid a great deal of attention to quality and detail.

Since it isn’t a 3D game, Jewellust doesn’t require a fast processor or a good engine to run. Nevertheless, it is impressive how much effort was put into this game to make it appealing to the eye.

Let me be honest here. I was initially planning on returning the game after this test. No way am I doing that now! I’m keeping this baby close to me and giving into this jewel lust..

Section rating:

Jewellust runs really fast on the HTC Desire without any crashes or lags. 

Section rating:

 Jewellust costs $2.95 on the Android Market. Worth every cent of it!