10000000

I am not huge into iOS games. I have a few on my phone, but there are mainly left unused. Once in a while though, something comes my way that sucks me in and doesn't let go. 10000000 is such a game. Pretty much from the minute I started in with the game I was hooked. First of all, the way you play this game is immediately apparent. We have all been here before, the match-three style of game made famous by Bejeweled. However, instead of simply matching colors for score, you match icons to do different effects. Swords to attack enemies, keys to open doors, wood to add to your stockpile.

While this doesn't seem any different than the standard set by Bejeweled, it really is. Everything you're doing on the game board affects the retro-looking dungeon runner going on up top. Your health in this RPG-esque game is determined by how far to the left of the screen your character is. Get pushed all the way to the left, it's run over. You prevent this by matching the tiles that apply to your situation. If it's an enemy holding you up, match swords or staves; chest, you use keys. It's not hard to understand once you get into it. Where things start to get different is the use of your hub. Using the materials you collect while running the dungeon, you open up different areas for upgrade. Pretty much every tile can be upgraded, allowing you to handle the harder challenges that come from progressing in score. That progression goes pretty quickly; with different enemy sprites coming to bear in the game, but really none of it feels different. The goal is to overcome each obstacle as quickly as possible, no real difference in general strategy required.

One of the reasons that I am not a big fan of iOS games is because I don't have an iPad, only an iPhone. Most games I find get way to obscured by having to stick my fingers all over the screen, which at times can get frantic. In 10000000, the action is smartly handled, with the action never moving from the top, allowing me a total view of what is going on. The blocks are a good size and allow me to accurately move things with my thumbs. I know this sounds silly, but it is constantly a concern of mine when I actually fire up my phone to play a game. Games that deftly work around the touch screen being the actual visual space always get points in my book.

The last thing I really wanted to mention about 10000000 is the music. The chip-tune style music is addictive and really adds to the old school game ambiance. I actually just tried to find the music from the game. No track available on iTunes, Steam, or even YouTube. That's actually really a shame. A lot of these smaller games have great soundtracks that I would love to listen to while writing. Well since the game is on Steam, hopefully they will eventually run a special that includes the music files. In any case, this game is a cheap, genuinely good game to play in small doses. It's five dollars on Steam and I think four on the iTunes app store. Anyway you cannot go wrong, go play this game.

-Ray Grohosky