Cupcake Mix – WARNING: Do not play this if you’re hungry!

Cupcake Mix is a brand new match-3 game available at IWON. And every time I play it I seriously want to go make some cupcakes.

 Get into mah belly!

At first I thought I’d get bored of a game that was all cupcakes all the time. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking, because I’m definitely not bored. Just hungry. *^_^*

If you’ve never played a match-3 game before, don’t sweat it! It’s really simple. Your goal is to get three identical cupcakes into a line or a column. Once they’re there (and they’re all touching) they’ll vanish, and cupcakes will fall from the top to fill in the gaps.

For example, these 3! It was 4 in a row, but I ate one.

The hitch is that you can only switch cupcakes that are next to each other, AND the switch has to create a cupcake match. It may sound odd but you’ll get the hang of it. ^_^

You start out with five different types of cupcakes, and that’s all that you have for levels 1 & 2. But after that, you get a new cupcake every single level.

Well, I only got to level 7, so I have to assume that you keep getting new cupcakes each level. Even so, by level 7 this little game gets awfully tough. o_O

Don’t care. Still want to eat them.

On the left side it tells you how many moves you have left, which is freakin’ brilliant. ^_^ If you run out of moves the board will shuffle and you can try again.

Before you get too excited, realize that you only get three shuffles! You can click shuffle at any time, but you really want to hold them until you can’t make any moves.

The shuffles are the only special ability you’ll find in Cupcake Mix. You don’t get any special cupcakes for making a match 4+ or anything like that. It’s a pretty basic game.

 

Tips & Tricks

On levels 1-4, play near the bottom of the screen.

Down here. *Noms a cupcake*

You’ll set off more chain reactions and score more points this way.

Once you get to level 5+, play near the top. At that point you have fewer moves available and you need to play very carefully.

Also, keep in mind that “possible moves” really means “cupcake match.” If it says you have 1 move left then that means there’s one match of cupcakes to clear. But there might be more than one way to remove those cupcakes! Take your time and look. ^_^

 

Final Rating

Quite to my surprise, I really like the simplicity in Cupcake Mix! At first I thought it was too easy, but it gets challenging VERY quickly! I like that. ^_^ And I almost made it to the high scores!

So close!

If you can’t read that, basically the 10th place all-time high score is 105,400 points, and my all-time personal best is 100,200 points. *Grumbles*

The one thing that irks me is that there’s nothing to tell you how close you are to the next level. >_< It’s a guessing game! I have no idea why they left this out, but it’s really obnoxious.

So! My final rating is 4 stars out of 5. If you haven’t played it yet, go give it a shot and tell me what you would rate it! ^_^

Do you have any other tips you want to share? What’s your favorite match-3 game?

 

Similar Games

If you like match-3 games then you should really try some of these!

• Diamonds at Spigo – Match the pretty gems!
• SwapIt! at GSN Oodles – Right now this is a wintery remix, full of scarves, snowmen, and hot cocoa!
• Sweet Tooth 2 at Pogo – Full of cupcakes but still crave something sweet? Sink your teeth into this yummy game. ^_^

Breakdown – Shake down, you’re busted!

I’m going to be totally honest here. I put off reviewing Breakdown at BugleGames because I thought it was just another version of Collapse. *^_^* And it pretty much is, but it’s also (unexpectedly) much, MUCH harder.

 It looks so innocent…

For brevity’s sake I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with Collapse already. If you aren’t, click the link to Collapse and go read it. ^_^

Now, here’s how Breakdown is different.

 

1. It’s a lot faster.

Right from the start, Breakdown is much faster than Collapse. There’s no time to waste!

On the upside, the speed doesn’t seem to accelerate quite as quickly as in Collapse. So you have quite a few levels before you get to the pants-wettingly-fast stage.

Well this isn’t so ba- OMG I’M GUNNA DIE!!!

 

2. It’s easier to die.

Aside from the increased speed, it’s flat out easier to die here. Why? Well, the point of death is when you hit the top of the screen. In regular Collapse you can hit the top of the screen and be just fine. It’s only when the next line pushes you above that point that kills you.

Not here! If you reach the top you’re D-E-A-D!

 

3. There are more colors.

In regular Collapse you start with red, green, and blue blocks. At level 4 white blocks get tossed into the mix. And that’s it. With Breakdown you start with red, green, and blue blocks. But then it starts getting more complicated.

• Level 3 – White blocks are added.
• Level 6 – Cue the yellow blocks!
• Level 9 – Aqua?? Wtf?

Crap!

Judging by the pattern, I’d say you get a new color every three levels. But I never got to level 12, so I can’t say for certain. *^_^*

No matter what, it’s a heck of a lot harder to find groups of three same-color blocks when you’re dealing with 5+ colors!

 

4. No area bombs.

Area bombs are “regular” bombs that occasionally crop up in new lines. When clicked, they take out a wide area of blocks. Woohoo!!

Except that Breakdown doesn’t have them. Instead you get three “killer bombs” to the side which are sometimes AWESOME and sometimes they totally suck. You can launch one at any time and it’ll bounce around the top, taking out a block here and there. If the block is part of a group, it takes the whole group out.

It’s also really tiny.

I had one bomb bounce around until the timer ran out, taking dozens of blocks with it. And I had another bomb hit one (1) block before it bounced away. >_<

So! Don’t rely on killer bombs to save your butt. And remember, those three bombs have to last your entire game!

 

5. Extra time at the end!

One of my pet peeves of this type of game is that once the last line loads, your time is up. It doesn’t matter if there’s a bomb on it or anything. You can’t click it!

Breakdown finally changes that. (SWEET!) After the last line loads, you have 5 seconds to click and clear whatever you can!

YES!!!!

This makes me extremely happy. ^_^ Those last 5 seconds are a godsend, so use them!!

 

Final Rating

The graphics on Breakdown are a little rough, but the more I played it, the more I *got* the game. ^_^ And quite to my surprise, I think I might like this more than the original!

With regular Collapse, the challenge is to keep the board clear (and make big matches) as the game gets faster and faster. With Breakdown the challenge is to keep the board clear (and make big matches) even though you’re dealing with more and more colors. It seems like a small change, but it makes a huge difference!

So, what would I rate this?

*Ponders*

I think I’ll go for 4.5 stars out of 5. The erratic nature of the killer bombs is the only strike against this one.

Try it and share your own rating! ^_^ What do you think of the additional colors? And if you get to level 12, is there another color added? (Seriously, I want to know!)

 

Similar Games

If you like Breakdown, you might also like some of these games!

• Spongebob Squarepants Collapse at IWON – This might be my favorite version of Collapse. ^_^
• Poppit! at Pogo – Untimed, unrushed, and addictive. Try it!
• Merry Poppings at Slingo – Pop balloons and play with oodles of powerups!

SwapIt – Winter edition!

Brrrr!!

SwapIt is a match-3 game available at GSN Oodles. Right now it’s winterized and instead of gems there are ice skates, cups of hot cocoa, fuzzy hats, and more! It’s pretty darn cute.

 And festive!

This is a timed game with only two levels. In order to reach level 2 you MUST fill the goal bar! And you have only one minute to do it. ^_^

I want lollipops!

It’s a little weird to see the time gauge go down as the goal fills up. It… Wait, what was that about lollipops?

They look like lollipops! Seeeeee?! ^_^

Um.. okay. o_O

Moving on! The second level is also one minute long, so this is definitely a quick game! (Two minutes at the longest.)

*Sips a cup of hot cocoa*

If you fill the Goal bar before time runs out, you’ll get an extra point bonus. The bonus is based on how much time was left, so be quick!

 

Tips & Tricks

With most match-3 games it’s advisable to play near the top to prolong the game. SwapIt is a different story! Since you have such a short amount of time, you want to maximize the number of chains (successive matches) that you make. To do this, just play near the bottom of the board! If you get stuck you can hit “Help” and it’ll highlight a match.

SwapIt also has an AWESOME feature that I wish more match-3 games had. The board automatically shuffles a few pieces if you run out of moves! It happens incredibly fast, so you might not even notice unless you play close attention.

 

Final Rating

Generally I prefer this type of game to be untimed, but for some reason I REALLY like the short SwapIt rounds! *^_^* I don’t feel pressured or frustrated if I don’t make it to level 2. It’s just fun!

I’ll rate this one 4.5 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Do you prefer timed or untimed match-3 games?

 

Similar Games

If you like match-3 games like Bejeweled, give some of these games a try!

• Merry Poppings at Slingo – An intriguing match-3 game with NINE power-ups!
• Diamonds at Spigo – Just like Bejeweled, only better, because you can win cash. ^_^
• Sweet Tooth 2 at Pogo – If you enjoyed the lollipop joke, you’ll LOVE playing with all of the candy in this delicious match-3 game!

Match Maker – Make me a match!

Match Maker is a Winster game, so you know it’s going to be a little different from what you expect. ^_^ It looks similar to other jewel-based match 3 games, but it’s not!

Let’s start with the basics. First, you’ll join a room that holds up to four other players. Each player has their own board. Click “Spin” to fill your board with gems!

Spin!!

There are five gem shapes and five gem colors, which combine to create 25 different gems! Whenever you get 3-5 gems of the same color and shape into a row or column, the gems will automatically disappear and any gems above the gap will fall into place!

Gravity check!

No new gems will appear until you clear your board, so work carefully! Move gems around by clicking on them and dragging them to new spots. If you drag a gem to a spot that already has a gem, the two will switch places!

Unlike other jewel games, in Match Maker you can switch any two gems on your board. They don’t have to be near each other at all! When you get down to two (or less) gems on the board, the game considers your board “cleared.” The remaining gems will vanish and you’ll pick up five bonus points!

To start a new board just click “Spin” again. This will give you completely new gems, but they’re always in the same pattern of what you had left. If the board is empty, you’ll get all new gems. If there are any gems left at all, clicking “Spin” will replace those gems with new ones. Like this!

 

Mirror mirror, on the wall..

As a general rule of thumb, don’t click “Spin” until you’ve made every match possible and traded all that you can.

What? You don’t know how to trade? Well relax, because trading is easy! Click on a gem on your board that you want to trade away and drag it to a gem on a teammate’s board that you want in return. They’ll see a Yes/No balloon pop up with a picture of the gem that you’re offering. ^_^

Yes please!

If they click “Yes” the gems will switch places! On the other hand, if someone offers you a trade then you’ll see the Yes/No balloon pop up with a picture of the gem they’re offering. Easy-peasy! 

 

Points

In Match Maker you get more points for bigger matches, and admittedly, sometimes that gets a little confusing. Just remember that a match is any group of gems that vanish at the same time. You can create chains where one group of gems triggers another group to vanish, but the game will count them as separate matches.

Now, there are three levels of matches: Basic, Advanced, and Pro. You can make whatever type of matches you like, but you’ll get more points for trickier matches! Let’s start with the Basic matches. For these you only need to focus on one type of gem. It can be any type, of course.

Match	Free Players
3 Gems	8 points
4 Gems	12 points
5 Gems	16 points
Clear Board	5 points

Basic matches are the foundation of Advanced and Pro matches. Remember, whenever gems are in a line of 3+ they’ll automatically cash in and disappear! To make the 4-5 gem matches you’ll need to keep the gems spaced apart in groups of two. Place the final gem to connect them together and make a match!

Advanced matches take a little more thought. For these you’ll need to work with two gem types and make both groups vanish at the same time. An easy way to do this is to use one gem from each group to block the other, and then switch the two gems to set off both groups.

In the pictures below you’ll see examples of how to make Advanced matches of 6-10 gems. The first picture shows the layout, with the key gems highlighted in green. The second picture shows what happens after you switch the two highlighted gems. There are many different ways to make Advanced matches! The pictures are just to give you an idea of what’s possible.

Match	Free Players
6 Gems	20 points
7 Gems	24 points
8 Gems	28 points
9 Gems	32 points
10 Gems	36 points

Making any matches above 10 requires more effort. The only way to do it is to use an unfinished horizontal 3-5 match to keep other matches apart. There’s a reason that these are Pro matches! Here’s how you might create a match 11.

Right now the blue gems in the middle are keeping the green and yellow gems from making a match. When we switch out the highlighted blue and yellow gem, we get this:

Now the three blue gems will vanish and the gems above them will fall down.

All of the remaining gems create a match at the same time, which makes this a match 11.

Use the same principles to make bigger matches! The biggest match you can make is 20, and you can check the Tips & Tricks section to learn how to make it! Here are all of the points for Pro matches.

Match	Free Players
11 Gems	40 points
12 Gems	44 points
13 Gems	48 points
14 Gems	52 points
15 Gems	56 points
16 Gems	60 points
17 Gems	64 points
18 Gems	68 points
19 Gems	72 points
20 Gems	76 points

 

Tips & Tricks

1. Trade!

To really succeed in Match Maker you need to trade. Clicking “Spin” resets the entire board, so look to your teammates for help!

When you join a room and hit “Spin” for the first time, wait to see if anyone needs your gems before you start moving things around. If you help others complete what they’re working on, they’ll be able to spin and get new pieces to help you make your own big match!

2. Let’s All Do The Hop

Sometimes you and your teammates might get stuck. Most players want to build big matches, but as we just discussed, that can only be done through trade. What happens when all of you are waiting for new gems, but no one wants to spin and lose what they have?

Well, you can hop rooms! Click the “Change Room” link near the top and you’ll move to a new room with new players!

I’d be hoppy to change rooms. ^_^

With a new pool of gems you can (hopefully) find the gems that you need. If you still need more gems, hop again! If you’ve made a new friend and don’t want to lose them in the hop, mouse over their name and click “Friend.” This will invite them to be your friend. If they accept you’ll be able to see what room they’re in!

3. The Almighty 20

The biggest match you can make is a 20. It may seem impossible, but once you understand how it’s done it will all make sense! Essentially, you use an unfinished horizontal match 5 to hold apart four vertical match 4s. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to do this!

 

	Setting up the pattern is the hardest part. Start by making a line of gems in the middle to separate the upper and lower halves. Reserve the center gem in another line and use a gem from that line to hold the middle.
	When you have everything ready switch the center gem out. This will make a line of five gems in the middle, worth 16 points. (64 points for Club Winster)
	The middle line vanishes, and the gems above it will fall.
	Now you have a match of 20!! This is the biggest match possible and is worth 76 points! (304 points for Club Winster)
	The last gems vanish and you’ll pick up 5 points for clearing the board. (20 points for Club Winster)

Altogether this pattern is worth 97 points! (And remember that you’re only using one spin for this.)  If you’re a Club Winster member you’ll get 388 points!

If you have trouble remembering how to make this pattern, think of the match 5 as a belt that goes across the board. It’s a defining line that keeps shirt (top half) and pants (bottom half) where they’re supposed to be. It’s also the only match 5 in the pattern!

4. No One Is Born An Expert

It can be frustrating to see a new player come in and spin their board over and over again. It’s even more frustrating when they don’t listen to the helpful advice that you and your teammates share. Why won’t they listen?!

The truth is, there is a strange conflict in our hearts. No one is born knowing everything but few of us want to admit that we’re ignorant, even if our actions broadcast the message loud and clear. So we pretend that we don’t need help, and sometimes even lash out at those who only mean well.

Your best bet is to direct them to this guide, and try to be helpful if they have questions. Once upon a time you didn’t know how to play Match Maker either! Remember your own newness and have compassion for someone trying to understand it all.

5. Be Polite!

Always say "Thank you!" and "You're welcome!" when trading pieces! At Winster they make this incredibly easy. Just click on the "ty" or "yw" buttons and you'll automatically say "Thank you" or "You're welcome!"

Politeness matters!

To thank a specific person, click and hold on "ty." A list will pop up with the names of all of the players in the room!

When you don't say "Thank you!" you appear ungrateful. People notice this and will stop giving you their extra pieces. It pays to be polite!

 

Final Rating

Conceptually, I like this game. ^_^ And for free players with a LOT of time on their hands, you can’t beat the points. (1 spin = 97 pts! That means the daily 200 free spins = 19,400 pts. Geez!!!)

But the downside is that getting a match 20 takes a good deal of time. And if there aren’t many players on, it’s downright impossible to get the pieces that you need. :(

So….. My verdict is that Match Maker is 4 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Do you have any other tips you’d like to share?

 

Similar Games

If you like jewel-based games, try some of these!

• Diamonds at Spigo – A classic match-3 jewel game.
• Gem Drop at IWON – Appears simple, but it’s very complex!
• A Glorious World at Playtopia – This is more like pinball with gems. Very fun. ^_^

Note: The guide section of this post can be found on Winster, in the How To Play section. I was paid to write those guides for Winster, but I retained the rights to publish them on my blog. :)

HOWEVER, the “Final Rating” and “Similar Games” sections are not endorsed by Winster. What you read is my genuine opinion. I don’t do paid reviews!

Mahjong Safari – It’s a jungle out there!

I was scanning Pogo game titles, trying to figure out what to pick next. My eyes settled on Mahjong Safari and I thought, “I haven’t played a Mahjong game in ages. I’ll try it!” But as soon as the game loaded, I realized this was not an ordinary Mahjong game. No, this was something better!

Ooooooohhh!!

As with traditional Mahjong, your goal is to find matching tiles and put them together. But unlike regular Mahjong, here you have to connect matching tiles with a path. The path can have up to 2 bends in it, and it can only go through empty spaces!

Cephalopods, unite!

If you try to match pairs that are separated by too many obstacles, the line will turn grey at the point of fail.

Darnit.

Some of the tiles don’t have an exact match. These tiles show just half an animal instead of a whole one. Find the other half and put them together!

Don’t eat me!!

Whenever you match up these tiles, you’ll see an enlarged picture of the animal on your screen, and then a mini-version will shrink down and join the stack on the left.

PENGUIN!!!! *Squeals*

When you collect 10 of these special animals you’ll complete the safari and get a jackpot spin after you finish the game!

Woohoo!

It takes a few games to collect all 10. ^_^

There are three difficulty levels and oodles of patterns in Mahjong Safari. Heck, you can even pick between two different tile sets!

Click the blue & yellow buttons to switch patterns.

I love it when a game provides both challenge and variety! Read on to learn what else you can do.

 

Bonus Features

As you play, keep an eye on the Available Matches number.

Ah-hah!

This number tells you exactly how many matches you can currently make. If all you see is one match and nothing else, take a peek to see if there is only one match left. It’ll prevent a few “Doh!” moments.

Animal Combos

Most animal tiles are just a pair, but some are four of a kind! If you can match both sets one after the other, you’ll pick up an extra 30 tokens! This is called an Animal Combo, and it’s worth the extra effort to get as many as possible!

Regular Combos

Whenever you match any tiles in quick succession, you create a combo. Each match on it’s own is worth 20 points, but for each successive match a multiplier is added. It’s equal to whatever combo number you’re on. A sixth combo match is worth 6x the regular value, so it’s 120 points!

IMPORTANT THING #1: You have a limited amount of time to make the next match and have it count as a combo, so plan out a few matches before you start clicking away.

IMPORTANT THING #2: You get 1 token for every 100 score points. To get the same amount of tokens that you would with one animal combo, you’d need to make a combo that’s seventeen pairs long. Regular combos are great for boosting your score, but if you only want tokens, focus on the animal combos!

Powerups

In every game there are 4 Star blocks. Whenever you match two of them up you’ll get three powerups!

• 1 Shuffle – All of the tiles switch places.
• 1 Long line – Create a long path with multiple bends!
• 1 Hint – Highlights a valid match.

Matching the second pair of star blocks gives you one more of each powerup. Any unused powerups at the end of the game is worth 10 tokens.

Long line is useful for when you see an animal combo (four of a kind) that’s just out of reach.

This is not an example of an animal combo.

Yes, you’ll earn 10 tokens if you don’t use the bonus. But you’ll get 30 if you make an animal combo. It’s worth it!

I like to use hint when Mahjong Safari tells me that I have one available match, but I just can’t see the darn thing!

Oh! There it is!

Sometimes I feel a little silly after I realize what I missed. *^_^* Don’t tell!

I save shuffle as a last resort. If I’m out of matches and have no other bonuses left, I’ll use shuffle to mix up the board. But remember, in order to have any powerups at all, you have to match the star tiles!

Assorted Bonuses

If you finish any puzzle on any difficulty level within three minutes, you’ll get 30 tokens! (Usually I can only get that on the easy difficulty.)

And lastly, you earn more points for matches that are further apart.  I generally don’t worry about that too much when I’m playing, but it’s something to keep in mind.

 

Final Rating

Mahjong Safari isn’t what I expected, but I LOVE it! I’ve had a lot of fun staring at the board, trying to figure out how I can make an animal combo. ^_^ (No time bonus for me. Ah well!)

My one complaint is that the “special matches” are distracting. (Those are the matches where you get both halves of an animal together and the board is covered by a large picture of the animal.) The pictures are lovely and all, but the disruption makes me lose my place, and I pause long enough to lose whatever combo I was building. >_< Not a good thing.

If there was a way to turn that off I’d give this a 5 star review. But it’s annoying enough that I’ll rate this a 4 star game.

Of course, that’s just my opinion! What would you rate it? Do you have any tips to share? (Remember, the best tip of the week gets 100 points in Points4Prizes!)

 

Similar Games

If you like Mahjong Safari, you should definitely try some of these games too!

• Xian-Xiang at KadoKado – Connect & match colorful gems!
• Mah-jongg at Candystand – Traditional Mah-jongg with a tasty tile pattern! (It makes me think of candy. ^_^)
• Mahjongg Dark Dimensions at IWON – Play Mahjongg in 3d, where you twist and turn the puzzle to find matches! VERY tough game!