Joe Jasko

When a young boy or girl makes friends with a community of emotive gingerbread people, then you don't need me to tell you that this is a bond that lasts for life right there. So when said gingerbread friends get kidnapped and imprisoned by some evil monsters, you would naturally do anything to free your delicious pals, right? Even if it means matching hundreds of those quirky little monsters in an ever-changing castle setting. And so sets the stage for Monster Busters, a new match-3 puzzler from PurpleKiwii.In the game, players take control of a young hero with no mouth as they move up an enormous tower, making matches with colorful monsters, and saving legions of imprisoned gingerbread friends in the process. While Monster Busters might not bring that many new ideas to the genre as a whole, what it does have is a whole lot of heart, and a lighthearted design that makes playing through its some-odd 500 puzzles just downright fun."It won't take you long to get accustomed to the world of Monster Busters, as the game's basic match-3 foundation is likely something that you've already played before. Each of the six main monster types on the game board has their own elemental matching effect, although these don't seem to have any influence over the actual gameplay: for instance, matching the blue monsters will sometime result in a watery splashing effect across the area. And in true Candy Crush Saga fashion, you'll have a number of different power-ups to use at your disposal, like increased moves or toy hammers that let you smash any given monster on the game board. In addition, making matches in clusters of four and above will result in your typical vertical and horizontal bomb bonuses, etc.The different level types are also pretty much par for the course for what you would expect from the new age of Candy Crush-style match-3 games. You'll need to clear a handful of designated spaces that have been covered in ice. You'll match a set number of specific monster types before the timer or your move limit runs out. And of course, you'll make matches to drop helpless gingerbread friends to the bottom of the game board, among a few other examples. But perhaps the coolest level type you'll come across in Monster Busters is the occasional boss fight, which places a giant green monster smack-dab in the middle of the game board and tasks you with chipping away at his health bar by making adjacent matches.