Its been a while since I’ve done an app review, but Facebook games giant Zynga‘s latest release has got me positively hooked. Their insanely popular games series, ‘with Friends’, which has included Words with Friends, Scramble with Friends, Chess with Friends and Hanging with Friends, is back with its latest addition to the family, Matching with Friends.
Matching with Friends is different to the other titles in the series, as it is an original game and not a rehash of a classic board game. The aim of Matching with Friends is to score as many points as possible, in ten rounds of play, against an opponent. You score points by linking matching colours using three rows of three blocks per round. The more blocks in your link when you finish your turn, the more points you score. The board also includes multiplier squares which can be linked up for brutal scores. At the start of the game, you get allocated a colour, and for every link of that particular colour you get double the points you would for any other colour. You also have bombs for clearing unwanted blocks, coins to spend on swapping rows of three blocks and buying better bombs.
The game play is simple to pick up, but it soon becomes apparent when you play someone who knows what they are doing, there are a lot of subtle tactics that make the game harder than you think. And this is where the brilliance of the game lays. Its crucial to try your three rows out in different combinations to ensure you are scoring the maximum points you can get, before you click to complete your round. Use bombs to clear unwanted colours and don’t be afraid to spend some coins to swap unwanted rows. This will all help you improve your score and leave you opponent in your dust.
The game is quite slow placed, and you will find that they ‘with Friends’ part of the name is unwarranted at the moment, as chances are you friends won’t yet be playing it. The good thing though is that the random opponents you start games with are also in the same boat and often stick around for a few rematches (as long as you don’t beat them too badly). When this game takes off though, as I should imagine it will, it has the potential to be as popular and addictive as Words with Friends.
As its free, its definitely worth a download to your iOS or Android phones or device, especially if you are a fan of puzzle games and friendly competition.
Daily Waffle Score: 5/5