Get Ready For An Adventure
Legend has it that there are ancient Mayan relics out there somewhere known as the thirty tiles of insight. However, a recent accident broke open a museum artifact and revealed ancient text that confirms that the tiles are more than just a legend! Now, the museum is whisking you off on a journey around the world to collect the ancient relics. Your first stop: the Mayan city known as Tikal, then it's on to the bridge of Copan and so forth. I always love it when a game uses real world locales and injects a little bit of culture, don't you?
MahJongg is one of those games that everybody has played due to its rampant popularity in the computer gaming world. I know I have played more than my fair share of the game, enough to make me pretty sick of it. That being said, MahJongg: Ancient Mayas actually managed to add enough unique twists to the tired old formula that I got sucked back in. If you like the classic tile game, you'll love this take on it. If you're like me and you thought your days of playing were at an end, you'll still love this take on it. Trust me.
A Few Power-Ups Make All The Difference
Like I said, I've played my fair share of MahJongg and in all my time of playing I honestly can't recall a single incarnation that utilized power-ups before this one. I'm sure there have been, and it's quite possible that I played them, but they clearly didn't leave a lasting impression on me. This simply isn't the case here. Adding a handful of cool power-ups makes a world of difference and transformed the game of swapping tiles from something I didn't even want to look at it anymore to something that I got lost in for longer than I want to say.
To give you an idea of what's in store for you, let me give you a rundown of the special tiles that you'll come across.
- Joker(Swirl): Just like in cards, the Joker is wild and can be matched with anything.
- Eye: After activating this, click on a tile and all possible matches will light up for 25 seconds.
- Exchange: Swap positions of any two tiles.
- Magnet: Allows one tile to be pulled away by a magnet.
- Sun: Get rid of all visible tiles of one type.
- Lighting: There are two of these in each level. Bring them together to complete the stage instantly. More of a necessary step than a bonus.
- Three Tiles: Depicted a stack of three tiles, this bonus unlocks new tile sets to use during play.
As you can imagine, the power-ups help immensely and really change the dynamic of the game play.
One of a Kind
This isn't an overhaul of MahJongg or anything close to it, it's simply MahJongg with power-ups. However, that small addition is enough of a change to set it apart from the rest. I can confidently recommend this game to everyone and this is coming from someone who was completely sick of tiles!
