App of the Week: Jewels Legend

It’s often the case with apps that the simplest ones are the most enjoyable. Sure, high-end smartphones are capable these days of running powerful classic games such as Max Payne or Grand Theft Auto 3, but the touchscreen controls are much more accommodating for games with a more old-school flavour. Jewels Legend is one such game.

Developed by ITreeGamer, the people who gave us basic classics like Jewels Star, Jewels Legend distinguishes itself by having hexagonal tiles. The aim of the game is to dispose of the coloured shapes by matching them up to each other via straight or diagonal lines (or criss-crossing lines, if you’re a bit of a nutter). Once the initial bunch of shapes reaches the bottom line, the fabled blue star appears. Push this to the bottom of the board by destroying more shapes, and you’ve won the level.

Along the way there are plenty of power-ups for you to use, though the pace of the game is such that you hardly have time to evaluate what they do. If you see a shape with lightning or some other mysterious energy in it, just try to dispose of it by shape-matching and you’re bound to be rewarded.

As you progress through the game, the levels take on varying shapes, and I’m pretty sure the backgrounds change up as well (though this could be my eyes playing tricks on me after all the explosions that happen on the screen). In total, there are over 200 levels for you to blast through, with worlds getting unlocked only as you get enough points.

Jewels Legend may not have a ground-breaking visual style, which pays homage to – or ist just too lazy to differ from – the classic SEGA puzzler, Bejeweled. The gameplay is captivating though, and seeing as you can pick it up for free, then there’s no reason not to check out the hottest app on Google Play at the moment.

Jewels Legend can be picked up for free at Google Play.