TriColor is a match-3 puzzle game developed by MobiRate and published by ClickGamer.

Gameplay

Let’s face it, just about everyone in the world has played at least a few hours of Tetris, and at least one kind of puzzle game that challenged you to match 3 of the same colored shapes.  There may be hundreds of different versions of each available, but no matter how many different ones we play the mechanics have never really evolved that much.  This is where TriColor comes along.  The developers over at MobiRate decided to go the Reese’s cups way and got their match-3 game all up in their Tetris, with a result that works surprisingly well.

Gravity doesn’t work this way!!!

The premise is quite simple, colored blocks fall in small groups of 1 to 3 arranged in various Tetris-style shapes and you must rotate and place them to try and line up 3 in a row horizontally vertically or diagonally.  Just like its great grandfather Tetris, there is no physics system in play here, meaning that if one block from the falling piece comes to rest somewhere the entire thing stops as well, even if the block that touched formed a line.  The result is pieces that just sort of hang there in mid air confusingly and force you to try and navigate your pieces around and under them.  This effect gets even weirder if you can manage to eliminate some blocks underneath a floating one since it will drop down by the number of blocks removed from under it, but still keep the same floating distance.  While this can be pretty annoying for the first few games, I found that after a short time I was becoming accustomed to it and able to place my blocks to minimize floatage, so i guess you could say that this is just part of the game’s learning curve.  You can also set off chain reactions and rack up score multipliers by either lining up two sets of 3 at once or having falling blocks line up with 3 other blocks when they land, but more often than not this will be pure luck.

You are given two different methods of controlling the game, either with the on-screen buttons or by using your finger to drag the piece.  Let me establish this right here: You should not under any circumstances even attempt to play the game any other way than with the buttons.  The problem with the sliding controls is that they are too imprecise for a game like this.

Thank you TriColor, I do feel good!

More often than not I found myself dropping a piece when I tried to move it to the side, or moving it to the side and then dropping immediately if my finger slid down just a tiny bit, resulting in a few too many ragequits (which the home button is all too good at).  The button controls work excellently however, you have buttons at the bottom for left and right movement, tap the board to rotate and hit another button to drop.  Playing it this way feels exactly like playing classic Tetris and really helps you get a handle on the game.

Graphics

This game has a very simple look to it.  As I said earlier, you have basic tetris style block arrangements and as far as the pieces go that’s pretty much all there is to it.  Whenever you line up three or more blocks there’s a little lightning animation before your blocks explode.  You’ll also get some encouraging words of “GOOD” and “EXCELLENT” to give you a little pat on the back when you set off bigger chain reactions.  The addition of 3 different theme packs to choose from is a nice touch but it one of them is just a recolored version of the other and doesn’t actually change any shapes.  All in all, the graphics get the job done but won’t really blow your mind.

Different styles and the ability to make custom soundracks add some depth to the game

Sound

Much like the graphics, the sound design in this game is quite simple.  As you play TriColor you’ll be treated to a cheery little background tune that really fits with the style of the game.  The other sound effects are all similarly cheery, but are not at all obtrusive if you want to listen to your own music.  Speaking of your own music, TriColor has a really great “make your own play-list” feature built in.  It’s really easy to quickly choose a few songs for the game to cycle through while you play, and since that’s what almost everyone wants to do it’s great that the tools are built right in.

Conclusion

Overall TriColor might have a few strange design choices like the lack of gravity, but it really is a pretty good puzzle game, and at only $0.99 you can’t really complain.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone who’s a fan of Tetris or match-3 games and wants to try something new.

Score

MustTap Score: Iron Tap

It's technically solid, but what comes out is pretty plain.

Bottom Line
A pretty original mixture of two very familiar concepts that despite its few flaws is definitely worth playing

Screenshots