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> Review :: Sunstone Swap, Rating 4.5 out of 5
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post Jul 18 2005, 11:25 AM
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PDAmill is a developer of games and applications for portable platforms including Windows SmartPhones and Pocket PCs, Palm and Symbian devices. Their products show consistently well thought out designs put together into polished final products.

The staff of Mobile Gadget News has been given the chance to review their latest offerings of games for the SmartPhone platform. These games are all jewel based games with different gameplay requiremnts. Jewel games have become like Tetris, in that many variations of the original game have emerged, and all seem to have a dedicated (or addicted) following. This series of games will prove to be just as addicting as their other titles.

Here is what PDAmill has to say about Sunstone Swap:

QUOTE
In Swap you have to arrange Gems by rotating blocks of four Gems. The plot is, that in the deepest recesses of Melonchi, Harkeph, the Dwarf is revitalizing these Gems, by increasing their stability by combining them together with three or more of the same type Gem. Luckily Harkeph is very skilled and knows how to handle these.


Note: The screen captures in this review were made using Microsoft's ActiveSync Remote Display. They contain border window information not seen on the actual phone.

When the game starts up you are asked to put in your name:



The main menu gives you a few options:



The INFO section contains quite a bit of information including gameplay instructions and game story.





Here are the options for configuring game play. The volume and brightness controls are pretty self explainatory. Show grid is an option that makes it easier to line up gems across the screen.



And of course, every game must have a high score board!



Ready to play? Let's Go!



PDAmill released 6 new gem based games at the same time. Several of them share similar gameplay. Sunstone Swap is completely different from all of the others. The goal is to clear off gems from the board. You do that by rotating groups of 4 gems clockwise or counter-clockwise. The two graphs on the top of the screen show how much time you have left to compelte the board, and how many gems you must clear off in order to move to the next level. Clear off enough gems in time and you advance. Fail to do so and you will find yourself starting over from the beginning.



As I said, this game is unlike any of the other PDAmill games and offered a refreshing change in reviewing all of their latest offerings. This is yet another example of the eye candy PDAmill produces. And the gameplay is smooth and easy to understand. The game is well designed and has an interesting objective. I have given it a 4.5 out of 5.

Buy it at Handango


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