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| Source // Steam |
What is Chime? It's a little bit like Tetris, only not really, and it's a little bit like Lumines, but not that either. It's musical, but it isn't, and it's about making shapes with unusual puzzle pieces, sort of.
What I do know is that it's just a tad addicting, so let's find out why.
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| Source // MobyGames |
Fun Times
I'm playing the Chime demo on the Xbox 360, which is annoying short but gives us an overview of what is a simple little game.
You're given a tile and a massive grid to place it in. Once you do, you're given another tile, probably one of a different shape entirely, and again need to place it in the grid, the objective being to make 'quads' that will score you points.
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| Source // MobyGames |
A 'quad', annoyingly, is a shape that is at least 3x3 blocks. So long as you keep sticking bits onto this quad to increase its size, the bar that sweeps left to right won't score it, and the bigger your quad the more points you'll get from it.
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| Source // MobyGames |
When a quad is scored, its position is recorded on the grid as being covered, and you're trying to get a certain percentage of cells covered to complete the level or earn a bonus level.
Importantly, however, is that these quads then disappear, and you can place shapes over the top of them as if the grid was empty. You won't be increasing your coverage, but you'll be able to fix the mess you've made elsewhere, and hopefully make new quads in the process.
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| Source // Steam |
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| Source // Steam |
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| Source // Steam |
As you can see, not all levels are the same, though the modes on offer will keep you playing for set lengths of time regardless of what stage you're looking at, or, if you prefer to just chill out, listen to, and sort of interact with the music, you can stick it in an endless mode and have at it.
You often find yourself wanting to play the endless mode just so you can get your head around all these quad mechanics. Helpfully, the game will tell you where you can and can't place a tile, so you could just play based on visual cues rather than any actual knowledge of the rules. Probably won't score as highly, but whatever, you're having fun, right?
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| Source // Steam |
Final Word
And generally speaking, I was having fun with Chime. Not masses of fun, but the way this puzzle works was familiar enough to dive right into, but with enough twists to engage your brain and make it work for a result.
The music choice is limited, but you're not going to find anything rubbish to listen to, and as I say, you'll get to interact with it by making quads and having them disappear on the beat and whatnot, but that's about it.
You're really playing it because it's a simple game to play, and could be addicting enough to keep you striving towards a high score - I know I wouldn't say no to playing it again, but playing it for a long time? Probably less of a desire.
Sure, it's pleasant to listen to and fun to engage with, but there's just not much else to Chime. Its potential seems to have been lost because of it being such a small package - just five levels, effectively.
I should definitely mention, however, that it was sold for charity, and getting a little game in return for supporting worthy causes isn't a bad thing, is it? I guess that makes me an arsehole for only playing the demo, though... Hmm.
For those of you who like the idea of puzzles and music, you can't really go wrong with Chime. It might not give you hours and hours of entertainment, but it plays well for the time that you do put into it.
Fun Facts
As it was a charitable game, all the music was provided pro bono, or as regular folk like to say, 'for free'.
Chime, developed by Zoë Mode, first released in 2010.
Version played: Xbox 360 Demo, 2010.