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In the aptly titled Jewel Quest: Heritage, Rupert's arch-rival Sebastian Grenard has stolen the Golden Jewel Board, claiming it as a family heirloom. In order to prove that the board is rightfully his, Rupert must trace the origins of the Jewel Board all the way back to the Aztec Empire while investigating his own family tree to see how the history of the jewel board is intertwined with the lives of his own ancestors.

The fourth game in the gem-swapping match-3 series features the same core gameplay as its predecessors. The goal is to match three or more jewels to clear them from the board and turn the tiles below to gold. the board is complete when all the tiles are turned to gold before the allotted time limit runs out.

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Pylo Noveau is a solid platformer made with the Game Maker engine, featuring four lengthy levels to play in the first demo build released. The developer has promised four times the content in the final version, but don't let the incomplete tag discourage you from giving this game a try.

You play as Pylo, a dragon with fire-breathing ability that can be further upgraded whenever you collect a red gem. Any jewels you collect also allows you to use special powers that can either reveal secrets in a stage, heal Pylo, or even hurt enemies in a myriad of ways.

The biggest letdown of this project is the use of sound effects from other commercial releases, although if you can let that slide then there's some fun to be had here by fans of platform games. (source: PixelProspector) Continue reading

These days, hidden object games tend to fall into two categories: those that make a valiant effort to innovate within a genre that has already been thoroughly explored, and those that come off as a little more than an attempt to cash in on our obsession to search for stuff in crowded pictures. Travel League: The Missing Jewels is, unfortunately, a member of the latter group.

Players take on the role of Alex, a young woman enlisted to help find the stolen jewels of an ancient and mysterious group known as the Travel League, of which her grandfather is a longtime member. She travels to cities around the globe, talking to locals who provide information on what has happened to each piece.

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My favorite pick out of the recent Ludum Dare was Broken Cave Robot. You have a limited amount to time to navigate a space closed off by black walls, darkness, and a thatch of illogical spaces that cause it to wrap around. You must, I imagine, get all the jewels, and it's really hard. There's no exit, instead you must master the information pattern of how there is no exit. You have to draw your own map and trace paths, remembering which route was the most efficient. I bet if you get all the jewels the illogical spaces turn into an actual exit, but I haven't been able to pull it off yet.

The aesthetics are light, slightly pixelated with a sharp contrast of white and gray against black to create a sense of rolling claustrophobia. The music creates a profound sense of calm as you robot around the place, it's like this slow guitar reminiscent of Act I of Diablo II, but blended more tonally like the soundtrack of Fig. 8. Then the harmonica blends in. I don't know why, but it makes me feel like I'm home.

This is a game about fixing a cave, the robot isn't broken. I'm ok, you're ok, your robot is ok. It's the cave that's the problem. Can I get a holla back from Socrates?

Check out the trailer for Thorson's next game.