Monday, February 22, 2010

Robo-Review: Chime




Give a Little bit of Music
Music games are a dime a dozen and there is not very much variety in them anymore. In most, you play with a guitar, set of drums, or a mic. Some of the best music games are the ones that change the flow of how music games are played and have you enjoying it while at the same time testing your mind. 


Chime is a music/puzzle game developed by Zoe Mode that takes elements from Sony’s popular Lumines and the legendary Tetris to create a wonderful time-waster that challenges gamers for such a small price. 


Chime is a “musical puzzle game” that works depending on the flexibility of the players mind. Quick reflexes also help create a 9, 6, or 3 minute session of music making. You can even play in free mode which grants you an unlimited amount of time of play songs from artists such as Phillip Glass, Moby, and Paul Hartnoll. 


 The objective of Chime is to cover a grid with as many “quads” as possible. Quads are created with Tetris-like pieces and can be a square or any sized rectangle that can fit on the grid. The grids are shaped depending on the song the player chooses. A line crosses the screen from left to right as you build quads. This line will activate the quads and play tunes as it passes them. For every quad you make, a music note is played along with the background theme song. This is what makes the game most enjoyable as you pay because you are creating soothing or exciting music that you start to tap your toes to. 


The developers have decided to do something very selfless by giving no less than 60% of the purchase price of Chime to charity and pricing the game at a mere five dollars. Chime is an exceptional little game packed with enough content to last gamers quite a long time and it is worth spending the money on a title that is giving back to the community.  

Check out the YouTube page to view a clip from Chime.