Paradoxion Review

Written by: David Laprad Website: GameXtazy Puzzle games for the PC are more popular than ever before, thanks in part to the ability of users to easily download and purchase addictive offerings online. Titles such as Bejeweled and Snowy: Puzzle Islands have captivated countless players with simple, but clever, gameplay and user-friendly controls. Despite the release of dozens of quality brain-teasers, however, developers are showing no signs of running out of inventive ways to keep us scratching our heads late into the night. One release every fan of puzzle games should try is Paradoxion from VSB Games. The rules of Paradoxion are simple. The game board consists of a grid on which numerous Elements, such as Orbs and Gems, are arranged. Your task is to clear the board using the contents of your inventory, which consists of additional Orbs and Gems. To be eliminated, Elements of the same kind must be arranged in specific combinations. For example, taking a Green Orb from your inventory and aligning it with two other Green Orbs already on the grid moves all three Elements. The things that fuel the gameplay and make it challenging are chain reactions, which are caused when a blast shifts the position of nearby Elements. Remember the three Green Orbs you got rid of in the above paragraph? If there had been a Red Orb next to one of the Green Orbs on either end of the line you formed, the blast would have moved the Red Orb one square on the grid. This could have aligned it with two other Red Orbs and remove those Elements as well. The first few levels contain these basic components, but like a magician who must keep his audience thrilled for an entire show, Paradoxion has even better tricks up its sleeve. Later puzzles introduce a variety of special Elements and Tools, including Teleporters and Disintegrators. The developers at VSB Games utilized these rudiments to create 90 puzzles ranging in difficulty from easy to mind-boggling. Fortunately, the option to restart a level without any penalty and the ability to undo your last move allow you to try different things in your search for the solution. Many puzzles require a long, but enjoyable, process of analyzing cause and effect. Paradoxion also takes its time introducing new Elements and Tools, allowing you to learn the ways in which they work together without overloading you with new information. To provide further assistance, each level contains a Tip button that nudges you in the right direction without giving away the solution. If you're still unable to solve a particular puzzle, you can access a web page containing the solution from within the game. You can play the levels in any order, so players who avoid strategy guides can try another one if they get stuck. Although graphics and audio play second fiddle to gameplay in puzzle games, it bears mentioning that the presentation in Paradoxion is superb. The interface is clean, the artwork is appealing and the sound effects strike the perfect note. The visuals are two-dimensional, yet the Elements and Tools have body, as though they exist on a game board on your table, not your computer screen. Three animated backgrounds set in space round out the package. Everything you see and hear in Paradoxion is geared toward helping you to concentrate on the task at hand. With new puzzle games appearing on a regular basis, titles that bring refreshing ideas to the table are few and far between. Paradoxion is such a game. Try it!