It’s your friendly KF on KND Editor April L. Hamilton here to share a free app I’ve enjoyed a lot, and think you will too: Bee Brilliant (5/5 stars, all ages, currently FREE).
This is a very fun, free match-3 game with a bee theme. It has power-ups and levels with various obstacles and tiles you must break multiple times to remove, like most match-3s, but the execution is fun and original. I only have three complaints about this game, and they’re pretty minor.
First, the difficulty curve on the puzzles is nice and gradual, but after the first 35 or so levels you’ll hit a level that simply can’t be solved without a) using power ups, or b) making so many super-long link chains in the level that you create enough ‘Busy Bees’ (super-charged bees that break multiple tiles in their path) AND positioning the Busy Bees where you need them to break tiles you couldn’t reach otherwise. Level 37 is one of those, and it’s pictured at right. Notice how the far right column is totally separate from the rest of the game board: the only way to break those stones is by creating Busy Bees in the main grid and positioning them so that when they’re part of a matched chain, they’ll hit the stones in the far right column.
My advice: hang on to those power-ups you get for free early in the game, because even after playing up to level 36 I was NEVER awarded more, and that’s my second complaint.
You have to collect 25 “presents” in the game grids by making matches near them to earn just one power-up, and since each grid gives the player limited moves you’re often forced to forego collecting presents just to have enough moves to finish the level. Of course you’re prompted to buy power-ups too, and if you have some Amazon coins on hand it’s probably worth doing if you hope to beat the higher levels. I don’t mind paying for quality games, or making In-App Purchases (IAPs) in quality games, but it does annoy me when it seems like the purchases are being extorted from the player by game levels that simply cannot be beaten without buying something. In my opinion it should be possible to beat every level—even if it means making many attempts—without having to buy anything, and the purchases should be there for people who get tired of having to repeat the same level and just want to finish it and move on.
My last complaint is that the game nags the player to share on Facebook after every level. Again, a minor complaint because it’s easy enough to just tap the big red “x” in the upper right hand corner to close the nag screen.
From Amazon:
Explore the world of Beeland and meet the singing Babees, the crazy Busy Bees and the cheeky spiders in this buzzing FREE puzzle game. Get ready to connect colourful lines of Babees and make awesome combos! Release your inner bee and join the beedazzling adventure TODAY!
FEATURES:
• Easy, addictive gameplay! Match and connect one colourful line of bees after another to unleash combos!
• Play your way through Beeland in 6 different game modes and 260+ addictive levels!
• Challenge your friends! Can you Bee Brilliant enough to top their high scores?
• Lots of crazy bees! Meet Ms. Honey, Sgt. Sting, Beecasso and others! And, of course, the singing Babees will not miss a chance to break into their buzzing mix of disco and barber shop!
• Loads of different game modes: Pop the cheeky spiders’ web, collect honey pots and much, much more!
• Not to forget: A lifetime’s supply of bee puns!
“Bee Brilliant is a match-3 puzzler with quite possibly the best theme song ever” – AppSpy.com
Bee Brilliant: if you’re a fan of the Match-3 genre, give this one a try!
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