Laruaville 7 - Match 3 Adventure Reviews

I think the Laruaville series peaked with this installment, and I've got them all up to the current #16 as of this writing. This is the only game I've played from this developer where the 91 M3-puzzle levels can be readily solved with matches only for an extra "puzzle" element, although there are plenty of powerups to be had if you make bigger matches. So it can be very easy if you simply want to relax and blow your way out of the levels, or challenging if you don't use the powerups. If you want a serious challenge, play in limited moves and don't use the powerups. There are lots of bonus M3 levels which unlock as you go along. 21 turn-based M3 levels in which you must remove all the coins from your playing field before the computer opponent can do the same on their side. Also 21 extra challenging levels featuring black coins which will forfeit the level if you collect them, so you must strategically play around them to get all the regular coins. The ghosts are a hoot this time around. The developer did take a fair bit of artistic latitude with the ancient Egyptian theme, so if you're a history purist, that's going to be off-putting. In between the regular levels, there are a bunch of minigames, mostly super easy solitaire, but about 10 spot the difference scenes too. The turn-based bonus levels are sometimes a matter of luck with cascades, and several of the black coin toughie levels could have been better designed (later games featuring black coin levels have some extra fail-safes built in so you don't accidentally lose due to a cascade). But Laruaville 7 remains one of my favorites of the series.