Magic Inlay

     Demo from www.shockwave.com and www.gamehouse.com

                      Reviewed by Sue

It was only in Issue 87 that I reviewed and enthused about Puzzle
Inlay. Already Gamehouse have brought out a follow-up that is
bigger, better and more addictive than the original. It's called
Magic Inlay.

Both games have the same basic premise. You have to complete
frameworks of shapes by fitting different mosaic pieces into them.
Gem pieces scroll across the screen on a conveyor belt at ever
increasing speed, and you have to grab and drop them into the
outline. Like Tetris, the scrolling area will fill up with unused
shapes. If it fills totally, that's the end of the game.  There's
a discard area where you can drop some shapes and watch them
scroll away but it moves much slower than the main gem area. It's
only a temporary respite anyway because pieces put on there will
eventually reappear on the conveyor belt. Some gems have bonuses
when you place them so it's worth trying to use up all of those.

Puzzle Inlay had three basic layout shapes - round, triangle and
square - and the pieces that fitted into them were vaguely in that
category of shape. Magic Inlay takes place in three magical lands
- Dragon Land, Fantasy Valley and Fairy Isles. The basic game is
the same but there are complications. Each level is made up of
several shapes and the working area scrolls between them.
Sometimes you return to a completed shape during the level to find
an extra framework has been added.

As you finish each shape, you get a bonus called a Mosaic Bonus
such as having all gems on the conveyor belt gain bonuses or all
large gems turned into more-useful small ones.  There are also
Quest Gems. These look like a small representation of a magical
creature but when you pick them up they turn into a gem. But you
won't know of what shape until you grab it.  At the end of the
level is a magical 'Boss' creature that will try to destroy gems
you've placed, as well as ones on the conveyor belt. At the end of
the first level in Dragon Land, it was a dragon that spat
gem-destroying flame!

Some Magic Tools from the first game are available here too - a
magic wand will fill a gap, a hammer will smash gems on the
conveyor belt. On each level you can pick one of two amulets that
confer special powers for that level such as extra bonuses or a
higher score for each gem. The gems themselves are far more
interesting. There's a much wider variety in their shapes than in
Puzzle Inlay. They interlock very nicely.

These descriptions apply to the normal level game. There are also
easy and hard versions.

Any annoyances? The only one is that you don't appear to be able
to save during a level which is a bit of a problem as it means you
can't have a quick game and just do one shape.  You'd have to
leave the computer switched on and the game running but paused
until you finish the level.

Other than that - brilliant. I'd been tempted to buy the full
version of Puzzle Inlay but now I much prefer Magic Inlay. The
demo lets you play for 60 mins which is just enough to whet your
appetite. The full game - 21 levels of over 300 puzzles - costs
$19.95 by download.














                              - o -