Giveaway of the Day - Zamby and the Mystical Crystals

Introduction

Quote:

Zamby and the Mystical Crystals is a unique puzzle game set in a vast, enchanted fantasy land. Help Zamby in his quest to gather the mystical light crystals! I’ve posted several links to images, a video and a decent review

The Game:

This is definitely a worthwhile puzzle game to download, especially if you have a family because there are levels for all ages contained within this game. You’ll find 70 normal levels 54 children’s levels and 24 secret levels. The secret levels can only be unlocked as you progress through the normal levels (played from ‘Quest for the Crystals’ levels) Once you’ve completed six normal levels you’ll unlock two secret levels; each additional six completed normal levels will unlock a further 2 secret levels. To open the final secret level, called Lair of the Medusa, you have to have completed all of the normal levels. There are 148 levels plus 8 extra levels that you can download from the developer’s site that were made during the development of the game, but didn’t make it into the final cut; (see link below). I’ve posted several links below to a video of the game play, a decent review by James Allen as well as links to images.

At the end of each level you can select to replay the level, replay a previously played level or proceed to the next level, though any others are locked. Both the Quest for the Crystals and the Children’s levels start with several training levels, all of which contain messages which can be opened by standing next to one of the monsters.

There’s several pages to the help menu which introduces the game, discusses the game mechanics and explains what the objects you use do, the terrain types that affect the movement of objects and the different monsters that can be found in this game. There’s also an encyclopedia that contains 12 sections. These can only be accessed as you complete specific levels. I can’t say anything else about the encyclopedia as I’ve not unlocked any sections yet. If you are totally stumped on any level you can watch a video of the solution by clicking on the menu button which brings up a selection of options including a solution button.

What makes this game worth keeping (IMO) is the levels editor. It’s simple to use and once you’ve created your levels you copy them to the following path:

My Documents\Zamby\levels

There are two levels packs available from the developers site, but only one will work with this game as the other was made for the Mac version of the game. You can download the level pack from:

http://www.kristanix.com/zamby/addonlevels/

The following is copied from the games description from the developer’s site. I thought it was plain and simple so decided to use it in today’s review. (Anything to save a little time), though it does cover some of the points I’ve already made.

Movement within a level is accomplished using the keyboards arrow keys. The aim of the game is to collect all the crystals from each level (Hence the games name). Along your journey through snow-filled mountains, green fields, wet swamps and deep forests, you will encounter a host of different monsters.

The monsters will always stand perfectly still unless you move. This means that there is no-time limit to beat any of the challenges. Spend anything from a few minutes to several hours trying to figure out a single level!

To help you in your quest, your guiding spirit will give you useful tips. If you get stuck, you can ask for hints or watch a video solution of the level. If you make a mistake, you can instantly undo every wrong move you’ve made by pressing the U key. The game will also store your progress as you go along, so you can continue playing the next day.

With six different monsters and a bunch of different environments, there is great variety in the types of puzzles you will face. No two levels are the same! In addition, as you progress through your journey, you will unlock secret missions, and uncover ancient knowledge to fill your encyclopedia with!

There’s an excellent review to be found at the following address by James Allen:

http://jaguarusf.blogspot.com/2007/12/zamby-and-mystical-crystals-review.html

Images:

All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Zamby/?start=all

As a Slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Zamby/?albumview=slideshow

Developers page:

http://www.kristanix.com/viewscreen.php?game=zamby&image=1&numimg=10

Googled:

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Zamby+and+the+Mystical+Crystals+&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Video:

http://www.kristanix.com/zamby/video.php

System Requirements:

OS…………..Win 2000, XP
c.p.u…………700MHz
RAM…………128Mb
Graphics…….DirectX 6 or greater

Conclusion:

Although Zamby and the Mystical Crystals is a simple puzzle game, the later levels are quite challenging; (sounds contradictory, but you know what I mean). There are loads of levels for both the adults and children, making this an ideal family game to own. As an added bonus there’s a levels editor that, as mentioned above, is easy to use, so you can create as many new levels as you like.

I like this type of puzzle game so my score may be slightly biased at 7 out of 10. If you’ve ever played a game called Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery you’ll like this game. I’m not particularly enamored with the music, but at a push you can change all the music by changing the ogg files found in the games data folder.

Thank you Kristanix and the Game Giveaway team for an excellent game.

Look fun. Game of logic. Starts off very easy, but soon requires much more thought. Many thanks for this one.