Whew! Well, it's pretty fast and furious, this game - not a lot of breathing space once you start playing! But I've managed to get through the first section somehow, and I'll be going back for more once I get my breath back. I've played several of the previous Montezumas in the past and enjoyed them, and this one is just as bright and colourful, but faster and less forgiving as far as the time element goes. I would always prefer an untimed game if possible (it's an Age Thing, I suspect) but I'll be going back to this one until it goes completely out of my speed range, I reckon. Thanks for another goodie, to GGAOTD, to MPC and of course to Whiterabbit. Hope you'll get that computer sorted out soon, WR - your words are always useful to anyone unsure about what's on offer here.

Монтесума - одна из лучших игр из категории 3 в ряд. У неё есть куча особенностей, которые в других играх встречаются очень редко или не встречаются вовсе.

Главная фишка в том, что для совершения следующего хода не надо ждать завершения предыдущего - блокируются только фишки, участвующие в удаляемых наборах. Это не только позволяет играть быстрее (уровни на время), но и даёт возможность, если ты быстрый, делать фокусы типа нескольких обменов с одной фишкой и её перемещением на несколько рядов вверх(!), возможность успешно и осмысленно(!) обменять две фишки одинакового до того, как на них упадёт такая же третья и много другое.

Необычный подход с тотемами - каждому цвету соответствует тотем с особым эффектом (кидание огненных шаров в поле, перекрашивание цвета, дополнительные очки, дополнительное время и другое). Тотемы надо открывать и в последствии можно улучшать. Они не накапливаются, а применяются автоматически при удалении групп одного цвета подряд.

Бонусы (динамит, молния и другие) за удаление больше чем 3 фишек тоже присутствуют, но открываются позднее.

У уровней адекватная сложность, ничего заведомо непроходимого, в отличии от популярных сейчас игр.

Translated using Google Translate:

Montezuma is one of the best match 3 games. It has a bunch of features that are very rare or not found in other games.

The main feature is that in order to make the next move, you do not have to wait for the previous one to complete - only the tokens participating in the removed sets are blocked. This not only allows you to play faster (levels against the clock), but also makes it possible, if you are fast, to do tricks such as several exchanges with one chip and its movement several rows up (!), The ability to successfully and meaningfully (!) Exchange two chips the same before the same third falls on them and much more.

Unusual approach with totems - each color corresponds to a totem with a special effect (throwing fireballs into the field, recoloring the color, extra points, extra time, and more). Totems must be opened and subsequently improved. They do not accumulate, but are applied automatically when you delete groups of the same color in a row.

Bonuses (dynamite, lightning and others) for removing more than 3 tokens are also present, but they open later.

The levels have adequate difficulty, nothing obviously impassable, in contrast to the popular games now.

Hey, Mr. Rabbit. IMO, posting links to other/previous reviews is totally acceptable, so don't stress over not being "up" on the current games. :)

I tried to install the game but it says the give away period is over! The date on the setup file is 11/2. What's going on?

Not mentioned yet (that I've seen) was this game was also given away June 30, 2019 (and December 24, 2017 as mentioned twice already):
https://game.giveawayoftheday.com/the-treasures-of-montezuma-5-2/

What about Relaxed Mode?

A good match 3 game plays well on my windows 10 computer. I have played the first few levels it is fairly challenging with completing tasks before the time runs out, I am definitely going to keep the game.

Previously given away on Christmas Eve 2017

https://game.giveawayoftheday.com/the-treasures-of-montezuma-5/