Ran across an interesting, somewhat addictive Windows Phone 7 game the other day. Extreme Lines by Blue Trading is a $.99 game over at the Marketplace that is line game with a puzzle twist to it.
Extreme Lines offer two game plays, Classic and Extreme and two Game Modes, Lines and Squares. With two gaming levels (easy and hard) Extreme Lines comes with plenty of game to it.
Ease on past the break to read more on Extreme Lines.
Game Layout
Extreme Lines main menu will send you into the game, take you to the game options (sound and music settings), display the games scoring leaderboard, and send you to the game's instructions.
When you start the game, you have to choose what game style and mode you'd like to tackle. Extreme Lines has two game plays or styles. Extreme play has special items that will help you along the way. With the Classic play, you're on your own with no special items available to help you out.
The Game Modes dictate the games objective. The Line Mode requires you to line up five balls of the same color. They explode and you earn points. The Square Mode requires you to organize balls of the same color in a square. Create the square, the balls explode and you earn points.
Colored balls are generated after each move that doesn't create an explosion. The balls are generated small and while they are small, you can move a large ball into that particular square or you can move past the square with the small ball. After the next move, the balls grow to full size and will block your movement.
The game screen layout is simple. Up top you have your score and the next three balls that will appear on the game board. The game board is a 9x9 square grid and just below that, is an Undo Button (do-over) and a Menu Button.
Movement is simple. Tap on the ball you want moved and it encircled by a ring of fire. Then tap on the square you want the ball moved to and if the path is clear, the ball slides on over.
Game Play
Game play went smooth with no bugs, glitches or crashes experienced. Every now and then a ball was stubborn and it took two taps to get things going.
When the game begins and you have plenty of elbow room on the game board, your moves don't have to be as calculated. However, when things begin to get tight you really need to think each move out carefully. You'll see the next three balls that will come into play but you don't know where they'll land.
In playing both Lines and Squares, as well as Classic and Extreme, it's hard to say which game version I liked the best. Squares is a little easier in that you only have to line up four balls. But with Lines, you can form your five ball line vertically or horizontally. The Special Items help but if you think things through, you can be just as successful without them in the Classic play.
Overall Impression
There is a slight addictive quality to Extreme Lines that seems to build the more you play. Simply put, Extreme Lines will grow on you.
The two game plays and two game modes gives the game plenty of variety and helps it from becoming stale. The puzzle aspect of moving and organizing the colored balls offers a healthy challenge. The Undo Button gives the game just enough forgiveness so it doesn't become too easy.
If you like puzzle games, Extreme Lines is worth considering. There is a free trial that limits you to the Classic Play and the full version will run you $.99. Both can be found here (opens Zune) at the Marketplace.
Update: A free, ad-supported version of Extreme Lines has hit the Marketplace. It has the same game modes as the paid version and has an ad banner that pops up at the bottom of the screen. You can find the free version here at the Marketplace.
