As a puzzle game enthusiast, I didn’t think twice about trying out Crystalix.
In Crystalix, you play the role of a wizard, embarking on a journey to cleanse the world of the numerous pieces of a shattered comet. To destroy these fragments, you will have to place colored pieces of different shapes on the respective colors on the puzzle field. You will also have a couple of magical artifacts to your disposal: a wand, that destroys a single block on the puzzle field; and a hammer, that destroys a single piece on your “assembly line”.
There are two game modes in Crystalix.
In Classic Mode, you have to remove all the blocks from the puzzle field. You do this by placing the different pieces onto the respective colored areas on the puzzle field. When all the blocks are gone, you move on to the next challenge.
In Jewel Mode, you have to destroy the crystals and turn the puzzle field into your color. Just like in Classic Mode, you place the pieces onto the respective colors, and the background of those gems will change to yellow. When all of the background inside the puzzle field is yellow, you move on to the next.
Hints:
- Sometimes you will come across pieces that have a little star on them. Using them will give you an extra hammer or wand to use.
- Certain blocks will crack instead of shatter. You will need to place two pieces over them so they break and disappear.
- Flashing gems are a bit like bombs. If you place a piece over them, they will explode and take away others in the process.
At the end of the levels, the remaining slots for pieces in the “assembly line” will fill with piles of gold. Click on them for bonus points.
The puzzles span through 70 levels, each being composed of a few different challenges. Instead of static fields, Crystalix has a dynamic world that shows when you move from puzzle to puzzle. The screen will then scroll though the scenery and there’s a small mini-game to be played as you “travel”: collect all the pieces of gold and precious gems that you can (by clicking on them) for extra bonus points.
Each puzzle screen also has a few tricks to distract you from your puzzling objectives. There are pieces of treasure waiting to be picked up (quickly, before they disappear!) and little creatures will roam around back and forth, waiting for you to move your cursor over them. Doing so will show a little animation for the creature, such as a snail retreating back into its shell or a lizard sprinting out of the screen.
The music is quite soothing, the graphics are colorful and bright, and the different world environments are especially pleasant to look at.
Although the game mechanics aren’t really an original concept (we can’t get around the fact that Tetris and Collapse inspire so many other titles) Crystalix sure is a fun, challenging and addictive variation of classic puzzle games.
Try it for yourself by downloading the 60-minute demo at the official Alawar site.
Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP
- Pentium II 300 or higher processor
- SVGA card with 16 MB and Direct3D support
- 64 MB RAM
- DirectX 8.0 or higher