I didn’t know if I wanted to add another puzzle game to my collection, but after reading the press release and visiting the website, I decided to give Dr. Germ a try.
Dr. Germ could be another color-matching type of puzzle, but it managed to surprise me with four different puzzles in a single game. That’s right, Dr. Germ is actually four puzzle games in one. There are four different game modes for you to play, each involving creating combinations of the same kind of germ and filling up the level meter to advance to the next challenge. In all of them, you play a doctor curing diseases by getting rid of certain germs, gaining medical/science awards and titles, and making the world a germ-free place. Although similar, these gameplay modes are quite different.
In Research Mode, you have to clear as many groups of germs as you can. You can click groups of two or more to remove them from the screen, and the larger the groups, the better the points. The germs will shift to the right as you clear columns, bringing you more germs to work with. If there are no matches left, it’s game over.
In Petri Dish Mode, the purpose is to arrange germs into little groups or lines of 4. You can click any germ and direct it to an empty spot on the grid, rearranging them as you can. The germ will automatically move to the spot you assign them, provided there is a clear path to get there. For every turn you can’t remove a group of germs, the biohazard symbols will turn into new germs. When the grid is full, the game ends.
Stranded DNA Mode is quite challenging. You will probably enjoy it if you like slider puzzles (personally, I don’t). You have a little swirl on the board which is the empty spot to swap germs with, in order to create groups of four or more. There is a catch though: the energy meter is slowly depleted as you move germs, so think before you make your move. The energy meter can be filled up by removing groups of germs, and the game ends if the meter is completely empty.
Last but not least, there is the Gene Splice Mode. In this germ-infested variation, you need to form groups of three or more germs to remove them. New germs will slide in from the bottom of the screen in certain intervals, or you can speed it up by pressing the space bar. The little colored icons at the bottom will tell you the color of the germs coming next. If the germs reach the top row, the game ends.
All of these game modes have different power-ups that you can use to your advantage. There are bombs and antibiotics that will help you get rid of those pesky one-eyed green germs or clear a bunch of germs of the same color.
Dr. Germ is a very entertaining puzzle game that will probably get a good giggle out of you, if not for the funny germ faces, then for the yucky squishy noises they make. In fact, the germs are so cute that it made me wonder why I would want to get rid of them in the first place!