Muertitos a Matching Puzzle 1.7

No es el Día de Los Muertos, pero no podría... ah, never mind. Listen. I came across this cool puzzle game with a particular theme. I know it's not Halloween, but I cannot wait a year before writing about it. It wouldn't be fair to me. So here goes. Muertitos means "little dead ones" in Spanish, la lengua de La Raza™. Even though the title sounds somewhat macabre, the game is not unsavory in the very least. You're just pushing heads on a table, that's all.

I'm sure you're familiar with match-three games, the kind Candy Crush has popularized so much. Muertitos is vaguely similar, except it's good and costs less than a coffee.

In Muertitos you're trying to keep a square surface clear of invading Calaveras from all four sides. On each turn, you will decide which piece will be advancing, while always knowing what will follow it. Knowing what comes next is essential, and makes Muertitos a very thought-provoking game, instead of a luck fest disguised as a puzzle game. The only way you can get rid of pieces is if you manage to link at least three of a kind in a line or a cross pattern, where each line is at least three Calaveras long.

The larger the groups, the more points you score when they phase out. Besides being a reason to brag about, gaining points also fills a bonus gauge. Whenever you've filled it, you will receive three bonus items, which you can use at your discretion from then on. There are Wildcards, which count as every type, Clafaces, which morph to a random piece, and Reapers, which remove a head. All bonuses can be used either in a blank space or in place of an existing Calavera, which might not be evident from the onset (except it is if you paid attention during the tutorial.)

The trick is to push heads to link them by type, while also making sure you don't mingle up the ones that come from the sides. This is usually, a difficult task, especially when new types start showing up. Right, even though you might do an excellent job of arranging pieces around, every time you fill the gauge you will have to deal with a new type of head. The new Calaveras don't do anything special, except that they further complicate your existence.

Ultimately, you will fail. But as they say, "the one who dies with the most points wins!" Or was it "toys?"

Final Thoughts

If you don't mind sparing a buck, do give Muertitos a try. It's a well-done and straightforward puzzle game, which doesn't tempt you with game-breaking purchases, or any other mercantilistic tricks. In fact, I would ditch any match-up game for Muertitos any day.