Game: Treasure Stack
System: Nintendo Switch
Publisher/Developer: PIXELAKES LLC
Price: EU €15,83| $19.99USA| UK£14.21
Age Rating: EU 3| USA E
Release Date: 1st March 2019
Also Available On: Steam, Xbox one
Review code kindly provided by Pixelakes
Treasure Stack by PIXELAKES is a puzzle/platform game that takes a few genres and mixes them together. Think of a match three style game where you stop the coloured shapes hitting the top of the play area by moving and matching the colours shapes together. Then, add in coloured chests and keys instead of coloured shapes and a character that moves the chests and you might start to get the picture of what Treasure Stack is about, its a slightly different take on the simple premise of match three but that doesn’t mean the gameplay is simple.
Line them up and match them
Your little character starts in a room with chests descending from the ceiling, you can jump and move around and you are also equipped with a handy grapple which you use to pull the chests down so you can line them up where you wish. Also dropping are coloured keys which match the colour of the chests, yep you get the picture, match the keys blocks with the chest of the corresponding colour therefore removing that chest from the screen. Matching the same coloured chests earns you coins to use later.
As you jump around and move the chests to match the colours, there is a bar on the left side of the screen that fills up with black blocks called Demon Runes. Once that panel is full the Demon Runes appear randomly on the play area. These Runes can not be removed by matching colours. They are removed by bombs, swords or an anvil that fall in block shape from the top of the playing area. Pick up a bomb with the character and place it beside a rune block and boom its gone.
Once you have finished a game any coins you collected are added up and your progress bar increases, if the bar is filled you earn either a new character or a new grapple. I haven’t found any difference in any of the characters or grapples so its really just a cosmetic add to the game instead of better grapples and such. This is fine as it still gives you something to work towards.
Gameplay, controls and tutorial
As well as Solo play in Treasure Stack there is also Local Versus mode where you can challenge your friends.
Online play is also available, unfortunately at the time of writing this review there was no one online, however that should change once folks start to buy and play the game.
Control wise Treasure Stack performed alright, the odd time it felt like I had to hit a button twice to get the character to pick up the chest I wanted to move. A short tutorial walks you through what buttons to press, it’s all that is needed with this type of game.
How to stay on top
The music is fine, its a mix of retro sound effects and a piece of music. It can get a bit repetitive, however a quick slide of the volume sorts that out.
Gameplay length is short, it’s in bursts of four to five minutes especially when the chests start to fall quicker and runes are added. The chests start growing a higher stack as is the idea but the problem is your character can jump but only so high. The trick seems to be to keep an eye on how high you are stacking the chests across the whole area to allow your character to be able to get to the top of the chests quickly to grapple the falling chests.
Final thoughts
I have enjoyed playing Treasure Stack however its not a game without its share of faults. I feel that the Solo mode would have benefited from an AI opponent. Making the playing area bigger on screen with less graphics showing at the side would help bring the playing area to the front more, got to think of the gamers without 100% eyesight after all!
I like the premise of Treasure Stack and the platform side of the gameplay is good, though an increased jump height for the character might be a good idea.
If you are a player of match three style games this might be one you will want to add to your collection. I would think that playing with friends via local play would be a lot of fun.
Other than the few niggles i have with Treasure Stack I like the game.
You must log in to post a comment.