Travel Mosaics 3: Tokyo Animated Review (Switch)

Game: Travel Mosaics 3: Tokyo Animated
Genre: Puzzle, Education, Board Game, Strategy
System: Nintendo Switch ( also on PC and Mac)
Developer|Publisher: JetDog Studios
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US: E
Price: USD $ 7.99| CAD $ 10.49| AUS $ 12.00 | UK £ 7.19 |EU € 7,99
Release Date: 12th May 2020

Review code used, with many thanks to JetDog Studios!

Back again! You may recognise part of the title of this new logic puzzler by JetDogs, and you would be right: this is the third game in the series. After Paris and Rome, let’s see what beauty Tokyo holds for us.

Nonogram/ Picross kind of gameplay

In the Travel Mosaic series, every game has a specific touristic background of a town. You follow the Walkers family on their holiday and  see the most famous and significant tourist attractions of Tokyo. Every puzzle game is based on nonogram puzzles, with a slightly different puzzle added every once and again.

LadiesGamers Travel Mosaic 3

The basic premise of these nonogram/ picross games is always the same; there’s a grid, with numbers assigned to each row and column that designate how many squares are filled in. Once you’ve completed the puzzle you end up with a pretty picture.

There’s a good amount of puzzles to play for you in Travel Mosaics 3: Tokyo Animated:140 colorful nonogram puzzles + 20 bonus levels!

LadiesGamers Travel Mosaic 3

A difference between the games in the series?

I was curious, after playing the first game, a Paris Tour, to see if something has changed in the gameplay or approach to the game in Tokyo Animated. There isn’t, like the Paris and Rome game before this one, we see the same manner of copying the mobile gameplay to the Switch. 

You can play them on one of three difficulties. You can play on Easy, Normal or Difficult. The difference is in whether or not you need to switch the colours while you are puzzling away to get the image underneath. And whether or not the lines are automatically crossed out when you’ve discovered all possible combinations. It all depends on what kind of gameplay you want: a relaxed game or a big challenge.

LadiesGamers Travel Mosaic 3

And you can only proceed to the next level go puzzles once you have completed the six main challenges with at least one star. Only if you manage to earn a minimum of two stars, a bonus level becomes available. And if you manage to complete that level two with a minimum of two stars, you unlock an additional puzzle.

By solving the puzzles you earn coins, and these coins can be used to buy souvenirs for the Walkers living room. Entirely the same gameplay as in earlier games, the backdrop of the puzzles and the souvenirs are different: mostly about Tokyo.

LadiesGamers Travel Mosaic 3

A difference in opinion

You may have noticed that my verdict of the first Paris game (which you can find here) varies a lot from Abbi’s thoughts on the second game (Roman Holiday, find it here). One of Abbi’s main concerns was the super responsiveness of the controls: it is indeed very easy to make a mistake, pressing an A where you wanted a B, or pressing either one in a cell you weren’t ready for. This problem still persists in this Tokyo game, making it very hard to reach the full stars. A pity this wasn’t solved.

LadiesGamers Travel Mosaic 3

Other then that, I think our gaming preferences are different when it comes to puzzle games. Abbi has puzzled a lot and is much more fanatic about it. While I play an occasional puzzle game to relax. Casual and colourful is good in my book, which is why I really enjoy playing Travel Mosaics 3: Tokyo Animated.

Which one should I go for?

To be honest, they are all pretty much the same aside from the touristic value. So if you are new to the series and want to see if it’s for you, I’d say go for the first game, A Paris Tour. Just for the sole reason of pricing: the first game is now € 4,99, the second € 6,99 and this one € 7,99.

I’m having fun playing the puzzles again, but I would have liked it if they had introduced something new. It’s the same modus of porting the game as is to the Switch, with the same problem of the super responsive button.

But if casual gaming is your thing, the kind of little puzzle that will accompany your morning cup of coffee, then I’d say give it a try. I feel it will be money well spent for hours and hours of logic gameplay in the Travel Mosaics series.

Final Verdict: I like it

Ladiesgamers.com

 

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