Candy Catchup by AIM Productions, Price: $9.99
Reviewed September 2003 by Tony Peak

The first thing that grabbed my attention with Candy Catchup is its colorful and well-designed graphics and menus. The second thing that impressed me, once I stopped looking at the screenshot and read the features, was that the gameplay contained no gimmicks. No exploding bombs, no powerups, nothing of that sort.

Gameplay is rather straightforward, with only one mode of play and very few rules. For me, this was a welcome change. I enjoy games where getting a higher score depends on skill and mastery of the game at hand, instead of just the luck of the draw. It also makes it extremely easy to pick up and play, yet hard to put down.

You play the game by tapping candies connected by the same color. You must click groups of at least 3, or else you’ll pay a hefty score penalty for the wrong move. This is very effective to prevent wild tapping, and does wonders for one’s concentration. For each block over 3, the points you earn will double. The challenge comes not only in the timer itself, but also in a required amount of candies to reset the timer. At the start of the game, you’ll have a hefty amount of time and any simple 3 candy combo will reset the timer. After a few rounds the timer gets shorter and the needed combo increases. Soon enough you’ll be making 10 candy combos in under 10 seconds each. This in turn will net you a better high score, which with the touch of a button can be seamlessly synced with a world wide high score listing of the top 100 on game’s web site. This is the best motivation I can think of to play again, and again, and again. It worked flawlessly for me using the docking cradle and ActiveSync in just seconds.

The controls are very simple; just tap one of the candies to explode the group. Like most games of this genre, the stylus input method is a godsend. The very clear and crisp graphics mean you’ll most likely never accidentally miss. Pushing a hardware button will bring up a pause menu, allowing you to mute the sound, resume, or quit. Thankfully it also blacks out the playing field, to prevent cheating.

Graphics are a real treat. They’re clear, clean and colorful. The clear colors mean the candies never blur together, even after hours of playing. When you explode the candies, they really do break into pieces and fly off the field. It’s quick, doesn’t get in the way of gameplay, and the Pocket PC never seemed to break a sweat keeping up.

The game’s sound and music was so good it surprised me. Instead of the usual annoying clicks and beeps, everything sounds very pleasant and well made. It’s clear that serious thought went into this. The game’s music track is very enjoyable and upbeat, yet soothing and relaxing. The sound effects blend in with the game’s music in a very non-intrusive fashion, but are distinguished enough that you can hear them easily.

Candy Catchup truly is, as the developers say, “simplicity itself.” Its clear and concise game play and rules mean that you can learn it in a minute, but play it for hours. It’s perfect for small breaks when you just want to sit back and relax, yet keep your mind and hands busy at the same time. Candy Catchup is not only a great way to pass the time, but a wonderful way to spend it well.

Playing Hints and Tips

Despite the strict looking timer, this game can be played easily enough as a rapid fire click-fest or with a deliberately drawn out strategy and care. To easily rack up the 16 block combos, I recommend you take your time. Try to ignore all of one block color, and use it as your trump card when the timer is almost depleted. For example: Try not to click any yellow at all. Go for every color but yellow for as long as you can. Then, when the screen is full of yellow and the timer is almost empty, explode the yellow for massive combo bonuses. This should easily net you highscores upwards of 5,000,000 with practice.

As I mentioned, the point gain will double for each block over three. This means that each and every block is very important. 5 blocks is twice as good as 4, and so on. It’s important to note however, that as far as I can tell this combo bonus stops at a max of 16 blocks, or 655,360 points. Anything above 16 blocks, as can be done without much hassle following the above strategy, will still only net you 655,360. In other words: Waste not, want not. This should up your score to around 7 million.

If you’re following the above strategies, don’t think you have to stick to yellow for the whole game. Especially in the later rounds when the timer is very short and you must act quickly. After exploding a massive combo of one color, you may find it beneficial to scan the field and see which block color is the most common, and switch to that color instead. One might also try building smaller groups of two colors, by ignoring all yellow and blue for example.