Tumblestone

Tumblestone is a match-3 puzzle game that came out in 2016. The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild developed it, and Nighthawk Interactive handled publishing. It first appeared on the Nintendo eShop as a digital download, then launched for PC, Mac, and Linux on July 12, 2016. The Xbox One version followed on July 16, and retail copies for Wii U and PlayStation 4 arrived on August 30, 2016. A Nintendo Switch version was released on October 5, 2017. Critics have praised the game for its fresh approach to the puzzle genre. In the main game, players clear a board of every square, called tumblestones. The story mode sends players through a map of 12 worlds. Each level is an enclosed space filled with colored squares; the goal is to keep matching three squares of the same color until the space is empty. Each world adds new modifiers, like togglers—gray blocks that switch on and off—and wildcards, multicolored blocks that can pair with any color shown on them. Players can skip levels using tokens earned partway through a world. At the end of each world, there is a puzzle race: a challenge where the player must clear a grid three times before an opponent character does. Three single-player arcade modes are available. Heartbeat Mode has players constantly eliminating blocks from a descending wall. Marathon Mode adds a glass wall as its main twist. Infinipuzzle presents an infinite grid of blocks, requiring the player to focus on clearing grids for as long as possible. The plot follows Queen Cleo, ruler of a desert kingdom, who encounters colored blocks with faces called tumblestones. She meets the Goblin King, who learns that an ancient artifact called the Tumblecrown exists. The Goblin King then travels to other lands. Development began when founder Ty Taylor met artist Vega Castañeda while working on The Bridge. Taylor said in an interview that once he learned to make video games, he never stopped. The Bridge was released on Steam and won the 2012 Indie Game Challenge for Achievement in Art Direction and Gameplay. The concept for Tumblestone came from a 48-hour game jam, where Taylor met writer Justin Nafziger and programmer Alex Schearer, who had prior experience at Microsoft.