Aurora Feint II: Lite

Here's the idea... You take a grid of sparkly diamonds and try to maneuver them in such a way that you end up with 3 or more of similar colored diamonds in a row. This row of diamonds then disappears, causing more diamonds to drop down. This is NOT Aurora Feint, although it should sound familiar to you.

Let's face it, Bejeweled sucks.

Aurora Feint II is more of an update rather than a sequel to the original game (seeing as you can't download Aurora Feint I anymore). Aurora Feint II is essentialy what you would get if you asked Peter Jackson and James Cameron to create a Bejeweled game... no I'm not joking, this game is EPIC!

Basically, in AF you have rows of blocks rising up on your screen and it's your job to keep them from reaching the top. There are 5 different types of blocks, each with a different color and different mystical symbol on it (the symbols have a nature theme... earth, fire, wind, water, earth, Captain Planet). To accomplish your goal you have to line up 3 or more similar blocks in a row (vertically or horizontally) and then they blow up causing the blocks above them to fall (if there are any above them). Sound familiar? Well, there's one catch... you can only move blocks horizontally (presumably because they're too heavy to lift). This is where the best gimmick of the game comes in. If you do need to move blocks vertically, all you have to do is rotate the iphone to the left or right and the field of gravity changes allowing you to move the blocks the way you want. However, be mindful that when you tilt your phone all of the blocks will fall according the new field of gravity... so that "epic combo" you were about to hit may change once you rotate your iphone.

What it looks like when you rotate.

That's pretty much the basic gameplay, but that's still not even half of the game. As you clear blocks you gain experience as well as collect the "material" from each block. When your experience fills up you level up and can then play the game at a faster pace (which allows you to gain experience faster). The materials you collect can be used to purchase Upgrades (Multiplier upgrades as well as Weapons!) in the "store". Technically though, you don't "purchase" these upgrades, you purchase the chance to learn them. In order to access each upgrade you must pass a test. These tests are either getting X amount of material(s) in Y seconds, or they present you with a puzzle where you have only a certain number of moves to solve the puzzle.

The puzzles are easily my favorite part of the game.

To top it all off is a soundtrack worthy of Mordor, and sound effects that thump, click, clank and explode beautifully!

To sum things up, this is a brilliant game that doesn't feel like a "Lite" version. In fact, none of the paid features really impress me all that much. This is one of the few iPhone games that I can honestly say I have played for hours upon hours. I can't say "GET THIS GAME" enough! Get it, get it, get it!

Get it here!