10000000

0000000 is over 9000 so immediately this game excites me. It’s a “dungeon crawling RPG matching game”, so sayeth the developers. What the hell is that you ask? Well… it’s a pixel-graphic based old school dungeon crawler where you match tiles to perform actions, get bonuses and so on  which was released on iOS – although apparently it was originally designed for desktop. I played this on iOS first and it often goes on sale for the princely sum of $0.99 which quite frankly is a bargain.

So what do you do? You move your row vertically or horizontally in order to match up 3 (or more) symbols. If you match them, they explode and you get the reward. Swords provide a melee attack, staves a magic attack, backpacks give loot, keys open chests or unlock doors and so on. There are also resources and you can upgrade your castle with them, unlocking stronger weapons and bonus perks which help you progress.

n the top of the screen your adventurer continues on his path through the dungeon and of course he hits obstacles. If you’re suddenly attacked by a monster you need to quickly match up some swords or staves or you’re going to die. If you get hit you stand still resulting in a time penalty, but if you complete your actions quickly you get a time boost. If you hit a door or a locked chest you need to match keys. Each run is timed and the idea is to get as high a score as possible within the time – aiming for that elusive over 10 million score. I don’t know what happens if you score 10 million, I assume the world ends in a jaw stopping climax.

You can pick up items along the way and use those and then there are resources, wood and stone which are used to repair and upgrade your castle (granting you bonuses), gold by completing objectives and then experience by killing monsters. You want to keep the board as clear of stone and wood as possible during the dungeon, in order to have as many swords and shields and keys and so on available when you need them. It’s pretty simple, it requires quick thinking and quick decisions and a single run (for me) usually only lasts a few minutes making it the perfect game for on-the-fly play on your phone or tablet.

0000000 is a great game. It’s a super fun addictive game on the iOS and has a regular price of $2.99 with a frequent sale price of $0.99. There isn’t really anything new other than achievements if you buy it on steam at the release price of $4.99. There’s no new content, the mouse controls are good and the port seems solid but it is an identical game at double or more the price, with the added caveat of it being less portable. It is a pretty ugly game even on iOS (it’s not meant to be pretty), and on a massive monitor I have to say – it looks awful. Personally I’m still going to recommend that if you have an iOS phone or tablet that you can get this on, do that instead and enjoy it on the move.

I do wish they’d updated the graphics for the PC version, especially considering the higher price but overall this game gets a thumbs up from me. I have a soft spot for one man Indie developers, so if you’re bored, check out EightyEight’s website.