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Review of Dale Hardshovel

For years, puzzle gamers have salivated over such games as Jewel Quest, Gem Mine, and other games that have run on the concept of matching similar objects in groups to either remove them, score points, or utilize them for clearing a level to move onto the next portion of the adventure. Usually, the hero is either an explorer or archeologist who has discovered a piece of some sort of lost civilization and feels compelled to try to solve the mystery behind it. Welcome to the concept behind Phime Studio's Dan Hardshovel, a game that takes the concept of matching artifacts to clear a level to a whole new level and then some.

Gamers will ogle the eye candy of the expertly done bitmap, cell-shaded, and brightly colored graphics that make up the game screen and tell the story of Dan Hardshovel on his quest to find the bloodstone of an ancient Egyptian secret civilization like children in a candy store. Its bright, colorful, themed to a snazzy Egyptian-themed background track that makes the puzzle solving gamer eager to go traipsing through the sand to figure out that first puzzle, will awe those who seek a visually pleasing atmosphere.

Gameplay is a different story.

The concept behind solving the puzzles involves matching two of the same artifact together by dragging them across the colorful playing field with a little hand, putting them on gravitational moving blocks, keeping them out of the mud - virtually utilizing whatever the current map throws at the unfortunate puzzle solver to get the job done. However, some of the puzzles will have gamers scratching their heads a little too hard in vain attempt of how just to get three of the same item together when you can only put two together before they vanish, immediately scoring a "You Failed" in the center of the screen.

The presentation of the Game Over' screen is one major aspect that gamers will find unfriendly about Dale Hardshovel. The sudden, blunt, appearance of the "You Failed" screen with no options to try again or even a hint of how to potentially avoid failing the level next time is a major turn off to many puzzle gamers, which will no doubt make the even the most avid puzzle gamer's desire to continue playing minimal at best. This combined with the jerky movement of the cursor and the somewhat slow mechanics of the game in general will have many frustrated before they get to the next level, if they can even get past the second level at all.

Although Dale Hardshovel has the epic potential to become a legend amongst puzzle enthusiasts everywhere, its overall feel based on mechanical gameplay aspects make it feel as though it was released only semi-complete before all of the bugs were successfully removed. It's certainly not the greatest game out there, but it's not the worst either. Overall, it scores a 2 out of 5 in my book and I recommend playing the demo before purchasing the full version.

Learn more about this author, Kathryn Martin.
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