The matching game genre is a tough nut to crack, and the people making those games are always trying to differentiate themselves from the pack. Vortex Games has a new matching game coming out called Phenom-A-Ball, and it hopes to set itself apart by adding physics to the objects you’ll be matching. Balls fall in from the top of the screen, and unlike most matching games, you can actually combine sets of at least 3 like colors to create huge combos. Like Tetris the playfield just keeps filling up and if it reaches the top it’s game over. There are also some cool power-ups and a special meter that, once filled, let’s you turn off gravity which causes all the balls to float into the air. During that time you can tap to pop them like a mad man, which can really help you get out of a tight jam.
We took some hands-on video of Phenom-A-Ball, but unfortuantely, the audio levels are out of whack, so the game’s music overpowers our conversation. If you listen carefully you can hear what we’re saying, but it’s not an ideal experience and for that I apologize. At the very least you can get an idea of what Phenom-A-Ball is like in motion.
I know it’s hard to get excited for a matching game, but Phenom-A-Ball definitely does some unique things, and I can vouch that it’s quite a lot of fun. The game is basically done but Vortex is in talks with publishers at the moment, so they aren’t sure if they’ll be going the paid or free to play route with the game just yet. Whatever direction they go, Phenom-A-Ball should be arriving sometime later this year, so keep an eye out for it.
