Threes! ($5.99) (and 2048 (Free) for that matter) is one of the most copied game designs of the past couple of years. Thankfully, the number of straight up clones releasing has subsided, but I was always puzzled why more people didn’t take the base concept and expand on it in some way. Dungelot 2 (Free) developer Red Winter Software is trying to just that with their new game Lost Viking (Free). In short, it’s a similar idea to the many match-3 RPGs out there like Puzzle Quest or Dungeon Raid, except that the matching-3 part is replaced with Threes!-style matching.

I actually can’t believe nobody has tried this formula before, unless I’ve just somehow missed it, because it works really, really well in Lost Viking. Basically you have a limited number of moves you can make, and once those moves are up, your highest “match" will be the action you perform on your enemy. Those actions are things like attacking, defending, regaining health, and unlocking treasure chests. This short trailer should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

Lost Viking released late this past Friday, and so far the impressions in our forums from those who have dove in and played over the weekend are largely positive. The main criticism is that progression is a little slow in the early goings, but once you’ve saved up for a few upgrades things pick up nicely. I’ve only just played a little myself, but I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I especially like having a limited number of moves, which forces you to really strategize and think ahead. We’ll continue putting Lost Viking through its paces, but if you were a fan of the Dungelot games and Threes! or 2048 then you should definitely give this one a look too.