Categories: Puzzle

Threes!

Threes! Review!

“You might as well delete Candy Crush Saga now.” ~ Pocket Gamer

“It’s surprisingly adorable, for a game starring numbers.” ~ Joystiq

“It’s the kind of game that embosses the rules on your brain within 30 seconds, but then compels you to spend the next two hours playing.” ~ Pocket Tactics”

Threes! Links:

iOS Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/threes/id779157948?mt=8

Android Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=vo.threes.free&hl=en_GB

Company: Sirvo LLC

Genre: Puzzle

Rated: 4+

Doesn’t offer in-app Purchases

Gameplay

Make the highest number you can with Math!

Threes! is a math-based puzzle game that includes elements from both Sudoku and Bejeweled. You not only need math skills, but you also need to be strategic to maximize your playtime before you run out of moves.

You’re given a 4×5 grid and numbers show on it – the aim of the game is to make up the highest possible number you can. But it’s not as easy as that. Take a ‘1’ block or a ‘2’ block, merge them together and you will end up with a ‘3’ block. Do the same thing to create a ‘6’ block, merge those together and make a ’12’ block. Repeat until you get to the highest possible number! The part that makes this game a little bit harder than it should be is the fact that when you swipe, you move the whole grid and not just one number block. Blocks will slide if they can, merge if they can or just stay stuck when there are four blocks in a row that can’t move over.

Once you run out of moves, your score is made up based on the values of the remaining blocks on the board. On the Game Center, you can review all your scores and in-game statistics, then use these to send challenges to your friends!

Strategy

Geeks With Juniors made a list of tips for playing this game for the first time:

Understand that there are only four moves. Try to keep at least two moves available. If a row/column has four tiles, you can’t move it. Choose your moves wisely.
Check what the next piece is and make a room for it. If it shows a white tile, always assume that it will be a 3. It’s very unlikely for it to show a higher number, even though it’s possible.
When the board is almost full, plan for a chain of merging actions. The trick is to find a set of adjacent tiles where you can move continuously for two or more turns.
Always plan for merging more than just two tiles with your action. But also remember that each time you’re not merging, the board is getting more crowded with the new tile.
Master your slow-slide gesture. You will use it very frequently.

Graphics

The graphics are minimalistic!

Like 1010!, the graphics for Threes! aren’t mindblowing – but again, that’s totally okay. The graphics are minimalistic, pretty colorless but then again, this is a math game. And I’m glad that there are no childish elements added to Threes! It’s sophisticated and seems to me that it would suit all ages. If they had dumbed it down with characters, or more color, I couldn’t imagine older people wanting to play it.

Everything moves smoothly, the game doesn’t lag or crash. Figures.

There is also an option to put the game in night mode so everything is much easier on your eyes when you’re playing before you go to sleep – such a cool feature!

Music

The music is annoying but luckily it can be turned off!

Unlike 1010!, Threes! has music in the background and I am definitely not the biggest fan of it. The reason for this is because everything looks so smooth and calm and then there’s this repetitive irritating music that definitely affects the gameplay. Luckily, in settings, there is an option to turn off the music. Which I definitely preferred.

Controls

There aren’t really any controls in Three! and the reason for this is because it’s not necessary. You’re not driving a car or fighting a boss in an intense fight battle, you’re matching numbers together. To move the numbers, you swipe up, down, left or right and the whole board will move.

The Power of in-app Purchases

There are no in-app purchases in Threes!

As I played Threes! Freeplay, there were no in-app purchases. Threes! Freeplay contains ads, which are manageable – they’re not completely in your face like most app ads.

If you want to remove ads, you can’t do it on Freeplay, you have to download the regular app Threes! which costs £5.99 and yes, that does seem steep for just the removal of ads. Usually, when an app offers the option to remove ads, it costs between £1.99 and £2.99. So I’m not sure if I could say it’s worth it.

The verdict

What did you think of Threes!?

I’ve mentioned in reviews before that I really don’t enjoy Math puzzle games but Threes! really was a delight to play. The actual gameplay was hard but the Math questions were not – it’s basically just multiplying until you reach the highest number.

This is definitely one of the best puzzle games on the app store. It has all the characteristics of an amazing classic game. It has an auto-save feature, no time and in-app purchases. So there’s no worry of purchase pop-ups! This is the perfect game for all our strategic casual app gamers out there!

If you decide to download Threes!, let us know what you thought and if you agree or disagree with any of the things we said. Happy gaming!

Threes! Overall Rating: 3/5