Suika Games part 2

I tried a few more Suika games and they were so similar I uninstalled them after a few runs.  Juicy Fruit by Yermex, Fruit Drop by Alpha Creative.  Not bad, they do what they need to do, but they stop at the basics.

But this one -- "Watermelon Merge Game" by Brilliant Games -- went way beyond.  The game itself has a fun feel to it.: bouncy and an extra element where the fruits almost try to burrow down and find each other.  You earn stars that you spend on filling in a city build with many other scenes listed for later on.

 

You can also spend points on new art sets for the fruits,  a new skin for the dropper character (including a ghost and a flying saucer and a dog that farts rainbows), and Buy more power ups.

The power ups are: break one fruit, shake the box,  remove all fruits that match the one you click on,  and a sec that falls and boasts all fruits up one level.

There's also a PVP "Battle Mode" option that we tested out.  I made a room which gave me a room number,  Anne tapped in the room number and it was a race to see who could merge the first watermelon.  The PVP was very detailed, with some kind of timer for each player at the top, a thumbnails of the opponent's game board at top left, and when they lose, your game ends smoothly.  Nicely coded.

This app is really fun, with a lot of clever ideas in this version of the game.  Our new favorite.  It's still just a drop merge game, not big brain activity, but it has an oddly uplifting feel with all the silliness that happens along the way.  And those room/city graphics are beautifully done.

I checked for other apps by the same developer and found "Watermelon Merge 2" thinking it would be a more advanced version, but no, they stripped out the room-building entirely and other options are also missing.