Spooky Bonus

Developer: Grey Alien Games | Publisher: Grey Alien Games | Release Date: 2015 | Genre: Casual / Match 3 | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Dark forces are emanating from the heart of Old Town and only your Match-3 puzzle skills can save the day. Spooky Bonus is not a new game as it dates back to 2013, but its Steam arrival is just in time for Halloween. Players who have not yet experience the Halloween-themed delights of this game when launched on all the casual portals can now join in on the fun. Spread across 100 unique levels, Spooky Bonus challenges you to match ghoulish items while earning coins to purchase spooky accessories for your house and yard.

While the game sticks to the tried and tested Match-3 formula it is a great example of how to present a casual title that is accessible and entertaining. The level designs are good and provide a challenge without ever becoming frustrating. The game can also be played in “Relaxed” or “Timed” game modes, the latter providing experienced players with a bigger challenge. Your goals differ from each level, but it usually boils down to matching three or more items of the same type to clear them from the board. Sticking with the Halloween theme of the game all the items on the board are ghosts, black cats, witch hats, candles, coffins and other spooky things.

The challenge gradually ramps up, so eventually you will not only have to make a certain amount of item matches, but also clear all the gold tiles or drop the large skulls off the board. Gold tiles are cleared simply by making matches with the items on them, but sooner or later you will also encounter stone blocks that can only be broken by making a match next to them and spider webs that require a match made with the tokens trapped inside them to clear.

Although you will be doing mostly the same thing on each level the layout of each board is different, which means you need to adapt your strategy. When playing the “Relaxed” mode you can still get away with making aimless matches until you complete the board, but on the “Timed” mode the power-ups are essential. Power-ups are obtained by matching four or more items and can be a big help. From lighting that hits and clear random tiles to flashlights and silver bullets that can clear entire rows, the power-ups are as useful as they are flashy. During levels you will also earn coins that can be used between levels to buy spooky accessories for your house and yard. These accessories are actually the way in which you unlock new abilities, power-ups and upgrades for the levels.

Despite its age the visuals and presentation for Spooky Bonus held up very well and the game still looks great for a casual title. The graphics are very colorful and everything is polished to perfection. Although the playing area is set within a square block, the game at least features a background for the borders to keep things looking nice on widescreen monitors. Incidentally, the different backgrounds that represent the areas in the game, such as the prison, madhouse, old church, ghostly lake and more, are nicely drawn and can even be used as desktop wallpapers as a reward for completing the levels. The classical music is suitably atmospheric for a Halloween themed title and the game also features plenty of clear sound effects. Since everything is mouse controlled the game is very easy to play and it was built exclusively for PC and Mac, so it is not a mobile port.

In total it took us about 11 hours to complete all 100 levels of Spooky Bonus while playing in “Timed” mode. Some of the levels took two tries to complete, but overall the difficulty level is not very high. Since the game automatically saves your progress when you exit it is a great title for playing when you have a few minutes to spare and just want to zone out while relaxing. Spooky Bonus offers an addictive Match-3 puzzle experience without watering things down with pointless mini-games or other distractions. If you are a fan of the genre and have not yet played this game we can definitely recommend it.