Not Mahjong, not Ping-Pong, but Tri-Jong

If you're someone who loves Chinese culture and themes, but isn't too hot on the concept of Mahjong, then this is the game for you. Presented in a style similar to that of Mahjong, Tri-Jong is a solitaire game all its own.

Instead of cards, you play using white tiles, common in Chinese games. In the middle of the screen is a pattern of numbered tiles, usually multiple layers deep. The object of the game is to remove all of these tiles. On each one of these tiles is a number, just like playing cards. At the bottom of the screen is one tile. You must choose a tile that is either one number higher or lower than the tile in play, which is the tile at the bottom. Once you do, the tile you chose will be the tile in play, and so on and so forth. Using this method, you must remove all of the tiles.

You'll get stuck often. When you have no moves to make, you can click the button underneath the play tile to be given a fresh tile. There will be a number displayed on this button, and this is the number of times you can do this. Get used to this button, it will become your best friend.

Scoring Points

You will accumulate points through every piece of tile that you successfully remove. As you remove pieces, your combo meter will go up. Fill your combo meter all the way up, and you'll receive a bonus multiplier, which will effect all the points that you get. Each time you fill the meter, that multiplier will multiply by two. However, the meter will constantly decrease. If you want to fill it and keep that multiplier going, you have stay on your toes and remove a constant stream of pieces. If you slack off, the meter will drop and you will lose your bonus.

You Have Help

Tri-Jong offers a unique, if somewhat disorganized, help system. You'll see animated icons all over the screen, and you mouse over them, a little man will pop-up and explain things about the game. The good thing about this system is that the icons are next to whatever feature the man will tell you about, so it's easy to know what he's talking about. These little spinning objects can be a little distracting, but fortunately you're given the option to turn them off.

Modes of Play

Like any good puzzle game, you're given more than one mode of play. You can do either Quest mode, where you travel the land, laying the smackdown on tri-jong tiles, or you can do survival mode, which dispenses with all of the story structure and simply tests your abilities. Multiple game modes are always better than one, and they serve to give the game a much stronger replay value.

As if all of that wasn't enough, you're also given the option of creating your own puzzles. This is always a fun feature, and it's no different here.

Tri-Jong is a fun, addictive little game that will keep anyone entertained for hours.