A Magical Adventure

When I started up Fairies, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what was in store for me. I assumed, from screenshots, that this particular puzzler adhered to the "click and swap" rule, where you must create matches by clicking a piece and swapping its position with an adjacent piece. I was completely thrown through a loop when I discovered a control scheme that was new and completely alien to me, but once I got used to it, I fell in love with it immediately.

The game revolves around matching groups of colors, those colors emanating from fairies who have been trapped in glass jars. When you successfully make a match of three or more, the jars explode, setting their prisoners free. In order to move the pieces, you must grab a row, and drag it either horizontally or vertically, but not both. This will take some time to get used to, but it makes for a fun and new take on the classic matching formula.

As you venture further into the game, you'll encounter jars with locks on them. These must me matched twice: once to remove the lock, and then once more to free the trapped fairy. You'll also get to use various power-ups which will have different effects on the game, such as freeing random fairies, freeing all fairies of one color, removing a random lock, and much more. To complete a stage, you must fill the scale on the left side of the screen with golden dust, which accumulates as you make more matches.

Multiple Modes

Fairies offers four gameplay modes, all with their unique advantages:

• Adventure: The meat and potatoes of this product, adventure mode puts you on a quest to free the fairy queens. Every stage that you complete reveals one more portion of the fairy queen's picture, and puts her one step closer to salvation.
• Classic: Untimed and therefore less stressful, classic mode allows you to complete levels at your own pace. Recommended for players with high blood pressure.
• Relaxed: If classic mode just isn't relaxing enough for you, then maybe you should try relaxed mode. This mode offers no timer and no scale, just a laid back, never-ending game. It may sound silly, but it's perfect for people who just love the core gameplay and don't care about anything else.
• Playback: This mode feel like a different game altogether, which does wonders to keep from getting bored. In playback, you'll be played a tune, and you must replicate the tune by clicking on the appropriate fairies. The farther you go, the longer the tunes get.

Never-ending Journey

Fairies is sure to be loved by any fan of puzzle games, especially those bored with the typical formula. The gameplay is both unique and fun, and will offer a surprising challenge to those that call themselves "pros." It features a nice fantasy presentation and wonderful visuals, all accompanied by a pleasant soundtrack. As far as puzzle games go, this one is definitely a keeper.