Re-establish Balance in the Universe
Things have gone awry and it's up to you to re-establish balance in the universe.
If you're in the mood for a challenging puzzle game -- one with intense graphics, mesmerizing music, and wildly addictive gameplay -- then Glyph is surely right up your alley. Faced with the Five Elements that make up our lovely planet, you must recover the broken segments of several hieroglyphic icons, piecing them back together, and bringing balance back to the Earth. To do so, you can bust your way through the layers of rock that imprison these glyphs. The only tools that you are given, other than your wit and reflexes, are a series of colorful stones. Reveal the glyph pieces, put them back into alignment, and you will be the hero of us all.
A Breakthrough Title for Everyone
What an adventure! Break your way through several layers of rock by accurately remove like-colored stones. When you click on a group of three or more gems that are of the same color, they are removed from the field, destroying a single layer of rock beneath them. As you dig your way through, you will eventually catch a glimmer of light in the darkness. You need not remove all of the rock from the stage in order to move on to the next level. Instead, you just have to remove enough to completely uncover the Glyph fragment hidden within.
In the main Quest Mode, you will approach each of the Five Elements in succession. You start with Wood, reclaiming several sections of the powerful Glyph, eventually moving on to Fire, Water, Metal and Aether. In all, there are over 100 levels to enjoy, each more challenging than the last. What's more, you get to do more than just bust through the layers and layers of rock! There is a lot of strategy involved as you decide which set would provide the greatest result, but after you've completed four or five levels, you are treated to a special stage.
In this special stage, you must mimic the melody produced by the symbol pieces you have collected thus far. Memorize the sequence in which they play and then repeat the pattern. After successfully playing back their song, the segments will merge, forming a complete Glyph. Collect and re-compile enough of these larger collections to fully restore the larger symbol, representing each of the Five Elements. It is the music of the heavens, and as you'd expect, it is absolutely enchanting. Breathtaking, you might say.
Potent Powerups, Challenging Obstacles
Just like in the real world, there are both positive and negative forces working on you in this epic puzzle adventure game. On the positive side, you eventually gain access to an increasingly large and mighty powerups that will aid you in your journey. Each of these Artifacts can be leveled up two times, starting with low amounts of energy and quickly ascending to the maximum power. The abilities these powerups contain are quite varied: some group like-colored stones together, others destroy otherwise indestructible obsidian pieces, others still transform the entire field into one color, allowing you to remove all the stones at once. These will help you dig deeper, rapidly revealing the gylph fragments buried beneath the mounting layers of rock.
At the same time, you'll be faced with several elements that make later levels more and more challenging. While early stages may contain only three different colors, you'll soon be exposed to more colors, making it more difficult to create (and remove) larger groups of stones. What's more, some of these stones will be "disabled", so to speak, so that when they are removed, they do not destroy any of the rock beneath them. Indestructible obsidian pieces become contagious, spreading to neighboring stones so that they cannot be removed either. The road will be arduous, but it is in this challenge that you will thrive (and have a whole lot of fun).
The Fun Deciphers Itself
The main Quest mode is where you will likely be spending the majority of your time, and with over 100 levels to challenge, there is plenty of enjoyment to be had. But if you're looking for a bit of a diversion, or a slightly different take on the Glyph mechanic, then you may want to check out the alternative Action mode wherein more and more layers of colorful stones are continually piled on, pushing your stack of pieces higher and higher. You must work quickly to remove them, preventing the field from reaching the top of the screen.
Whichever mode you choose, you will not be disappointed with Glyph. The beautifully organic soundtrack will enrapture your very being, the gorgeously rendered graphics are very highly detailed, and the gem-matching, rock-destroying gameplay will encourage you to dig deeper and deeper. It's addictive, it's fun, and it's quite easily one of the best and most complete puzzle games available today.
