Game Review: Match Village

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4

Match Village is a minimalist puzzle game that comes to us by way of a one-man development team. It takes the simple match-three style gameplay and mixes it with some light city building mechanics. It's out now on several platforms, and we're going to be taking a look at the Nintendo Switch version today. Seeing as this game isn't one that needs a long intro, let's just dive right in.

I have to say that it's quite a while since I've gone into a game not knowing what I was expected to do, and that's exactly what happened when I booted up Match Village. I may have told you earlier that it's a take on the match-three genre, but the game sure doesn't. I spent two full games not realizing what the method was to get tiles to group together, or how to keep the tile pool from running dry. Not only does this game not feature anything resembling a tutorial, I couldn't even find a guide to anything in-game. No explanation of how to play, no references to what the tiles are called, and certainly no outlining of how you "win" or get a high score. I eventually figured out how to play by simple trial and error, but I can't stress enough how strange it is for a game releasing on modern consoles, in 2024, to be this incomprehensible. I even checked its eShop description to see if it's at least mentioned there somewhere, but it wasn't. I was going to do this anyway, but I guess I have to start the review explaining how the game works, since the game doesn't do it for you. If you do end up picking up this game, I guess you can use the next section as a sort of instruction manual.

Each stage in Match Village is set on an island made up of several hexagonal spaces. Each space has a height axis to it, but as far as I can tell it doesn't affect gameplay unless it's so high you can't place a tile on it. You start with a certain number of tiles that you can place in each of the hexagonal spaces. These come in the form of grasslands, farms, houses, churches, and log cabins. I'm giving those my own names because since the game obviously doesn't. You place each tile one at a time, hoping to not run out of tiles in your pool. If you do run out of tiles for any reason, it's Game Over. Placing three like tiles in a row causes them all converge into a new fancier tile in the space where you placed the last one. Similar to the game 2048, the tiles get bigger and bigger (as in level, not in the space they occupy) the more you match three of the same. You're given points for each successful match, and you're also given extra tiles in proportion to the level of building you've created. Basically, if you build a really high-level farm tile, it gives you several farm tiles to work with. Points not only matter for high scores, but they also fill up a meter that then lets you move onto a new island. There are actually a couple other ways to gain and lose points. The game grants you bonus points for clumping like spaces together, and you'll lose a big chunk of points if you brush up against tiles of another type. You can actually reduce your score to 0 if you're not careful with tile placement. Also, there are also some spaces pre-marked on each island that give bonuses if you place a tile of its type close to it. Eventually, over the course of dozens of turns, your island starts to look like a small town of sorts. Sim City this isn't, but it does give one a sense of accomplishment nonetheless. That pretty much explains the entire game.

I had a really rough start with Match Village, but I also have to admit that it did grow on me by my third and fourth playthroughs. I had a lot of high level tiles, but soon realized that you can box yourself into bad situations if you don't plan ahead when placing tiles. Since it's the last tile you place that takes on the next highest stage of tile, you have to sort of think backwards at all times. The best strategy is to figure out where you eventually want the biggest tile to be, and work your way far from it until you eventually place the final tile there several turns later. Though this is a tactic I still don't think I've quite mastered, I did find myself clearing several islands after a few runs. Unfortunately, the no instructions thing reared its head again, as there were some second-level islands that wouldn't let me place tiles down. I'm still not sure why this is, but I can say that some in-game instructions would've definitely helped. I can only assume I'll figure it out one day, but I can see in the game's promotional materials that you're able to link together islands, and grow some really impressive tile spaces. Though I'd love to see something like that in my game, I feel I've done more than my share of trial and error here.

There really isn't a lot more to say about Match Village. It's a fun game, but it feels somewhat unfriendly to new players due to its lack of a tutorial or instructions of any kind. Though I was able to figure things out, I can easily imagine others giving up and never touching the game again. That's not the only issue with presentation either. Match Village seems to lack pretty much anything to give it its own personality. The graphics aren't bad, but they're all rather plain and simple. The music is practically non-existent, and you'll pretty much only hear ambient noises when you're playing. Even starting a new game is more difficult than it needs to be. It took me a long time to notice you had to hold the button to start a new game if you're already in the middle of another one, and the options menu isn't one of the most barebones and least helpful I've seen. Good luck even finding it too, since it's shown as a label-less icon in-game. Honestly, this game simply feels unfinished. One-man team or not, this needed more work. I wonder if the developer even plays games though, because I'm unsure how they'd miss something as obvious as in-game instructions of some sort. All this said though, at just $4.99 it's really not a bad purchase for those who are fans of the match-three puzzle genre. I had a decent amount of fun here, and I think puzzle game fans will too.

While I don't think I can give Match Village a blanket recommendation, I do have to say that it's a fun game that sucks you in once things get going. While I won't be playing this non-stop anytime soon, I'm sure I'll drop in and give it a play or two whenever the puzzle game itch strikes. Its lack of polish is likely to put off many, but there's a good game here if you're willing to look for it. Whether or not this game does well for its developer, I hope to see more games from them in the future.

Check Out Match Village on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/match-village-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B-
Music/Sound: C
Value: B

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ A fun take on the match-three puzzle genre.
+ The different tile types do look cool as they level up.
+ You island really does begin to look like a city after a while.
+ Its low price make it an easier sell to fans of the genre.

Cons:
- Has no in-game instructions or explanations at all from what I could tell.
- Music and graphics leave a lot to be desired, and there are several other issues with presentation.
- Though fun to play once you get into it, I could never shake the feeling that the game is unfinished.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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