When I look at my iPhone and the near 144 applications that reside on it, very few (less than 10) are games. I know, I know, games are the hottest selling segment for the iPhone. But at my age, a game has to have something special to hold and keep my interest. Gemmed by Wasted Pixel holds promise in earning a permanent spot on my iPhone.

The game downloaded quickly (7.5MB) and loaded with no problems. A quick reboot for preventative measure and I was ready to start. The main screen loads quickly and you’re presented with four options, Play, High Scores, Options and ?, presumably the help section. The music was a bit load for my taste, however my son who later played the game seemed to find the volume level fine. Pressing Options gives you 3 choices. You can turn on and off game play tips, I left them on and recommend doing so the first few rounds. The last two options allow you to turn music and sound FX on and off. I left all the options on and X’d out the screen.

The ? button is indeed the help section. I highly recommend reviewing this section as Gemmed has some interesting twists and turns as you go from level to level. The 14 help screens have nice graphics and are very concise and informative. High Scores has two options. One where you can track your personal scores, player by player and another section to compare your scores to other game players across the country. A nice touch. The basics took only a minute or two and now it’s time to play.

Tapping play and I’m shown another screen with my current level, 1 of 50, and the choice of new game or resume saved games. The option to turn off Tips is presented again. Time to play. The premise is to match at least 3 gems of the same color. In game terms I’m told it’s called Match 3 Gameplay. However, there are many twists and turns. There are Monsters, just one at first, but progressive levels will have increasingly more. You may ask, “what do I do with Monster’s?” The goal is to rescue all the monsters on each level. Monsters come in various colors and eat the same color gems and automatically move towards their color exit. Rescue more same colored monsters (or match same colored gems) and the power bar, located at the bottom of the game play screen, increases. When the bar reaches it’s limit a “Power Up” is placed on the board. Power Ups will remove multiple gems with a nice visual effect and helps the monsters move more quickly towards their exit. On about level 4 or 5 white gems and the Angel Monster appears. When her Power Up is complete they self activate and help save the monsters. A level or 2 later the Evil Monster appears as does black gems. When the Evil Monster’s Power Up is complete, it self activates and moves your monster farther from their colored exit.

There are other rewards such as Wild Gems, earned when matches of 5 same colored gems occur. Wormhole gems appear at certain point levels and instantly saves a monster. The faster you save your monsters the bigger the bonus you get at the end of the level. The really big point bonus’ are achieved by very fast rescues of your monsters. If you can’t make a match of at least three gems, the game is over. However, you can earn Replay options (the game starts with one replay) which enable the level to be played again.

The various Power Ups are carried over to the next level. Hints on moves are shown after 15 seconds, but with all the Power Ups, Monsters etc. match plays come fairly easy. In several hours of play, I only had to use a replay once.

The game play is smooth and has nice graphics for the various effects. The sound track is OK and songs change at various levels. I got tired of the music and turned the volume off after about 10 minutes. Hopefully, the sound track will be improved in future releases. The various Power Ups add some excitement and twists to each level. I played the game for about an hour, unusually long for me, and had completed about 30 levels and earned well over 2,000,000 points. Not bad for an old guy.

I then turned the game over to my 15 year old son, Myles, for a review. He quickly mastered the play and passed multiple levels. Hum, how do kids do that without reading the tips and tricks? After about a half hour of play I asked for his impressions. He liked the graphics as well, thought the game should have been more challenging and the music was lame. I often play Bejeweled, even had it on my Palm Treo, and thought Gemmed was equally fun to play. The game is easy to learn and will provide hours of fun. The music is easily it’s weakest point, but that’s minor. Gemmed probably isn’t for most older teens, not enough action. Game playing adults and pre-teens will most likely find hours of enjoyment playing Gemmed. I did, and Gemmed has earned a place on my iPhone. At least for several months. Four Stars.

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