Review: Sum Link XXL
Score:
79%
Sum Link XXL is one of those games that happily sits on your phone, never drawing attention to itself, with no massive 3D graphics to act as a demo, nor catchy music or presentation to make it into a “cute” experience. But it will continue to sit on my phone and called up when I need a little hit of gaming – because Sum Link has a little sprinkle of the magic ingredient every game needs – addictiveness. Here's my review!
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Yes, Sum Link XXL is another “Tetris-like” game where blocks are stacked up in a grid, and as they are cleared, more blocks slide in at the top and the grid collapses into the spaces. As with every one of these games, it’s how you make the blocks disappear that is the key to the game. You need something that can start off easy (to get people interested in the game) with a way to increase the difficulty as the game progresses.
Lunagames, the developers of Sum Link, have hit upon a brilliant method – a method that ensures the addictiveness and difficulty curve mentioned above. Arithmetic. No, don't run away screaming...!
Each block in the grid has a number on it, from 1 to 5 (and these are colour coded to help you pick out the numbers when you are in a hurry). At the top of the screen you’re given a number and you need to use your finger to trace a line of numbers in the main game grid that, when added together, will add up to the given number.
The line can go round corners, so while numbers like “8” are relatively easy, when you advance in the game and get the delights of adding up to “29” you’re going to have to trace a mazey route through the numbers. And here’s where it gets really fun for me. With the smaller numbers, you can easily see the route to trace before you start, but as the numbers get larger I’ve needed to rely on a bit of seat of the pants maths as I trace the first part of the line to get a smaller number (in my head) and then work things out from there.
All this is, of course, against the clock – when you get a sum right, as well as the blocks being replaced, you also get a little bit of time added to the always descending counter. Once that hits zero then it’s game over so you‘ll need to do your adding up fast if you want to get ahead in the game. Luckily there’s no penalty (beyond the wasted time) if you add up the numbers incorrectly. This is a good decision on the part of the designers, and turns the game into one of rewards rather than avoiding penalties. A subtle difference, but one that makes for a better game.
This is not a game that sells a platform on its own, but it is a game that makes you glad that you can play it. Lunagames have a catalogue that is filling up with these “B-class” games and that’s good to see. It’s important for any platform to have strong support, and Sum Link XXL continues that tradition.
-- Ewan Spence, Nov 2010.
Reviewed by Ewan Spence at