Regardless of your gaming level, we all fool around with casual games at one  point. We play them for a number of different reasons: they are easy to learn yet difficult to master, we don’t have to invest too much time into them and they are easy on the wallet. Montreal-based studio Gamerizon released a game called QuantZ for the PC and it hopes to appeal to both the hardcore and casual of gamers. This unique 3D-puzzle game is something that will take you only moments to learn, but will having you playing it longer than you initially thought.

Gameplay

QuantZ is a match-3 style game where you have to clear marbles, called Quantz, from a series cube like structures. In the game’s primary Strategy mode, you will have a Cube in the centre of the screen that will contain different colors of Quantz. You will fire other Quantz at the cube and try to match 4 or more to clear them off. Your ultimate goal is to have completely cleared the Cube before the timer runs out or you are out of Quantz to use.

Clearing the board is not just matching four of the same color. In some situations, depending on the placement of the Quantz, you might be able to trigger an explosive Quantz. These ‘fireballs’ are always another color which can be then used to automatically eliminate others of that same color. If you can manage to target another area with a strong concentration of Quantz, you can get additional fireballs to assist in completing the stage.

Playing QuantZ is fairly straight-forward with the Mouse being the only thing you use to play. You rotate the cube by moving your Mouse while the right or left mouse buttons are used to fire Quantz balls at the cube. The only variation on the controls occurs when certain Quantz becomes fireballs or in one of the game’s other modes. When this occurs, you can click and hold the Left Mouse button, which slows down time to help you fine-tune the placement.

There are three game types in Quantz. Strategy, the main mode, has you completing waves in as few moves as possible. Puzzle puts you in a various situations where you must clear a Cube using only what is given. It might seem simple at first, but as you progress, you will be required to use proper precision and create fireballs to complete the stage. The last mode, Action, which is unlocked after completing 10 puzzles, plays similar to Strategy. This time you only can see the next immediate piece and the Quantz can shoot from any number of locations as have no control of them.

Of the three modes, Puzzle is certainly the more challenging of three, but it only becomes difficult after the first dozen or so puzzles. Both Strategy and Action are a lot of fun, but the difficulty is not always there, especially early on. The game does place you with a timer of 10 minutes to complete each wave, but most people will be able to finish a typical wave in about 2 minutes, 3 if you’re not paying attention. A reduced amount of time would have certainly added to the pressure of tying to complete a wave as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The only other issue with the game comes from bonus notifications. Whenever you manage to clear a color in a certain amount of moves or time, you get a bonus added to your score. While it’s nice to have these scores, the 3-5 seconds that these notifications appear took me away from my playing. I was often ‘in the zone’ and I just didn’t want to be bothered by being told what I just accomplished. Every level typically ends by you earning bonus points, so it would have simply been better to have them all appear nicely at the end.

Graphics and Sound

For a Puzzle game, Quantz uses an attractive astrological/fantasy style in its presentation. Not only do the graphics have a very space-like feel to them, but the game uses Greek letters as the name of each of the stages’ world, which is common practice in Astrology.

There is a heavy influence on Astrology.

There are various different shapes that the Cube can take which does factor into how you can complete a wave. On top of that, the Quantz themselves can have different properties and physics plays an important part in completing a wave. There are some Quantz that can be moved around and with the simple shake of the Mouse, you can toss them up in the air and move the Cube around and hope to bunch the same colors together. This works and looks really nice and you will not experience any sort of slow-down in the process.

On the sound side of things, the game uses an interesting soundtrack which also has a very Fantasy-feel to it. The game’s score is very reminiscent of fantasy films like Lord of the Rings and while it works well, it might not appeal to everyone’s tastes. On the effects side of things, the clinking of the Quantz, the explosions and other sounds you will hear all sound fantastic. The Sound department did a good job of replicating what you’d hear if you were playing a game of marbles.

Value

There are more than 100 waves that you will need to complete in both Strategy and Action, not to mention the plethora of Puzzle challenges available. While each wave early on should only take you a matter of minutes to complete, you will be tempted to go back to improve your scores. The Puzzle mode will take a lot of time to complete, and you’ll often want to go back to see if you can’t finish them faster than the first time.

Conclusion

For something that at first seemed quite generic, I was very impressed with what QuantZ manages to offer. The game looks and plays well with a lot of variety given. Yes, it does take a while before the challenge ramps up, but as with most Casual Puzzle games, the gradual challenge will be welcoming to those who don’t play games that often. If you have been looking for something on your computer to play, even for a few minutes, then QuantZ is the choice for you.