Match-Up! by Big Fish Review

There’s nothing new about the three games offered in Match-Up! by Big Fish (out now, FREE). But since these casual games are familiar to all, or at least most gamers, anyone can hop right into a tournament and compete within seconds.

Match-Up1Word Rack presents you with a jumble of six letters. Your goal is to rearrange all the letters into a single word. If you don’t manage to figure it out, your score will be tallied based on the letters you’ve used (to form the longest word you can come up with). You’ll of course be competing against other players in real-time, so you’ll also have to think fast to win.

The remaining two games, Mahjong and QBeez, are straightforward matching games. Mahjong tile matching needs no introduction, and once you enter a QBeez game, you’ll immediately know what to do, because all it involves is tapping groups of matching colored cubes to clear them off the screen. Of course, to win fast and score the highest points possible, you might have to think strategically. Boosts can help you in the games, giving you hints or letting you rewind and shuffle pieces. However, since this is a freemium game, boosts will cost money to buy via IAP, although you will sometimes be given some.

Match-Up2Each game type offers several tournament modes. The first is free to enter and involves a competition against three other players. One player will be eliminated in each round of play until a winner emerges.

The other tournaments cost varying amounts of game money (chips) to enter, but though they are structured slightly differently the same gameplay is involved. Through winning tournaments, you’ll be awarded chips, which are also available for purchase through IAP.

Check out Big Fish Games’ complete collection of iOS titles

iFanzine Verdict: Match-Up! by Big Fish will appeal to casual gamers, especially those who are hooked on matching and word games. The one downside of Match-Up! is it’s entirely an online multiplayer game that offers no single-player mode, so if you dislike competing against strangers, this is not for you.