15-Minute Reviews :: Buku Mahjongg
Hello all and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s game is Buku Mahjongg by Merscom LLC – A Mahjongg game with 4 different modes and many different layouts.
Software Description
As Giveaway of the Day states:
“A fresh interpretation of the famous Chinese game mahjong – the adventure that requires skill, intelligence, calculations and luck.
Originating in ancient China, Mahjongg is a game that involves both skill and chance. This collection offers four different game modes: Classic, Shuffle, Word, and Math Mahjongg. In addition to this, there are more than fifty different layouts available and new layouts can be created using the built-in Editor. Furthermore, there are at least two different sets of skins for each mode of play.”
Quick Pros
- Four different gameplay styles gives some variety
- Sixty-seven different layouts available
- Layout editor so you can build a fun new layout
- Game looks good, plays quick
Quick Cons
- Not sure why New Game and Pick Game are different
- Auto-hints after 100 ‘ticks’ could be an option-only
- Not sure what ‘International Online Tournaments’ feature is
Expansion
Today’s title offers a popular game with new features on top of the classic-style. Offering not only classic mahjongg gameplay, there is also Shuffle where you have up to three tile shuffles if you become stuck at any point with no more moves; Word where the goal of removing tiles is to remove them in order so that you assemble words for extra points; And Math where your goal is to build mathematical equations from the times you remove. Each mode offers a unique gameplay from each other and involves a lot more thought than even standard mahjongg does.
On top of the different modes available, there are also variations to the tile layout as well. A total of 67 built-in layouts will keep your mind flowing with new challenges. When you run out of layouts, or just feeling adventuresome, there is also the layout editor so that you can build your own layouts for something new and challenging.
All-in-all, the game looks pretty good, even though the menu buttons are a tad difficult to read. The gameplay is smooth and runs fairly quick too, so that you’re not waiting on pieces to disappear or otherwise.
I did have a few concerns however. I’m not sure why there is a differential between New Game and Pick Game; I know that New Game shows what each of the four modes do, but doesn’t offer you a layout selection. Pick Game offers a layout selection, but doesn’t describe what each of the modes do. I would likely combine these two, and then make a ‘Quick Game’ which picks the game style and layout randomly for you. Another issue I did have was the auto-hints after 100 ‘ticks’ – It wasn’t seconds; Quite a bit faster. It would have been nice to enable or disable that auto-hint function, but so far can not find any location to do so.
The last note I did need to make was the feature listed on Giveaway – ‘International online tournaments.’ I do not see anything indicating online tournament support of any level; I wonder if possibly it could mean just the Top 10 scoreboard, but this is not what I would consider online tournaments. The developer should clarify on this feature listed.
Final Verdict
All-in-all it isn’t a bad game. It wasn’t groundbreaking, but did offer some variety to the common mahjongg gameplay. While free, it may be a great title to pick up and provide quite a bit of fun. As for purchasing this title; It does not appear to be available online yet when you click the link for more information; However, the page it does bring you to is called ‘Buku Brain Blast’ and offers as a set of three games – Sudoku, mahjongg and kakuro – in a single pack. No pricing on this; However, if it is this pack that is 9.95 € and the other games were of similar quality to Buku Mahjongg, it would definitely be worth the price.
Posted by BladedThoth on Tuesday, August 14, 2007
