Two adorable little pandas need your help!  They’re trapped between stacks of tiles, and need you to clear them away!  Panda Pandamonium is best described as a fast-action arcade Mah-Jongg style game, and it’s available to download on iOS devices (reviewed on iPad here).

In each level, tiles with symbols are arranged on the playfield, and you must tap two of the same tiles to make them disappear.  The rule is that you can only match tiles that are not in between other tiles, so it plays a bit like Mah-Jongg in that respect.  But this game is a bit more fast-paced and arcade-like.  The quicker you match tiles, the higher your combo streak rises, which boosts your score.  Once the two panda tiles are not in between other tiles and can be matched, you can tap on them to complete the level.

There are special tiles and obstacles that can hinder your progress later on, though.  Rocks need to be broken by matching tiles near them.  Ice needs to have tiles fall on them, and dragon tiles can be cleared away by matching sword tiles, or by matching a sword tile right next to them.  If you match all the tiles you can in a level, and still can’t free the pandas, you can tap the button on the bottom of the screen to make more tiles rain from above.  But you can only do this a limited amount of times in a level.

By saving the pandas, as well as other objectives in each level like clearing out a number of certain tiles or getting a high enough score, you’ll earn stars.  You’ll want to get as many stars as you can because they let you unlock gates to new levels, as well as  replenish your supply of lightning bolts.  To play a level, it’ll cost you one lightning bolt.  Similar to ‘stamina’ in other tablet games, your supply of lightning bolts will fill up over time, but earning stars lets you keep playing without having to wait.  Every few hours you can also earn jade, which you can use to buy boosts to aid you in the levels.  You can also buy jade and stars with real money in the shop.

While most tablet games with in-app purchases and ‘stamina’ that limits how long you play usually annoys me, it’s not so bad in this game.  In fact, I’ve been able to play for a long time without even having to worry about that.  I guess if I had to pick a problem with the game, it’s that the announcer that yells out your combos, “PANDA SLAMMA JAMMA COMBO!” can get a tiny bit tiresome sometimes, but it’s really not that bad.  All in all, Panda Pandamonium is a fun little puzzle action title and the pandas are just too cute.  Plus they’re supposedly adding new levels every month!

Kid Factor:

While you do break rocks, ice, and dragon tiles that have facial expressions, there really isn’t any violence in the game.  Reading skill is helpful for the text, but with a little help, the game is easy to figure out by playing.  Parental supervision is recommended for the in-app purchases, but you can enjoy the game just fine without them.  Kids will love the cute panda characters and the game enforces thinking and logic skills.

Tags: Game Reviews