Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Jun 21, 2022

  Very fun puzzle-ish game! A lot more variety than other games in its genre.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 21, 2022

  This is very good so far. Big combos are really satisfying. Love having endless time to set up good moves rather than feeling rushed. Like the items and equipment that you unlock over time. It's several hours after the release of this game and I'm only seeing one other review so far.. I hope adding mine helps more people notice this game, it's really fun, try the demo!
• gamedeal user

  Jun 21, 2022

  Fun match3 by "linking", basically. Expect lots of grind.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 22, 2022

  Man commits mass genocide in order to make enough money to move to Hawaii.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 22, 2022

  Chill, relatively easy but still challenging puzzle game. Amazing to play now and then when relaxing/watching something else on your second monitor. Good substitute for autobattlers/puzzlegames with quality written all over it. More positives than negatives, could use more tweaking and changes to some features. Pros: - Refreshing and unique puzzle elements - Amazing aesthetics and art style - Cool character designs and animations - Satisfying gameplay (long combos and figuring out better chains) - Adds new variables and mechanics to the core gameplay the further you get, making it harder and interesting - Easy and hard puzzles - Massive amounts of gameplay time (atm 19h and not even 50% done with the game) - Challenges - Dailies - A lot of different consumables, gear and items to make your own gameplay style different 50/50 pro/con - Mobile UI elements (I personally like it because it's simplistic and snappy) - A lot of animations (can be frustrating for players like me who don't care about them anymore) - RNG placement of chests and slob kings (optional missions in puzzles) can sometimes be really weird, making it extremely easy or nearly impossible to get. This adds rng variable to the puzzles which is nice, but sometimes makes you replay the puzzle for easier spawns. - CalArts artstyle (I'm neutral about it but it's super basic and saturated at this point, animations and presentation makes it special) - Some costumes are locked behind a weekly quest gate. If you don't meet the requirements (eg. on launch you need 50 spike shield kills, and with my 19 hours of gameplay time I still haven't gotten it), I have no idea if you'll ever be able to get it again. Cons: - Clearly developed for mobile first as a f2p+p2w game, then changed to p2p model. This makes some mechanics and features "weird" for a pay to play game. - Resource dependant with consumables, special items and hp. If you suck at the game, you might need to grind the older levels for resources which ofc sucks butt because it's a husk feature from the p2w mobile game dev version. (No idea how bad it is because so far I haven't had to replay any puzzles for resources) - No fast mode, can get tedious to wait for the animations to finish - Some puzzles are so hard that you need special items to complete them. On paper this is not a bad feature, but because the items need resources to use them and if you get stuck/suck at the puzzle, you need to grind the resources back which ofc is horrible and tedious. Once again, mobile game version's husk feature. Tips: - Use the pickaxe to spawn more items on the map, which are neutral colored pickups. Makes combos easier and gives more room to move. Pickaxe refills after every puzzle aka you don't need resources to use it. - When you are in a position where you have to either take damage or use an item to get out of the situation, think about which is less expensive for your; taking 1 hit which costs 5 gems to heal OR getting out of the situation with an item which costs eg. 10 gems + other resources to refill/repair. Sometimes taking 1 hit is much better decision. - In the early game you can pick special resources from challenges to make new items/gear, but later on I highly recommend always picking up gems because you need them for hp and item refills/repair. You'll get plenty resources from other things in the game. - If the puzzle map is special with map hazards or multiple tough hp enemies, don't be afraid to quit the puzzle when you've checked it out at the start, change to appropriate items and trying again. This doesn't cost you anything as long as you've not lost any hp and/or used items which require resources. - Remember to use monster goo at Helgä's shop regularly to craft super items. Once the amount of goo hits the 6000 limit, you can't gather more until you've free'd up some space. Thanks for reading. Edit: Added more bullets points
• gamedeal user

  Jun 29, 2022

  It's a super polished basic puzzle game, there is variety in terms of enemies, level hazards and equippable items, but for the most part the game is finding a massive chain, getting a grindstone out of it, then using it to make an even bigger chain next time. No time pressure, super easy mechanics and consistent game rules mean you can easily pick this up and play a few rounds whenever it fits into your day - during a boring zoom call, before bed, or while your girlfriend is trying to explain something to you. There is a TON of levels, im at 13 hours so far and I think maybe less than 25% in terms of total level count.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 4, 2022

  so glad it's finally on steam
• gamedeal user

  Jul 7, 2022

  Game looks great and have a lot of content but is plague with RNG. The puzzle mechanic is fun and engaging. However RNG is making some levels simply unbeatable. You will jump from impossible to super easy all the time. There is no much strategy involved, pretty much just luck. , Grindstone is simply too long for no reason and gets tedious and repetitive very fast because there is little to no varation to the content.
• gamedeal user

  Jul 14, 2022

  It's very nice to see 1 of the coolest Apple Arcade match 3 games brought over to the PC!
• gamedeal user

  Jul 19, 2022

  I played through Grindstone while it was a mobile game and I'm playing through it again now on PC. That's how good this game is. While it may look like your typical Match-3 puzzle game on the screenshots, it actually isn't one. The game uses rather unique mechanics to challenge the player. You play as Jorj, a family man and hard worker. Your job is to collect shiny gems, the titular Grindstones. To get these gems you need to slay monsters that live inside a big mountain cave. Basic gameplay revolves around drawing lines from Jorj through same-colored monsters to perform a combo. Jorj will move through once you end your round. if you get a combo of 10, a Grindstone will drop on a random tile. Moving through a gem allows Jorj to change from one color to any other color, making it possible to chain larger combos. Bigger combos give bigger gems which are worth more Grindstones. This acts as the currency of the game. After Jorj made his turn, enemies will make theiris. If Jorj moved nect to an aggroed creep, he will get attacked. Creeps will aggro randomly on each turn and will stay angry until they are killed or have attacked Jorj. There are also big baddies who have more health and you need to meet a target combo number before you can slay them but they work like gems and allow you to chain into another color of choice. Big baddies drop loot that Jorj can collect during his move. Each stage has a specific goal, most of the time you need to slay a specific amount of enmies, sometimes you need a set number of Grindstones. Later stages might have more complicated goals that you need to solve. Once you finished the goal, the exit gets opened but you don't have to leave right away. If you want, you can still grind the level for loot and gems. However, the longer Jorj sticks around, the faster enemies get angry and at some point you might get overwhelmed and won't find a single safe space anymore. There are also two sub goals on each stage, getting a treasure chest and killing the King creep. The king creep has 5 HP and needs to be killed in a specific color and does not allow you to change color, which makes it somewhat tricky to get him. If you get him, he will give you a crown that you need to open new sections of the game. The treasure chest on the other hand needs a key that one enemy on the map gets. If you kill that enemy, you can collect and open the chest with a combo of 5 or 10, depending on the rarity of the chest. The chest will contain some loot and sometimes a blueprint. All three objectives are marked on your map but you generally need only the main objective and a handful of crown objectives to get through the game. Getting all objectives however makes the game a lot easir in the long run. Early on you get introduced to equipment. Jorj can have three different items equipped and these can be used during a level. Items are divided into two types, one that recharges between level and one that needs to be replenished. The first one is generally weaker but can save currency, the second is more powerful but could be too expensive on the long run. There are different types of equipment like swords that allow Jorj to attack in specific patterns, shields that allow Jorj to block attacks and relese effects if he does so, arrows that can be shot at a single enemy to kill it and utility items that can have all types of effects. Jorj can mix these however he wants, if you want to take three swords to a level, the game won't stop you. Blueprints that you get from chests will allow Jorj to craft new items if he has the right materials. These materials are what you get from the enemies and sometimes obstacles that are on the field. You can also find blueprints for clothing. Clothes allow Jorj to have a passive effect and might interact with enemies or your equipment. Clothes never need to be repaired and just like equipment it can be switched between levels however you like. The game offers a lot of additional content besides the main levels. There are three types of daily challenges that you can do and compete on leaderboards with other players. There are also bonus stages that offer a lot of materials and gemstones, once you finish them and if you beat the entire bonus section, you get a blueprint for a random golden equipment. Golden equipment is a more powerful version of the same item that allows you to use that item six times during a stage. Gold is however very rare and the player has to actively grind for it to get enough for golden items. Overall the game is very fun, you can play this game very casually or you can try to compete with others players on the daily leaderboards. Mixing equipment and testing new strategies is mega fun and the game has so many levels that it will take you a long time to finish the game. The visuals are also very nice, the game uses a cartoony but rather gory art syle. Copmbined with the soundtrack you have a very pleasant gaming experience. If you like puzzle games, you totally should get this game.