Chime Sharp from publisher Chilled Mouse is a new puzzle game combining music gameplay like Lumines and Tetris-like shapes. Players must form quads of 3×3 or more blocks on the grid as a passing beatline creates different music as it hits. Rotate the different shapes to build upon existing quads and keep them going. Race against the clock and fill as much of the board as you can, all the while altering and enjoying interesting music from some amazing musicians.
Chime Sharp is actually a sequel to the 2010 game Chime for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. Chime Sharp adds some new modes, along with new songs.. With 16 levels that unlock as you progress, and different modes within those levels, Chime Sharp has quite a bit of gameplay to keep puzzle fans happy. Just be warned, Chime Sharp will test, not only your block placing skills, but also your speed in doing so. Multitasking is a must as players must take into account the musical element of Chime Sharp too.
Chime Sharp expects a lot, not only in the gameplay, but in the player’s ability to understand the game with little to no explanation. Thankfully there is a practice mode, and I highly suggest it when starting. You may feel a bit overwhelmed at first, but after the infectious music and years old Tetris skills kick in, it really is a blast. A frantic, addictive blast.
The goal in Chime Sharp is to fill as many squares of the grid board that you can. As you build quads, a timer starts to fill in that box, if it fills and the beatline moves across it, the grid blocks under it will change color. The bigger the quad block, the bigger the score multiplier, the more area filled, and more time added to the clock. The music will also reflect and change based on how many and the size of your quads. I didn’t really take this aspect into account until after mastering the rotation of my pieces and building quads quickly. As the level progresses, the timer will get harder to keep up with and the difficulty really creeps up on players.
The levels in Chime Sharp really don’t change much visually, there may be various obstacles in your way, blocking an area, or the color scheme varies. The real star of Chime Sharp is the music. A mixture of synthpop, chiptune, EDM, and house, the music is fantastic. I loved how it would always be a different altered version of the song depending on how well, or how badly, I was doing in the level. Sometimes I would find myself in the zone and the music pumping my brain into overdrive as I panicked to keep up the timer. It’s good fun.
I’m very surprised that Chilled Mouse has not also released a mobile game version of Chime Sharp as I can see it translating well to that format. Overall, Chime Sharp is a wonder addition to the library of any PlayStation 4 puzzle gamer. There has recently been many new and amazing puzzle games for the PS4, and I put Chime Sharp in that group. For the MSRP of $9.99, players will definitely get many hours worth of play out of it. Now where can I buy the soundtrack?
Chime Sharp is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam. This review is based on a copy provided for that purpose.