Farm Heroes Saga for iPhone

Match-three puzzle fun on the farm

Farm Heroes Saga is a barnyard-themed, match-three game from the creator of Candy Crush Saga.

Fun on the farm

Farm Heroes Saga will appeal to fans of match-three games like the sickly-sweet puzzle behemoth Candy Crush Saga, or the more ancient but no less iconic, Bejeweled. The idea is to match lines of three or more of the same fruit, or 'cropsies' as they are affectionately known in the game.

Quotas for various types of cropsies are set at the start of each level, and you must meet these minimums within a set number of moves in order to progress to the next stage. Go over your quotas and you'll enter Hero mode, where you can top up your points tally, which is then converted into magic beans, used to acquire stuff in Farm Heroes Saga.

Of course, as is the norm with games of this ilk, you can buy your way to easier success by purchasing extra moves and unlocking power-ups that improve your chances.

Is it easy to play?

Farm Heroes Saga is extremely simple to get the hang of, even if you're new to match-three puzzle gamers. All of the various gameplay concepts are introduced to you in idiotproof detail as you play. Even a one-eyed rooster would have little trouble picking up and playing the game.

Although the concept and the controls are simple, Farm Heroes Saga is by no means a pushover. As you move through the hundreds of levels you'll start to get increasingly vexed by the larger numbers of items to harvest in increasingly shorter numbers of moves. This is when the urge to splash out on in-app purchases to give you a boost can become irresistible.

How does it look?

As you might imagine from a King puzzle game, Farm Heroes Saga looks like it's been coated in about five layers of syrup then had the color levels turned up to the maximum. The shiny graphics are accompanied by a incessant upbeat soundtrack that will whir round your head for hours after you've finished playing. In short, it's a bit too cute at times.

The verdict