I’m back! Woo! And to kick things off (or end the week nicely) I’m showing off two new modes, Endurance and Iridescense.

Endurance is an interesting mode. The timer is completely gone from this game…instead, you have a limited number of gems you can use on the board. Once you run out of gems, it’s game over…unless you rack up some combos, which add a turn per multiplier.

I had to create some new rules with this mode to prevent cheating. You cannot start the chain unless you’ve placed at least one gem on the board (otherwise you could spam the game and keep getting a hundred points without using any gems). Once you’re out of gems, the chain starts automatically. You also have a larger chance of getting white gems. Later difficulty levels prevent this and even restrict you from earning any new gems whatsoever…so good luck with that!

The next mode is a play on Arcade mode, called Iridescense.





Every time you start a level and finish up the chains, the board resets and adds a random assortment of colored gems on the board. Iridescense basically stops that from happening, and sets up a permanent gem pattern every time you reset the board. So what’s the point? It adds another layer of strategy to the game…because you certainly could override all the gems on the board and set up your own combos, or you can use the colors to your advantage and build off the pattern to create some huge combos. Later levels won’t have all the colors on the board, which will likely set up the result of, “AH! Not another yellow gem! Nooooooo!” It’s a fun twist to the Arcade mode.

Well, we still have Stained Glass and Darkness modes to cover, as well as another look at Shifter, the Puzzle portion of the game, and the editor. Here’s hoping we can get this baby done in September! Woo!