Falling Gems is a deceiving name for this game. You may think it’s a free knock-off of the excellent Bejeweled, but it isn’t. Falling Gems is a good time waster, however, but it lacks the depth and strategy that may keep puzzlers coming back for more.
The game begins with a stash of gems all laid out and waiting for you to group them by color. Similar to Bejeweled, you match three colors and the grouped gems disappear, leaving the remaining gems to fall in to place, hence the name Falling Gems.
Falling Gems does follow the same color matching concept as other games but it also brings a few new tricks.
The game functions wonderfully with the iPhone and Touch’s accelerometer. When you flip your device, the entire board follows, causing your gems to topple into a new spot. This comes in handy when you’re stuck and in need of some new matching options. Another new trick: the three gems don’t have to be in a straight line–just touching in some way.
Despite the new features, there’s a major downside with Falling Gems. There are no added challenges, traps, bombs or benefits appearing during play. A successful match simply gives you more time to gather points, and this can get awfully repetitive.
Falling Gems will entertain you, but since the goal is to accumulate as many points as possible and the reward is nothing more than a few seconds of added time, it’s likely the gems’ shine won’t last long.
