iPad Review: Heroes of Kalevala

When the village Shaman tells you that your destiny requires that you leave your home and start a new colony, there’s not much you can do but go with the flow. Once you find a nice piece of land to begin your new life, the hard work begins. You must grow your village and keep its inhabitants happy. You’ll do this by completing match-3 puzzles that earn gold which you can spend to spruce up your village. With enough hard work you’ll attract the attention of local heroes who can help protect your village and clear stages. Check out this unique action adventure twist of match-3 puzzles in Heroes of Kalevala.

Reviewing a game from 10tons Ltd is what it must feel like when a teacher grades an amazing essay or when a culinary judge scarfs down a perfectly executed dish. It’s easy, everything is there, you just have to go down the check list and give them their points. So let’s go down the check list:

Graphics: The cut scenes are beautifully hand drawn animations with superb voice acting. In game, the match-3 icons are crisp and coated with a spit shine polish. They twitch and animate themselves every now and then making the board come alive. Activating a hero initiates an attack animation that interacts with the board in smooth and stunning ways.

Gameplay: While most developers are busy churning out copy cat apps of popular casual games, 10tons goes above and beyond with their versions by infusing new gameplay elements into the mix. Heroes of Kalevala gives players a reason to complete a puzzle in the fastest time possible by turning their quickness into coins that can be used to purchase upgrades for their growing village. It’s like getting two games in one.

Fun Factor: The phrase “sensory overload” was given new meaning to me after playing Heroes of Kalevala. Between the twitching icons, dazzling colors, multitude of shapes, and the pressure of the evil crow I thought my head was going to explode, in a good way though. There’s so much going on that you’ll be sucked in and unable to draw yourself away from the action. Let’s be honest though, the real fun is when you summon heroes to help you clear the board. Each time one of these heroes gets summoned their attacks get more power and more effective at clearing tiles. With more than 8 heroes to call on, the experience never becomes dull.

As you can see, 10tons Ltd. delivers with Heroes of Kalevala. I wouldn’t recommend a single match-3 game on the iPad over it. The developer goes above and beyond the efforts of their competition and it pays off big time. Look no further when you go to make your weekly game purchase from the App Store, this is where you should spend your allowance. Heroes of Kalevala is a highly polished match-3 puzzle game with beautiful graphics, superb animations, and enough fun to keep you playing longer than 90% of the games in your iPad library.

For fans of: Miriel the Magical Merchant HD, Lamp of Aladdin HD, Bejeweled

Check it out in the App Store here.

This game has earned The Wirebot Big Wup Award for excellence and awesomeness! We recommend this game to you many times over. Try it and let us know what you think of it!