Tidalis

Reviews

“Tidalis is a match-3 game that doesn’t feel tired or repetitive: I actually want to play it, which says something considering how many puzzle games I’ve reviewed. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Tidalis is one of the best puzzle game I’ve ever played. Simply put, if you like puzzle games (and even if you usually don’t), you need to get Tidalis. Right now. Go!”
James Allen, Out of Eight PC Game Reviews (8/8 score)

“I can say with some authority that Tidalis stands apart… The bottom line is that Tidalis is a flexible, smart, refreshingly unique puzzle design, and it’s situated neatly into a large generous package. It’s far better than any mere puzzle game should be.”
Tom Chick, GameShark (GameShark Editor’s Choice Award, “A” Score)

“Overall, this is the most robust and interesting casual game I have seen in some time. There is so much to do and so many ways to play I don’t even know that casual actually suits it. Yes the gameplay is casual but this is a highly developed, well-rounded, offering from Arcen Games that puts many games of higher price to shame. It’s got numerous ways to play and very successfully takes an old genre, turns it on its head, and shows you just what can be done when you think outside of the box.”
Christophor Rick, Gamers Daily News (GDN Gold Award, 9/10 Score)

“This is easily the most interesting, unique gameplay mechanic I’ve ever seen in a puzzle game. It’s terrific.”
Bill Harris

“I was extremely impressed by Tidalis… The Co-Op Experience: The standard for judging drop in/drop out co-op, with custom options for two-well co-op and even online co-op, Tidalis takes the co-op puzzler crown.”
Marc Allie, Co-Optimus (Editor’s Choice, 5/5 Co-Op Score, 4.5/5 Overall Score)

“Tidalis is, in short, stunning. It’s one of the most complex, yet easy to learn, games we have ever played. Just when you think you know everything, new blocks and modes are given to you to toy with, leading to tons of replayability. We would, in fact, say that this is one of the best casual games we have ever played, if not the best.”
James Murff, Big Download (Final Verdict: Must Own)

“It’s evident from the onset that a vast amount of passion was poured into this game, from the superb piano-and-string musical score to the detailed and smoothly animated backgrounds… Seriously, the effort poured into this game cannot be stressed enough. You can submit scores to twitter, customize the appearance of blocks, even directly edit the animated backgrounds to better suit your taste. There’s nothing they haven’t thought of.”
Ben Tyrer, SavyGamer

“Tidalis is the first game in recent memory that I can unreservedly recommend to everybody. If you’re a puzzle game fan then it’s a no-brainer. Tidalis is simply the best abstract puzzle game on the market, hands down. If you’re not much of a puzzle game fan, then prepare to be surprised.”
Steve Blanch, Bytten (81% Overall Score)

“Having played a variety of games in different genres, I will say it has been awhile since I have found such a great PC puzzle game. Seeing me testing this game for the review, my fiance even gave this game a try, leading to us buying a second copy of the game for its multiplayer capability. If you are looking for a great game that will be enjoyed by your entire family for some time, I recommend downloading Tidalis and giving it a try. You will not regret it.”
Sensor, PuzzleUniverse.com (9.5/10 Score)

“Usually, puzzle games have such a simple concept that they quickly become boring or they require you to have lightning reflexes just to keep up. It’s because of this that I usually avoid puzzle games entirely. Yet Tidalis is the first one I’ve played that I can recommend to everyone without reservation. Whether you match three colors in your sleep or avoid puzzles like a plague, Tidalis is a really fun game that will keep you entertained and strategizing for hours on end.”
Erica Marceau, Appletell (4/5 Score)

“Tidalis is a highly polished, cleverly designed puzzle game that is saturated with content, and detail in a way that even many larger studio developed titles often don’t compare to. I’m not typically a fan of puzzle games personally, but I found myself highly entertained, and quickly hooked on this title.”
Jordan Rivas

“I will be playing this game years from now and still enjoying every bit of it. It has depth, complexity, beauty and richness beyond many other puzzle games currently available.”
KingIsaacLinksr, A Paladin Without A Crusade…

“Tidalis is an excellent and very polished action-puzzler, that impressively lets you decide how to play it, and you really should play it! You’ll probably be too addicted to do anything else -or review it- for quite some time. Better yet, let me rephrase this: TIDALIS IS AMAZING. BRILLIANT TOO.”
gnome, Gnome’s Lair

“Tidalis is engaging, challenging, unique, and just plain a whole lotta fun. With such a great variety in levels and items, the game just never gets old. The ability to create custom levels adds even more variety. The characters and music fit perfectly with the colorful style of the game. Tidalis is just a well-rounded and well-executed game that really gives you bang for your buck.”

Amy Nelson, Brutal Gamer (8.5/10 Score)

“I am not a puzzle gamer. But for those of you who are; for those of you undaunted by the likes of Bejeweled, Puzzle Quest or Clash of Heroes; for those who find no sport in World of Goo or Plants Vs. Zombies, there’s Tidalis: a game that never ceases to build upon itself, exponentially, until the ethereal mind-space between your brain implodes into a singularity that devours reality as we know it.”

Christian Higley, Digital Hippos (4/5 Stars)

“Tidalis is another game in the family of falling block puzzle games, but with some entertaining differences…If you’re a casual puzzle player or a serious one, chances are you should be interested in this game.”

Raymond Matthews, DarkstarMatryx (4/5 Score)

“Tidalis manages to offer up a fresh twist on the concept, creating an addictive experience that’s equal parts challenging and relaxing. And it even has a story.”
Andrew Webster, About.com (4/5 Stars)

“Tidalis promises to take you to unexplored realms, both through its fantastical storyline and its fresh take on the match-three puzzler. You’ll still be matching up some familiar coloured blocks, but the way you do it differs considerably from other games in the genre.”
Jon Mundy, GameZebo (4/5 Stars)

“Tidalis is a dream of a game, and more than worth the money paid for purchase. If you like Bejewelled, Tetris or any title that tests your brain, Tidalis is a must-buy.”
Harry Balls (5/5 Stars)

“Overall it’s a cracking puzzle game title – it looks great, is easy to pick up the basics but very difficult to master completely, has a nice story mode for people like me who often get bored with puzzle games normally, and as you’d expect from Arcen Games has some great multi player options.”
CaptainD, CaptainD’s PC Gaming Blog (8/10 Solo, 9/10 Multiplayer)

“Tidalis is well produced in both the looks and sound departments and sports a puzzle mechanic I’ve not seen before. It has literally hours of stream-building puzzle action, plus it has a character called Humphrey and if that isn’t an excuse to buy this I don’t know what is! Puzzlers: Go Get!”
Andy Yates, PC Games And Reviews (7.5/10 Score)

“Tidalis’s ease of use really lends itself well to the casual market it is trying to hit, but there is also enough substance in the game to make it appealing for more hardcore puzzle gamers as well. This is definitely a game to check out if you are looking for a new type of tile-game.”
Chris Meyer, GameVortex (80% Score)

“Het maken van lange stromen en combo’s is iets waar je je urenlang mee kan vermaken en biedt de vernieuwing die zo vaak afwezig is bij genregenoten. Met de combinatie van vernieuwing en content heeft Arcen Games dan ook bewezen dat dit genre nog verre van verzadigd is.”
Roland van Dorrestein, EuroGamer.nl (9/10 Score)

Features

Puzzle game with casual appeal, hardcore depth, and an addictive new mechanic.
Two-player co-op and competitive play (both local and networked).
A wide selection of both action-oriented or brainteaser-like levels.
Casual-friendly adventure mode, hardcore-focused custom games and vs modes.
20+ game styles, and dozens of items and special blocks.
Rich, painterly art style and beautiful music.
Players can create and share whole new themes, levels, and adventures.
Options for colorblind players, players averse to lots of light and motion, and older computers.

A Block-based Puzzle Game

Tidalis is a block-based puzzle game with casual appeal, hardcore depth, and an addictive new “streams” mechanic. The basic rules of the game are this: blocks fall down into the board and have a color and an arrow direction. If a stack of blocks exceeds the height of the board, you lose. In order to clear blocks, you must right-click and drag paths through the arrows to set up chain reactions of like-colored blocks.

If this sounds simple, that’s because it is — you’ll be lining up lengthy chains within minutes. But you’ll be surprised how much brainpower it takes to set up combos of multiple chains, and the many brainteaser-style puzzles include some real stumpers. Tidalis has co-op and competitive multiplayer modes (both online and offline); action-oriented modes and timer-less brainteasers; a lengthy, casual-friendly adventure mode; twenty unique game modes providing innumerable twists to the basic gameplay; dozens of special blocks and items; and over fifty minutes of beautiful music to go with the painterly art.

In short, several games’ worth of content are built on top of this core mechanic, which you’ll quickly find to be as iconic as it is novel.

What Makes Tidalis Unique?

What happens when a notable indie strategy developer makes a puzzle game? We have no idea. Our first game happened to be a notable indie strategy game, but we’ve never considered ourselves tied to any particular genre. Truth is, we made Tidalis because we like puzzle games and we wanted to take our opportunity to innovate in that space.

The “streams” mechanic employed by Tidalis is what makes it so unique — chain reactions with a dozen blocks are trivially easy to create. This makes the game really easy to get into, but also makes the creation of advanced multi-stage combos more challenging than in other block-based puzzlers. At an advanced level of play, it’s the difference between Chess and Checkers; with Tidalis in the hands of an expert, there are more variables to keep in mind as you set up truly elegant interactions.

But never fear: the easier difficulty levels are quite relaxed, and our Zen mode provides a particularly no-rush style of gameplay. The core mechanics are so simple that the two-year-old daughter of one of our staff enjoys playing along with him. And we suppose it goes without saying that many of our mothers are hooked on it, too.

Whether you’re just looking for a casual fun time, a deep and strategic puzzle experience, or a series of brain-bending puzzles, we’ve got you covered. About half of the five staff members working on this game are the hardcore puzzle types, and the other half have completely casual tastes. We’ve approached this with our usual attention to detail: the mechanics of the timing, chain merging, and other mechanics have been refined to a ridiculous degree to provide an optimal experience in all play styles.

System Requirements

COMPATIBLE OPERATING SYSTEMS
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Windows XP SP2 or later
Mac OSX Intel CPU and “Snow Leopard” 10.6 or later
Ubuntu 10.10 or later, although other unsupported distros may very well work

HARDWARE
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1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
1.4Ghz CPU minimum, 1.8 Ghz recommended for background animation or multiplayer
600MB Hard Disk Space
Screen resolution at least 600px high, and 800px wide.
Internet Connection or LAN required for networked multiplayer
There are no particular graphics card requirements; anything from the last 5-8 years should be fine.

Demo (Unlockable Into Full Game With CD Key)

This zip archive contains the OSX, Windows, and Linux versions all in one package. More than 99% of the files are the same between all three operating systems, so this gives you the flexibility of having all three operating systems in one package without needing to download multiple large archives. To play the demo, simply unzip the archive into the location of your choice.

To run the game:
1. Windows: Run Tidalis.exe (this is 32bit)
2. OSX: Run Tidalis.app (this will run as 32bit or 64bit, depending on your OS).
3. Linux: Run TidalisLinux.x86 if you are on a 32bit OS, or TidalisLinux.x86_64 if you are on a 64bit OS.

That’s it! Note: if you have a CD key (NOT a steam key) for the game, then you can unlock this demo into the full version of the game.

Play Tidalis Lite In Your Browser!

The “lite” version of the game is a free, scaled-down web-based edition of the game. The lite version and the downloadable demo version have a lot of overlap in what they give away for free, but there’s quite a bit that is only in one version or the other. The lite version is the quickest, easiest way to dip your toes into the game: it’s only a 6.7mb download, assuming you already have the unity web player (which is tiny, anyway).