Developer Capy?s Grindstone () has all the hallmarks of a typical free-to-play gem-matching puzzle game. It has a long, vertically scrolling overworld with over a hundred numbered stages to slowly make your way through, a lives system consisting of three hearts that you often have to replenish between matches, power-ups (some of them consumable) which are there to help you when you get stuck, and of course, the aforementioned gem-matching (although it?s monsters called ?creeps? instead of gems or candy here). Scared yet" You shouldn?t be, because this is Apple Arcade we?re talking about. Outside of the $5 you already spent on the AA subscription, there?s literally no way to spend money in this game.
It feels kind of refreshing, honestly, because on the whole Grindstone is not particularly revolutionary and that lack of IAP breathes a bit more life into what could have been a pretty run-of-the-mill puzzler. Each stage is more or less the same: you start with a screen full of monsters, and you need to chart a path through them by matching the right colors. Each monster you slay will add to your score for the level, and once a certain threshold is met the gate will open and allow you to escape to the next stage. Eventually other wrinkles are added, such as beefier enemies that will attack you in specific ways and treasure chests that need to be unlocked. There are also the titular grindstones, which are prismatic gems that allow you to switch colors mid-path.
I say it?s ...