Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading. In this installment, we’re covering Match Village by developer Moraes Game Studio.
Match Village: (The Explanation)
Sometimes you get an indie game to review that is cheap and looks cheaply made. The Switch EShop is unfortunately filled with lots of knock-off games that look like other games and use simple assets, are light on instruction, and can barely keep my attention. Enter, Match Village. This game is the epitome of “We have Dorfromantik at home”. If Dorfromantik, which is a polished and visually stunning tile matching game could have a baby with Islanders you would get Match Village.
Match Village offers a tranquil escape into the world of minimalist puzzle and strategy gaming. The game tries to be this charming experience, where players are tasked with combining buildings to construct villages across procedurally generated islands. Match Village tries to draw the player in by focusing on building and creativity. I had a hard time understanding how to win at Match Village since the game does not provide a tutorial and just throws the user into guessing how the game is played.
The gameplay of Match Village has you dropping building types, houses, fields, grain, and more on the map to try and score the most amount of points by building out combos. Combos are awarded, I think, by matching three of the same type of structure together and then linking them to buildings or monuments that multiply your points. You gain more cards then to use in your stack with each multiplication increasing your overall points.
Your points, shown in the bottom right hand of the screen, rise with each successful pairing. Once filled you move to a new island which you can then begin to place structures down to create larger villages. Match Village does try to snare you into that, just one more run, for a higher score, adrenaline rush. I just don’t think the game is captivating enough for me to want to continue playing it.
While Match Village touts itself as “different and unique” it is really just a clone of those other two games. I know there are many types of hex-based world builders, but the way Match Village copies the better games and then doesn’t do much to change things makes me wonder how this even made it to the Switch.
Even if you took out the comparison to other games, Match Village doesn’t have much going for it. Visually there is a lot of muddied graphics on the Switch. As the player it can be hard to discern what you are supposed to do and where dropping pieces would be most advantageous. The visuals in Match Village are a bit hit or miss. There is a great deal of aliasing that happens and the overall style for the buildings and structures don’t do enough to set them apart or their animations with each match.
Overall, Match Village can be a decent game, but when you compare it to other titles that it clearly takes inspiration from, you may be better off shelling out a bit more for the better games. I found the controls, graphics, and sound to be lacking on all fronts, and have a hard time recommending this game to anyone. While the game is a budget title and probably made by a small team, it just feels unpolished.
Match Village: (The Gameplay)
Game Specifications:
Developer: Moraes Game Studio
Publisher: QUByte Interactive
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Puzzle, Board Game, Training
No. of Players: 1 player
Release Date: March 14, 2024 (EU & NA)
Price: $4.99
File Size: 238 MB
Nintendo.com Listing
