The popularity of Bejeweled created a massive bubble of match-3 genre that endlessly spawns multitude of puzzle games. From cheap-art-swapped Bejeweled clones without any added creativity, to something mildly addicting like Diamond Dash. However, the most creative spin of the match-3 genre should be awarded to the Spry Fox's creation Triple Town.

I first encountered Triple Town on a Kindle device. Running on the revolutionary e-ink graphics and the traditional D-pad controller, the game is easy to pick up and surprisingly addictive. The fact that the studio did not invest millions of dollars creating revolutionary nth-D graphics, means that the game is good simply because it's good without the extra calories.

The game is played on a 6x6 board initially populated by randomly-generated pieces. Player is given a new piece in each turn, which must be placed on the board. Whenever the player matches 3 or more similar objects adjacent to each other, the objects combine into one object of higher value. Grasses combine into one flower. Flowers combine into a bush. Bushes combine into a tree, and so on until you get to a castle which gives players the highest bonus points. The challenge relies on the strategy where to put the next piece while giving enough rooms for the next upgrade. Monsters (Barbarians and Ghosts) sometimes appear to give a little frustration to the players. Trapped Barbarians actually provide value as they get converted to tombstones, and three or more tombstones combine into a church. Player loses the game when all tiles in the board are occupied and no further upgrades could be made. There is no winning condition other than to get the highest score possible.

Triple Town's design still allows much room for improvements and refinements. One might say to add a "Next" piece similar to Tetris to give visibility to the player thus allowing him to have a better strategy. Larger board, swapping pieces, or perhaps a multiplayer capability could enhance the depth and value of this game.