Spooky Bonus

Spooky Bonus
by Grey Alien Games - Oct. 2013

Series links: Spring Bonus, Spooky Bonus, Holiday Bonus Gold

Available at:
Grey Alien Games
Alawar
Big Fish
GameHouse
iWin
Steam



Uncover dark forces emanating from the heart of Old Town, and grab spooky accessories for your front yard makeover, too! You’ll be spellbound by this adorably ghoulish horror-themed puzzle game.

Match shapes to stamp out evil and advance through Old Town, gathering gold and powerups as you go. Shop for yard decorations that boost your gameplay. Unleash exploding pumpkins, silver crosses, holy water, and more.

The time has come to unlock the sinister secret of Spooky Bonus. A blood curdling adventure awaits you!

Features:
-Smooth, enjoyable match-3 gameplay
-Decorate your house and yard with spooky ornaments
-Relaxed or Timed game modes
-Gloriously ghoulish graphics
-Can set backgrounds as Desktop Wallpaper (PC only)
-13 crazy bonus items from garlic bombs to silver bullets
-Collect 6 multi-level powerup items
-Play 100 unique levels
-Specially-composed bloodcurdling music

Spooky Bonus (Match-3)

Options include separate sliders for Music and Sound, Full Screen, Widescreen, Tips, and Custom Cursor.  The graphics look great in widescreen.

You can play timed or untimed, and if you enter the menu during gameplay, you can restart a level at any time.  You can't switch modes during a level, but there's a box you can check or uncheck between the levels.  Finishing before the timer -- which was very generous -- runs out gives you a score bonus, but does not affect how much money you have to spend.

Money is used to purchase new items to decorate your house with.  This isn't your regular decorating, though -- most everything you buy is going to earn you new types of bombs, so even if you're not interested in decorating, you have an extra incentive to do so.

The game starts out easily enough -- reach a goal, which is clearly listed on the left of the screen -- and you pass the level.  The gameplay becomes more and more complex as you progress, but not to the point that it becomes stressful (remember that I prefer to play these on timed mode.)  Eventually you will have four goals to meet before you finish the level.

You can continue to make matches whilst pieces are still falling, which is always nice.

The graphics are a lot of fun, with nicely-sized items (not too big or too small,) and great backgrounds.  One of my favorite features of the game is that at the end of every level, you are given an option to make the background image your wallpaper.  I just kept playing and playing, wanting to see what the next wallpaper was going to look like!  Just one more level, just one more level...   You can also make your house (you know, the one you're decorating) your wallpaper by clicking on the paint roller at the bottom left of the screen.

There are 19 Steam achievements.

All in all, this is a fun holiday offering, and one I happily purchased as soon as I finished my demo.

Good Heavens Genki! Did you MAKE this game!! So much info - it must have taken you forever. I'm too  embarrassed to put my quick jottings down beside this!



I see you didn't write it all, but had the good sense to post the manual. Well done! I miss manuals.

(PS. YOURS is an excellent review)

Looks Great, Plays Well Too! ****

BASED ON DEMO


This is my reward for checking out a whole lot of spooky games in honour of Halloween. This one is the gem. A Match 3 game, its mechanics is very much the same as we’ve seen a dozen times before (more than a few dozen, actually), it’s the atmosphere that is such fun in this game.

The graphics are very cartoonish but also very nice to look at, creepiness and all. The objects in the boards are all beautifully drawn, there are loads of different ones, and great animations with some of the power ups.

The same goes with the music, nothing outa this world, but appropriately spooky. The sound effects are quite amusing.

This is one of those Match 3 games where almost every level brings you a Halloween decoration for your haunted house. And you can set the pic as your desktop wallpaper. I didn’t like the fact that you can’t pick and choose your objects or their location on your house.

I did like that you can choose timed or relaxed mode. There are different goals for each level, so you may have to get several different items to beat the level. For example, you need to collect all the gold plates beneath each image, as with most games. But you must also get, say, 4 Gold Skulls, and 30 regular skulls. It gives a bit more variety to an otherwise run of the mill Match 3 game.

I also like having you progress shown on a map, the way build games do it.

This one is my pick of the Halloween themed games for this year.


I recommend this game!

Spooky Bonus (Match-3)
Review updated in October, 2019 after playing Steam version

Still one of my all-time favorite Match-3's!

Options include separate sliders for Music and Sound, Custom Cursor, Show Tips and Full-Screen.  For me, it always started out in Windowed mode, so I just used the Alt-Enter shortcut to make it full-screen.

Choice of Timed or Relaxed Mode.  There is a box you can check/uncheck before entering each level if you decide you want to change it, but 1. The timer is very generous, and 2. You get a score bonus for finishing early when you're on Timed mode.  No extra gold, though!


Although the end of each level is the only time you'll be able to see your score, it is still handy for when you're competing against friends.

Gameplay:

This is the standard swap-to-match-3-or-more mechanic.  The game starts out easily enough -- reach a goal, which is clearly listed on the left of the screen -- and you pass the level.  The levels becomes more and more complex as you progress, but not to the point that it becomes stressful (even in timed mode.)  Eventually you will have four goals to meet before you can finish the level.

Gameplay feels smooth and you can continue to make matches whilst pieces are still falling.

On each level you will earn gold coins, which you'll use to decorate your house.  When you first start, matching more than 3 items doesn't do anything, but the items you buy for your house will give you new bonuses and power-ups. 

Bonus Items:

Once you purchase the appropriate decoration(s) for your house, you'll unlock matching bonuses.  For instance, if you match five of the same item, you'll get a flashlight on the playing field, which will clear an entire row when activated.  Later on you'll be able to upgrade that item and clear three rows with that flashlight!

Power-ups:

These are items that you find at the end of certain levels, and are for "sale" in your house area (they will cost you no gold).  Power-ups can be found at the bottom of the screen, and once used, can be re-charged by matching glowing items.

Sights and Sounds:

I love the artwork for this game.  The items, bombs and power-ups are all charming and fun, and every ten levels you get a new background which you can set as a wallpaper! 


You can set your house (you know, the one you're decorating) as a wallpaper, as well.

The music is surprisingly-good, and the sound effects are well-suited to the environment.

Verdict:

Spooky Bonus offers 100 levels of well-designed fun.  There are also 19 easy-to-obtain Steam achievements (there's a way to get the timed/untimed bonus without replaying the whole thing), and Steam cards for those who like to craft.

A Halloween-season favorite to share with the whole family!