A mix of Tower Defense and 3 in a row games.

In Puzzle Beach you have to help the fun pirates defend their treasures against thieving monsters from the depths of the sea in true tower defense style. The game also belongs to the 3 in a row genre, but is played in a completely new way. For each move, you get a unit to place on the board - you choose where. If you place three identical units next to each other, they merge into a new unit.

The units can be buildings or defenses. You can score a lot of points by building the buildings, while the defenses are important to keep the monsters at bay. You also have pirates that are both a hindrance and a help to you. They attack the monsters, but they also get in your way, so you can't always build where you want.

How to play

Each move in Puzzle Beach is called a day, and in one day you can do one thing: You can place a unit on the game board. Which unit you can place is decided randomly, but the chance of getting a certain unit increases the more of the same type already on the board.

When three similar units are placed next to each other, they merge into a unit of a higher level and give you points. The higher the level of the units you fuse, the more points you get.

Along the way, the monsters come up from the sea above the game board and migrate towards your treasures that are always at the bottom of the board. You must make sure that the monsters walk past your units that can attack them, otherwise they will run away with your treasures. The game ends when you have no more treasure left.

Never block the path from the sea to the treasure completely, as this will make the giant squid angry! It will rise up out of the sea and start randomly bombing your units until there is a new path. You usually want to avoid that!

On the left side of the screen you can see your next unit and you have the option to save up to four units for later use. There is also the in-game shop where you can use the diamonds you win along the way to buy new units and special upgrades.

If you accidentally place a unit incorrectly, you can also undo it by pressing the button in the bottom left corner.

Missions

The game is built around worlds and missions. In each of the game's seven worlds, there are five missions. The first four missions are a form of training, while the last mission is the real challenge where you compete against other players to set a high score. You have to play it over and over again.

However, in the training missions you can also set high scores, for example by solving them quickly or above the required score. For example, the goal in a training mission could be to build four houses in 100 days or to score 100,000 points within 75 days.

When you complete a mission, you get either a gold, silver or bronze star depending on how well you do.

At the top of the game you can see an indication of which mission you are playing and how far you have progressed. You can also press Menu to get the mission description.

Worlds

The game has seven worlds, each with slight differences. They are listed here:

Peaceful Ocean- The first world offers some slightly shorter games.
Eastern Channel- Here you will get many stars, but a slightly smaller board.
Pirate Strait- This world has extra many pirates.
Southern Sea- You have fewer treasure chests and the board is very small.
Cannon Bay- There is more chance to build defenses.
Captain's Seaway- The board is extra large here.
Golf of Squids- In this last world there are lots of squids.

Units

Here is an overview of the game's different units:

Buildings- starts with a tent that can be upgraded six times:


Defense- starts with a barrel that can be upgraded four times:


Pirates- starts with a deck boy that can be upgraded three times:


Star- it can replace any other unit.


Shovel- with it you can pick up a unit and place it in a new location.


Wrench- with it you can repair other units or give them an extra life.


Bomb- you can explode the bomb over a unit or monster to remove it.

Shop

In the in-game shop you have the option to use your diamonds to buy all the above mentioned units in limited quantities, as well as these additional upgrades:

Storage Expansion- initially you have one extra storage slot, but it can be expanded to four slots.


Foresight- normally you can only see the next unit, but you can buy access to see the next three.


Treasures- if you lose treasures, you can buy new ones in limited quantities.


Airstrikes- if there are too many monsters on the board, you can call in the bombardiers.

Badges of honor

In the game menu you can find a list of badges of honor. These are special honors that you can earn by playing a lot or playing skillfully.

Bonus Spin

A Bonus Spin is achieved by removing three gold crabs. They appear randomly along the way instead of the regular monsters.