Recently, the Happy Paradise section has been full of posts discussing "Happy Delicious Xiaoxiaole". As an old reviewer who has been squatting on TapTap and mini-game platforms all year round, I naturally downloaded and experienced it as soon as possible. To be honest, I didn't have much expectations for this casual game with three repeated words in its name, but after playing it for two hours, I found that it is really not the kind of brainless game. In order to give you an objective reference, I specially made an in-depth horizontal comparison between it and several similar products on the market - "Candy Classic Match 3", "Crazy Fruit Match 3", "Sugar Cookie Challenge" and "Leisure Shop". The following content is not exaggeration or slander, it is purely personal experience.
Let's talk about the picture first. "Happy Delicious Xiaoxiaole" can really beat this category. It does not blind the eyes with fluorescent colors that fill the screen like traditional games, but adopts a healing gourmet hand-painted style. The texture of the cut surface of the fruit is clear, and each piece of fruit pulp has a moist texture. The special effect of exploding after filling the entire circle is really like fireworks, which has a certain visual impact but is not dazzling. Compared with the highly saturated gem color scheme of "Candy Classic Match 3" or the exaggerated modeling of the strawberries in "Crazy Fruit Match 3" that makes you want to enlarge the strawberries, the aesthetics of this one are more restrained and more attractive. In addition, in the sugar cake mode, the yellow caramel texture of the sugar cake is very realistic, and it is very appetizing when you pick it. I gave it 8 points for the screen dimension. I deducted two points because the UI interface is a bit messy. The activity entrance and buttons are crowded together. It took me a long time to find the return button for the first time.
Then comes the gameplay, which is the highlight. It actually stitches together two completely different gameplays, but it does so reasonably. Mode 1: Fruit Puzzle, although it looks like a puzzle game on the surface, it is actually more like a "rotating puzzle + click trigger". You need to observe the color and texture of the outer circle of fruit slices, align them and insert them into the central circular outline. If you fill the circle, it will explode. This mechanism is completely different from the traditional match-3 "eliminating three of the same color", and it tests observation skills rather than hand speed. Mode 2: Sugar Cookie Picking. You must be familiar with this gameplay. Yes, it's the sugar cake picking in the Squid game. Use a stylus or finger to slowly trace along the edge of the sugar cake. If the path is slightly off, it will crack. The official has thoughtfully provided several difficulty options. The easy mode is a five-pointed star, the hard mode is an umbrella, and above that there is a combination of an umbrella and a villain. Compared with similar games, the sugar cookie picking in "Sugar Cookie Challenge" is purely a copy of the animation, and the sensor is very sensitive. If you shake it a little, you will fail, which is extremely frustrating. The judgment of "Happy Delicious Xiaoxiaole" is relatively loose, giving you a little room for error, but not making you feel too easy. This balance is well controlled. A special reminder: when playing this type of game, be sure to find a screen protector that does not stick to fingerprints. Otherwise, your hands will sweat a lot and the feel of the screen will be greatly different.
Let's talk about krypton gold. The current charging mode of this game is 0, which is completely free. I played for two days and didn't see any forced advertising pop-ups, nor did I have to wait for a while before continuing to play due to physical limitations. The only advertisement is that after completing a level, if you want to receive an additional small reward, you can take the initiative to watch a video. This is completely voluntary. Compare this to "Candy Classic Match". Although it is also a free game, it will give you a "limited time gift pack" countdown every five levels, forcing you to close the interface before continuing. "Leisure Shop" is even more outrageous. If you don't charge money, the warehouse only has two spaces, and the one-click sorting function costs 6 yuan to unlock. At this point, the conscience of "Happy Delicious Xiaoxiaole" is in the first echelon among similar mini-games. However, it should be reminded that the number of levels in the game is not very large at present. The fruit mode only seems to have 30 levels, and the sugar cookie mode has about 20 shapes. If you are a level-clearing fanatic, you may finish it in two or three days. It is still unknown whether the subsequent content can be stably updated.
In terms of social interaction, it does not have rigid rankings or friend battles. Instead, it provides a "work wall" function. You can take photos and display the best sugar cakes you have put together, and other players can like and comment. I think this design is much more comfortable than the setting where you are forced to add friends to exchange physical energy. Yesterday I saw a player walking around with a palm-sized crab-shaped sugar cake. People in the comment area were asking for tutorials. The atmosphere was really good. In terms of horizontal comparison, the social interaction of "Crazy Fruit Match 3" is to constantly send invitation links to your WeChat, which is annoying to death; "Sugar Cookie Challenge" is purely stand-alone, and there is no desire to communicate after completing the level. So I give it 7 points for the social aspect. If you can add a confrontation mode in which two people pick out sugar cookies at the same time, then I think the popularity can reach a higher level.
Finally, let's talk about the overall experience. The advantages of this game are very prominent: firstly, the gameplay is innovative and not the same old match-3 games; secondly, the advertisements are optional and not forced to be watched; thirdly, the pace is really fast, and it only takes about one minute to fight fruits, which is very suitable for fishing in fragmented time. The shortcomings are also obvious: the content is small and it is easy to get bored later; the UI is slightly messy; in the sugar cookie mode on the mobile phone, if the screen is too slippery, it is easy to accidentally touch it. In comparison, its overall quality ranks among the top three among current casual games. If I had to give it a rating, out of ten, I would give it a 7.5. Among them, there are 8 pictures, 8 gameplays, 9 krypton gold, 7 social interactions, and the content volume is only 6. If you are the kind of player who is tired of the same match-3 games, likes novelty, but doesn't want to spend money, this one is worth a try. But if you are a serious game enthusiast and want to develop it in depth, then it may not be suitable for you. After all, no matter how delicious the candy cake is, you will get tired of it if you pick it too much. Okay, that's it for my honest words. Everyone is welcome to share their own sugar-cake-picking and overturning scenes downstairs. 😅