10000000 review

TEN MILLION … BUT OF WHAT?

This fun and original smartphone game was released in the summer of 2013 for Android and iOS and immediately amazed audiences and critics by winning numerous awards.

It is a puzzle-game similar to the very famous Candy Crush Saga, but with a few more elements that make it really fun and damn difficult.

TEN MILLION FOR FREEDOM!

To conquer freedom, our protagonist (who is nothing more than a bunch of white and brown pixels that vaguely resemble the shape of a man with a hat) will have to face numerous dungeon to reach the record score of 10,000,000.

Once in the game we will find ourselves in a castle and this is the original 10000000 menu: six doors that we will open as we continue in the adventure, the summary of the resources possessed, our best score and the door that leads us straight to the next dungeon. The various doors that we will open using resources such as wood and stone, and will be used to increase the statistics of the character, weapons and objects used, all using the money obtained in the game.

Once in front of the dungeon door you can select the difficulty level and see what are the goals to complete. Each difficulty level is characterized by a SCORE MULTIPLIER, and from a MULTIPLIER of resources; the more difficult it is, the greater the multipliers and the types of monsters to face. The difficulty levels will gradually unlock as you reach new records.

IN THE HEART OF THE DUNGEON

Once you enter the game, the screen will split into two parts. in the upper one we will see our protagonist crossing the dungeon (in this portion of the screen there is no type of interaction), while in the lower one we will see a grid with the various elements typical of puzzle-games. At first glance they might seem two totally unrelated elements, but thanks to the tutorial we realize that this is not the case.

The protagonist will run through the dungeon and will meet enemies, chests and doors to open, each time you pass an element of the dungeon you will receive extra time. In 10000000 everything is played on the time factor, the faster you are and the more time you will gain for the next stages. As in the most classic of scrolling games, the protagonist will run to the right side of the screen and stop every time you encounter an element of the dungeon. The time limit is not depicted with a timer, but by the protagonist who gets closer and closer to the left side of the screen until he “swallows it”.

The lower part of the screen (the really interactive one) is a grid of elements made up of:

• Resources, such as wood and stone useful to open the rooms for the various upgrades;
• Weapons, divided into swords and magic wands;
• Backpacks, which increase the player’s points amount;
• Shields, which will lessen the negative effects of enemy attacks;
• Key, necessary to open chests and doors;

Killing enemies, or opening chests can get you some special items to use at any time. For example, we can find particular keys that unlock doors and chests immediately, or food that will move the character away from the left side of the screen (which we remember, represents the game over).

To connect the elements we will have to choose a row or a column and slide it in order to join at least three elements of the same type. The more identical elements connected, the greater the effects and the points earned.

The protagonist will run in the dungeon without stopping, the goal is to take advantage of the moments of total absence of enemies and obstacles to collect shields, backpacks and resources. When you encounter obstacles such as chests you will have to use the keys to open them; when you encounter enemies you will have to connect swords and magic to eliminate them. Almost every action in the game will earn you points, but to reach the all-time high score you will have to play on the higher difficulty levels in order to have big score multipliers.

A TECHNICAL DEPARTMENT FROM THE PAST

I must say that I am not a fan of the typical graphics of retrogames (even if I have played many of them), however my thought does not apply to smartphone games: the few that I liked are characterized by spartan graphics and simple gameplay and 10000000 falls into this category.

There is not much to say about the sound sector… you know when you listen to a seemingly anonymous musical tune that then buzzes in your ears for hours and hours? Here, 10000000 has just that kind of music typical of the 80’s games, simple, anonymous and even a little annoying, but after a few minutes of play you will not be able to do without it!

The game is available on the Apple Store and Google Play at a price of around 2 euros. But for a few days you can find it at a discounted price of 0.99 € and we advise you to take advantage of it! We remind you that the game is completely free from annoying in-game advertising and microtransactions of the case.

AUTHOR’S COMMENT Few smartphone games have really amused and amazed me. 10000000 is one of these very few exceptions, fun to play, not too expensive and characterized by the difficulty typical of the games of a few decades ago.