Chains, by Ivan Traykov, is a unique and fun puzzle game that requires both quick reflexes and a surprising amount of strategy. In Chains, you are presented with a series of screens that you advance through by clearing a set amount of bubbles. The bubbles are “popped” by simply linking three or more of the same color in a row.

Unlike other match 3 type games, however, physics plays a big roll in Chains. On the first level, the bubbles simply fill up a series of slots. All you have to do is pop one hundred of them. Simple enough. Once you clear that screen, however, things get more interesting. The box the bubbles are filling now has a trap door connected to a counter weight, too many bubbles land inside before you pop 200 and the trap door will open. Spill just one and you need to start over.

The next level assigns a point value to the various different sized bubbles. You must make a long string that equals out to a certain combined value -not a point more or less- in order to clear the level and move on. Each of the twenty levels brings an interesting challenge to the match three concept, making sure you never know what’s next.

The graphics in Chains are pretty simple, but in this game, simple works just fine. Basic, solid colors against a different, trippy background each level. The physics engine gives the bubbles a real “weight” to them; instead of just falling into place they bounce and drift according to gravity. I found myself having to rethink the large chains of bubbles I was linking together as new bubbles drifted downwards, shifting everything around on me. The music, from L’Autre Endroit by Silence, compliments the feel of the the game perfectly.

If you like physics type of puzzles, match 3 games, or you’re just a fan of the fun and the quirky, I recommend that you check out Chains for yourself.