Gem Smashers

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Gem Smashers is a family-friendly Arcade-style game released on PlayStation 4 in 2017 and ported to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in 2018. This game has players taking the role of a small creature who transforms into a ball constantly bouncing up and down, and must change colors to smash like-colored gems before a timer ticks down.

The presentation here is decent but nothing special, using a mix of colorful 3D and 2D elements, backed by an upbeat energetic soundtrack that suits the game’s family-friendly theme.

The gameplay here has players automatically moving vertically until they bump into something, then automatically moving back down until they bump into something, with the only control being over horizontal movement. Players need to navigate to a paint container to change their color, then bump into the gems of that color, breaking all of the gems on a stage before moving to an exit door.

The core gameplay works, though there’s not much variety when you’re just controlling horizontal movement. However, an even bigger problem is that there just isn’t much challenge here. The clock ticks down slowly and there are often ways to replenish time anyway. And while there are hazards like deadly skulls that you need to avoid, these hazards don’t damage or kill you outright, they only delay you a bit… but not so much that it’s really going to matter in the end.

With dull gameplay that’s also far too easy, it’s hard to see myself recommending Gem Smashers. There’s nothing here especially compelling or enticing, and while playing this keeps me mildly entertained throughout, I definitely feel like even as a time-waster this is pretty mediocre.

tl;dr – Gem Smashers is an Arcade-style game where players bounce vertically and must change their color to collide with and destroy like-colored gems. The gameplay works, but it’s dull and far too easy. It’s not a terrible game, but I don’t see any reason you should bother with it.

Grade: C-

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